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Harry Danning, nicknamed Harry the Horse (September 6, 1911, Los Angeles, California – November 29, 2004) was a Major League Baseball catcher who played his entire career with the New York Giants (1933-42).^[1] He was considered one of the top defensive catchers of his era.^[2] He batted and threw right-handed. Danning, who was Jewish, was nicknamed "Harry The Horse" for Damon Runyon's Broadway character.^[3] He attended Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles.

Baseball career

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.^[1]

In 1934 during spring training a Florida hotel refused entry to Danning and fellow Jew Phil Weintraub. "Hibiscus" was a code word for Hebrew in Florida — as in "we don’t have hibiscus in our hotel." Giants manager and All-Star first baseman Bill Terry threatened to take the entire World Champion team to another hotel unless his Jewish players were given lodging. The hotel's management backed down.^[4][5]

From 1938 to 1940 Danning hit .306, .313, and .300, and finished in the top 10 in National League MVP voting in 1939 (9th) and 1940 (7th).^[6][7] He collected career highs in home runs (16) in 1939, and in RBIs (91) in 1940. He led all National League catchers with a .991 fielding average in 1939.^[8]

On June 9, 1939, Danning hit one of the five home runs in an inning that helped the Giants to set a record.^[9] Then, on June 15, 1940, he hit for the cycle in a game against Pittsburgh.^[10] His home run comes on an inside-the-parker that landed 460 feet on the fly in front of the Giants' clubhouse, wedged behind the Eddie Grant memorial.^[11]

Danning was a career .285 hitter with 57 home runs and 397 RBIs in 890 games.^[1] He caught the screwballer Carl Hubbell, and also was a teammate of Mel Ott, Bill Terry and Travis Jackson, four Hall of Famers.

After baseball

Danning retired from baseball after serving in the military, working later as a minor league coach.^[3] He received one vote in Hall of Fame Voting in both 1958 and 1960. Danning died in Valparaiso, Indiana, at the age of 93.^[3]

Other highlights

• 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)

See also

• Hitting for the cycle

References

External links

• Baseball Library (profile)
• Baseball Reference stats
• Fangraphs stats
• BR Bullpen profile
• Baseball Cube profile
• Jews in Sports
• Harry Danning: Catching Star of Another Era, by Rick Van Blair, Baseball Digest, October 1994