Bud Hafey

Daniel Albert Hafey

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Oakland Technical High School
• Debut April 21, 1935
• Final Game September 15, 1939
• Born August 6, 1912 in Berkeley, CA USA
• Died July 7, 1986 in Sacramento, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Daniel "Bud" Hafey is the brother of Tom Hafey and Will Hafey and a cousin of Chick Hafey and Albert Hafey. Bud played 12 seasons of professional ball, coming to the majors with the Chicago White Sox in 1935, the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1935 and 1936, and the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1939.

Bud, like Chick and Tom, was born in Berkeley, CA. He was much younger than Chick but a year older than Tom and much older than Will. Bud, like Tom, attended Oakland Technical High School. Bud was playing at age 17 for the Mission Reds of the Pacific Coast League, and remained with the team for five years. Tom was a teammate for a few games in 1932 and 1934.

Even after five years in the minors, Bud was only 22 when he made his first major league appearance. He was up with the White Sox for two games as a pinch-runner in April of 1935. Bud also spent a month of that season in the Washington Senators organization with the Albany Senators. In June, he was traded to the Pirates, who used him a lot more than the White Sox had. He appeared in 58 games, with a low average but getting 19 extra-base hits.

He came back with the Pirates in 1936, but was used less and less as the year went on. He spent 1937 with the minor league Montreal Royals and then 1938 with two teams - he had been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, but was traded back to the Pirates in the middle of the season, so he played in both teams' minor league organizations that year.

He did well in 1939 during 74 games with the Knoxville Smokies of the Pirates' organization, hitting .355 with excellent power, and was acquired by the Reds for 6 games. The Reds went to the 1939 World Series that year, but Hafey was gone by then as he had been sold to the Phillies in August. He was in 18 games with the Phillies, including two appearances as a pitcher.

In 1940 and 1941 he was back in the minors with the Memphis Chickasaws. His last minor league season was at age 28.

Defensively, he was primarily a center fielder in the majors, while in the minors he was an outfielder but played third base in 1940.