Hutch's 19Th-Birthday Party -- Hutchinson Wowed '38 Rainier Fans -- Schoolboy Sensation Posted 25-7 Record, Earned Pcl Mvp Honors As Pro Rookie

Aug. 12, 1938, was a memorable day in Seattle baseball history.

That's when the Seattle Rainiers' Fred Hutchinson, a right-handed pitcher just a year out of Franklin High School, celebrated his 19th birthday by beating the San Francisco Seals 3-2 for his 19th Pacific Coast League victory in 25 decisions.

An overflow crowd of 16,354 jammed Sicks' Stadium for the game.

Edo Vanni, rookie right fielder, hit a double and single, drove in one Rainier run and scored another. He remembers that there were fans on the field, in front of the outfield fence, from foul line to foul line. A hit into the roped-off area was a ground-rule double.

"When we were up the fans pushed in toward home plate. When San Francisco came to bat, the fans would move back," said Vanni, who still lives in Seattle.

Hutchinson, who died of cancer in 1964 at the age of 45, is known worldwide for his name on the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, founded by his brother, Dr. Bill Hutchinson.

Longtime baseball fans may remember him as a Detroit Tiger pitcher (he had a 95-71 record in 11 seasons from 1939-53) or as manager of the Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.

But to Seattleites he was a homegrown hero, a dynamic force in the evolution of the golden era of minor-league baseball in the city..

Seattle had won only one PCL pennant - in 1924 - when brewery owner Emil Sick bought the Seattle Indians from money-strapped Bill Klepper after the 1937 season.

Sick renamed the team Rainiers after his brewery and signed a new manager, Jack Lelivelt, who had piloted the powerful Los Angeles Angels to PCL championships in 1933 and '34. He also signed two local teenagers - Hutchinson and Vanni, a fleet outfielder out of Queen Anne High School who hit .300 in three consecutive PCL seasons.

But the key move in the transformation of the also-ran Indians to champion Rainiers - Seattle won PCL pennants in 1939, '40 and '41 - was the signing of Hutchinson. He played only one pro season, 1938, in his hometown - but it was a ballplayer's dream come true.

A fiery Iceman

Hutchinson won 25 games and lost seven. In 35 starts, he pitched 29 complete games, 290 innings, struck out 145 batters and walked 99, compiled a 2.48 earned-run average.

He was a fiery competitor but so composed on the mound he was known as The Iceman.

"He was a sensation" that season, recalled veteran teammate Hal Turpin, one of the Rainiers' all-time pitching greats. "And he was so cool about it.

"We were playing Portland one day, and he was a little wild and having a little bad luck. So he just called time, walked to our dugout and got a drink of water. He went back and shut them out the rest of the game. That was something for a young guy like that."

Vanni recalled a game against San Diego.

"I was leading off, trying to upset the Padres' pitcher," Vanni said. "They'd knocked me down two or three times. Fred was pitching for us. I'll never forget. He said, `I'll take care of that --- . Wait till he comes up.' That pitcher got his control in a hurry. That's the kind of guy Fred was, a hard-nosed guy.

"He was a good control pitcher. He set hitters up. He had a good change, a good curve, a slider's what they'd call it today. His fastball wasn't too good, but he'd set them up."

"If he didn't make it in the big leagues as a pitcher," Vanni said, "he could have made it as a catcher. He played everything in high school. He was a very good hitter. He'd hit that ball as good as anyone."

A left-handed batter, Hutchinson hit .313 in 1938, with 13 doubles, two home runs and 23 runs batted in.

Victory after victory

The Rainiers moved from Civic Stadium into the new 14,600-seat Sicks' Stadium June 15, 1938.

Portland's Bill Thomas beat Seattle's Kewpie Dick Barrett 3-1 in the first game in the new ballpark.

Hutchinson pitched the Rainiers' first victory there the next day, beating Portland's veteran submariner, Ad Liska, 7-0, with a six-hitter for his 10th win of the season.

Hutchinson stole the show on Aug. 17 when Seattle beat Sacramento 9-0 for his 20th win. He pitched a three-hitter, struck out 12, walked only one. He also went 3 for 3 at the plate, hitting a three-run homer and two singles, and scored three runs.

Hutchinson won his 25th game on Sept. 11. An overflow crowd of 15,710 watched the Rainiers sweep a doubleheader from the Hollywood Stars, 7-2 and 3-1, behind the pitching of Hutchinson and Paul Gregory. The sweep gave Seattle 11 consecutive wins and 25 wins in 28 games.

But the surging Rainiers still trailed Los Angeles by two games. Seattle won three more before San Diego's Manny Salvo beat Hutchinson 6-1 in front of a crowd of 14,498 to end Seattle's pennant hopes.

The Rainiers finished with a 100-75 record, 3 1/2 games behind the Angels. But that was a notable improvement for a club that had finished as high as fourth only once in the previous 10 seasons.

Managed '55 champions

Hutchinson, who had helped Seattle draw a league-leading 437,161 fans, was named the PCL's most valuable player. And his value to the Rainiers didn't end there.

He was sold to Detroit in December for what Torchy Torrance, Rainier vice president, later described as a $100,000 deal: cash and four players - outfielder Jo-Jo White, first baseman George Archie, pitcher Ed Selway and second baseman Tony Piet.

Piet refused to report to Seattle. But Buddy Hancken, another Detroit farmhand, wound up as the Rainiers' second-string catcher in 1939. And White and Archie provided the missing ingredients that turned Seattle into the club that won three straight pennants.

Hutchinson returned to his hometown to manage the pennant-winning 1955 Rainiers. He came back again in 1959, between major-league managerial stints, to become Seattle's manager and general manager for the first half of the 1959 season.

Then he went to Cincinnati, where he managed until he died from cancer on Nov. 12, 1964.

Hutchinson's birthday will be celebrated at the Museum of History and Industry today in connection with the exhibit "Runs, Hits, and an Era: the Pacific Coast League, 1903-58." A share of each admission fee will go to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

"If Fred were alive today, the fight against cancer is one ballgame he would have wanted to win," Vanni said. "He would like to win this one with him pitching and his name behind it."

--------------- Birthday doings ---------------

Fred Hutchinson was born Aug. 12, 1919, in Seattle and died of cancer Nov. 12, 1964. His birthday will be celebrated today, from noon to 2 p.m., at the Museum of History and Industry in conjunction with the exhibit "Runs, Hits, and and Era: The Pacific Coast League, 1903-58."

-- Birthday celebration - Free cake, ice cream, hot dogs and popcorn. Special guest speakers, trivia contests and cake-cutting start at 1 p.m. $1 from every admission today will go to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

-- Museum hours: Open daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. PCL exhibit runs through Oct. 27.

-- Admission: Adults $5.50; seniors (55+) and youth (6-12) $3; pre-school (2-5) $1; children (under 2) free.