Harry Danning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harry Danning (September 6, 1911 – November 29, 2004) was a Major League Baseball catcher who played his entire career with the New York Giants (1933-42). He batted and threw right-handed.

A native of Los Angeles, California, Danning was nicknamed "Harry The Horse" for Damon Runyon's Broadway character. He was selected for the National League All-Star squad in four consecutive years (1938-41), played for the Giants team which defeated the Washington Senators in the 1933 World Series championship, and appeared in the pennant-winning clubs that were defeated by the New York Yankees in the 1936 and 1937 World Series.

Danning was a career .285 hitter with 57 home runs and 397 RBI in 890 games. He caught the screwballer Carl Hubbell and also was a teammate of Mel Ott, Bill Terry and Travis Jackson, four Hall of Famers.

From 1938 to 1940 Danning hit .306, .313 and .300, and finished in the top 10 in National League MVP voting in 1939 and 1940. He collected career highs in home runs (16) in 1939, and in RBI (91) in 1940.

On June 9, 1939, Danning hit one of the five home runs in an inning that helped the Giants to set a record. Then, on June 15, 1940, he hit for the cycle in a game against Pittsburgh. His home run comes on an inside-the-park that lands 460 feet on the fly in front of the Giants' clubhouse, wedged behind the Eddie Grant memorial.

Danning retired from baseball after serving in the military, working later as a minor league coach.

Harry Danning died in Valparaiso, Indiana at age of 93.

[edit] Highlights

4-time All-Star (1938-41)
Twice top 10 MVP Award (9th, 1939; 7th, 1940)
Hit for the cycle (1940)
The BBWAA in TSN poll names the 1940 All Star team:
Frank McCormick, 1B - Joe Gordon, 2B - Luke Appling, SS - Stan Hack, 3B - Harry Danning, C - Bob Feller, Bucky Walters, Paul Derringer, pitchers (January 8, 1941)