Hal McRae

A card featuring Hal McRae.

Harold Abraham McRae (Template:IPA-en; born July 10, 1945 in Avon Park, Florida) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1968, 1970–72) and Kansas City Royals (1973–87). Utilized as a designated hitter for most of his career, McRae batted and threw right-handed. He was formerly the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the father of former major league outfielder Brian McRae, and his son Cullen McRae is the Florida Marlins video coordinator.

Biography

McRae was selected by the Reds in the 6th round of the 1965 draft with the 117th overall pick. He was considered a below-average outfielder with the Reds. In 1972, McRae was traded to the Royals along with Wayne Simpson in exchange for Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum. McRae developed as a consistent designated hitter in the American League. His playing career spanned 23 years, including 14 seasons with Kansas City. Selected a three-time All-Star, he hit over .300 six times for the Royals and was named Designated Hitter of the Year three times both by The Sporting News and the Associated Press.

In 1976 McRae was on top of the AL batting title race going into the final game of the season, in which his teammate George Brett went 2-for-4 to clinch the title over McRae by a margin of less than .001; McRae finished second. Oddly, the other two of the top four finishers that season, the Minnesota Twins' Rod Carew and Lyman Bostock, played in that same game.

In a 19-year major league career, McRae posted a .290 batting average (2091-for-7218) with 191 home runs, 1097 RBI, 484 doubles, 65 triples and 109 stolen bases in 2084 games played. He added a .351 on base percentage and a .454 slugging average for a combined .805 OPS. McRae played hard—so hard, in fact, that the rule requiring a runner to slide into second base when breaking up a double play is still referred to as the Hal McRae Rule in honor of the man whose cross-body blocks into second base broke up a lot of double plays and second basemen at the same time.

Following his playing retirement, McRae managed the Royals (1991–94) and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2001–02). He also served as hitting coach for the Cinncinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals. McRae, who won a World Series ring playing for Kansas City against the Cardinals in 1985, won a ring as a coach for the Cardinals when they defeated the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series, four games to one.

Managerial records

Team	Year	Regular Season				Post Season
		Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
KC	1991	66	58	.532	6th in AL West	-	-	-	-
KC	1992	72	90	.444	5th in AL West	-	-	-	-
KC	1993	84	78	.519	3rd in AL West	-	-	-	-
KC	1994	64	51	.557	3rd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
TB	2001	58	90	.392	5th in AL East	-	-	-	-
TB	2002	55	106	.342	5th in AL East	-	-	-	-
Total		399	473	.458

See also

• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

Sources

• The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English. ISBN 1402747713
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Baseball-reference.com – Major league career managerial statistics
• BaseballLibrary

Preceded by: Eddie Murray	American League RBI Champion 1982	Succeeded by: Cecil Cooper & Jim Rice
Preceded by: Bob Schaefer	Kansas City Royals managers 1991–1994	Succeeded by: Bob Boone
Preceded by: Bill Russell	Tampa Bay Devil Rays Bench Coach 2001	Succeeded by: Billy Hatcher
Preceded by: Larry Rothschild	Tampa Bay Devil Rays managers 2001–2002	Succeeded by: Lou Piniella

Template:AL DH Silver Slugger Award Template:1985 Kansas City Royals Template:2006 St. Louis Cardinals