Project Baseball 1976: 1976 Topps #351

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Randy Hundley was a catcher in the major leagues from 1964-1977. Hundley was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 1960. He played in the minors from 1960-1963 and also spent most of 1964 in the minors. Randy was brought up at the end of the 1964 season and was 0 for 1 in two games.

Hundley was in the minors for most of the 1965 season except for a one-week stint with the Giants in late June. Randy was 1 for 15 in six games for the Giants in '65. After the 1965 season he and Bill Hands were traded to the Chicago Cubs for Don Landrum and Lindy McDaniel.

Randy was fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1966. He batted .236 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI in 149 games. He also stole home in a game against the Houston Astros on May 19. In 1967 Hundley won the Gold Glove award and batted .267 with 14 HR and 60 RBI in 152 games. He was one of the first catchers to use a hinged mitt, enabling him to catch with one hand and protect his throwing hand. $140,000 for One Single! - September 1967 Baseball Digest. Randy played in a career-high 160 games in 1968 and his offensive stats were down. He batted .226 with 7 HR and 65 RBI. This is still the record for most games caught in a season. In fact, Randy has three of the all-time top ten seasons in games caught by a catcher.

Hundley's best season was probably 1969. He made the NL All Star team and struck out in his only at bat. For the season Randy batted .255 with 18 HR and 64 RBI in 151 games. It looks like he wore down as the season progressed. He was batting .275 on August 31 and went 13 for 87 (.149) over the remainder of the season.

Randy missed almost three months of the 1970 season (April 21-July 16) with a knee injury (a collision with Carl Taylor of the Cardinals). In 73 games Hundley batted .244 with 7 HR and 36 RBI. He also had a knee injury in 1971 that caused him to miss most of the season. Hundley appeared as a pinch hitter once in April and played in eight games in May. That was it for his season (.333 in 21 at bats).

Hundley came back to reclaim his starting catcher position in 1972, but he wasn't the same after the knee injuries. He played in 114 games in 1972 and batted .218 with 5 HR and 30 RBI. In 1973 Randy batted .226 with 10 HR and 43 RBI in 124 games. After the 1973 season Hundley was traded to the Minnesota Twins for George Mitterwald.

Randy started the 1974 season as the starting catcher but became the backup to Glenn Borgmann as the season went on. He played sparingly after May and in 32 games batted .193 in 88 at bats. Hundley was released after the 1974 season. He tried out with the San Diego Padres in 1975 and was signed at the end of spring training.

Hundley was the #2 catcher behind Fred Kendall in San Diego in 1975. He played in 72 games and batted .284 in 180 at bats. At the end of spring training in 1976 the Cubs purchased Randy from the Padres. He didn't play much in 1976 (5 games in April and 8 games in May) and batted .167 in 18 at bats. In 1977 Randy played in two September games and went 0 for 4. He was released by the Cubs after the 1977 season and that was it for his playing career.

Randy managed for three seasons (1979-1981) in the Cubs' system and then came up with the idea of doing baseball fantasy camps. His camps have been very successful and they're still operating today. He also occasionally fills in for Ron Santo on Cubs' radio broadcasts.

Liked to face: Jack Billingham (.478 in 23 AB); Tony Cloninger (.393 in 28 AB); Woodie Fryman (.355 in 31 AB)
Hated to face: Bill Stoneman (.000 in 15 AB); Claud Osteen (.145 in 55 AB); Bob Gibson (.157 in 70 AB)

Randy Hundley is in this video about the 2009 Cubs Convention