Charlie Hayes

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Charles Dewayne Hayes

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Biographical Information[edit]

Third baseman Charlie Hayes was signed as a 4th round pick in the 1983 amateur draft by the San Francisco Giants and scout Ken Parker.

Hayes played for Hattiesburg, MS in the 1977 Little League World Series. He first came up to the majors at the end of the 1988 season, then after a few games in 1989, was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with Ps Dennis Cook and Terry Mulholland in return for P Steve Bedrosian and IF Rick Parker on June 18th. The Phillies had just been shaken by Mike Schmidt's unexpected announcement that he was retiring, effective immediately, and needed a third baseman. Installed as the starter, he hit .257 in 84 games the rest of the way. He then played regularly in 1991 and 1992, hitting .258 in 152 games the first year and .230 in 142 games the second, with 10 and 12 homers respectively. These were far from Mike Schmidt numbers, and with a potential successor waiting in the wings in the person of Dave Hollins, he was sent to the New York Yankees for a middling prospect, P Darrin Chapin, before the 1992 season. He had a slightly better season in the Bronx, hitting .257 with 18 homers and 66 RBIs in 142 games, but it was still nothing to make him a star.

He was the first choice of the Colorado Rockies in the 1993 expansion draft. The choice was strongly criticized by Bill James at the time, as he felt that the Rockies had wasted their top pick on a player with little upside, whereas their rivals the Florida Marlins had used theirs to select a young minor league outfielder with plenty of potential in Nigel Wilson. However, Wilson never played more than a handful of games in the big leagues, and Hayes proved to be a solid performer for the remainder of the decade, even if not a star. In his first year with the Rockies in 1993, he set personal records with 25 home runs, a league-leading 45 doubles, 89 runs, 98 RBI and a .305 batting average. These numbers were inflated by the hitter-friendly Mile High Stadium, but they still represent a nice 115 OPS+, one of only two times he was able to crack the 100 mark in 14 seasons in the majors. He hit .288 in 113 games in 1994, then went back to the Phillies in 1995, signing on as a free agent just after the resolution of the 1994 strike. He hit well for the Phils - or at least better than his previous three seasons with the team - .276 with 11 homers and 85 RBIs in 141 games.

He was on the move again before the 1996 season, this time signing on with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent but after 128 games he returned to the Yankees late in the year, to share 3B duties with Wade Boggs. He hit .284 in 20 games then went 3 for 16 in the World Series that year, catching the final out as the Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games. He returned to the post-season in 1997 when he hit .258 in 100 games for the Yankees, with 11 homers and 53 RBIs. In 1998, he continued his habit of coming back to the teams for which he had played before, joining the Giants for a second go-round after being traded for Alberto Castillo and Chris Singleton. He had a good season, hitting .286 with 12 homers and 62 RBIs in 111 games, but it all came crashing down in 1999 when he batted just .205 in 195 games. But there were still teams willing to give him some playing time even though he was 35 by then and had never been more than an adequate hitter. It was the Milwaukee Brewers who were kind enough to give him a chance to prove he wasn't quite washed up, and he responded by hitting .251 with 9 homers and 46 RBIs in 121 games in 2000. Given he had lost a step or two on defence, they used him for 57 games at first base, where his bat was even further below average than at third base. His stat line wasn't disastrous, but not something upon which to build a winning team either. He managed to find yet another team in 2001, as the Houston Astros took him on board, but they were wise enough to cut him loose after he hit .200 with no power in 31 games. Still, he had had a nice career, with 1,547 games, a .262 average, 144 homers and 740 RBIs. Bill James was right in that he was never a star, but he was a serviceable player for well over a decade, and there is something to be said for that.

Hayes became bench coach of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in 2017 until June when he joined the staff of the GCL Phillies. He returned to Lehigh Valley in 2018 and coached the GCL Phillies East in 2019.

Hayes' son, Tyree Hayes, pitched in the minors from 2006-2012. Another son, Ke'Bryan Hayes, was a supplemental first-round pick in the 2015 amateur draft, going 32nd overall.

He is now the owner and operator of Big League Baseball Academy

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • NL Doubles Leader (1993)
  • 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1993)
  • Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996

Related Sites[edit]