Ham Hyatt

Robert Hamilton Hyatt

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut April 15, 1909
• Final Game September 2, 1918
• Born November 1, 1884 in Buncombe County, NC USA
• Died September 11, 1963 in Liberty Lake, WA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Let’s define a pinch-hitting specialist as a player who appears in at least 40 games . . . and at least 80% of his appearances are strictly as a pinch-hitter . . . in 1909, the first pinch-hitting specialist in history appeared. Pittsburgh Pirates manager Fred Clarke deployed Ham Hyatt, a 24-year-old left-handed-batting rookie, in 49 games, and over 40 of those appearances were as a pinch hitter. Hyatt performed very well . . ." - from an article at The Hardball Times [1]

Ham Hyatt played seven seasons in the major leagues during the deadball era, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The book Stand and Deliver indicates that he had 57 pinch-hits in the majors. He played in the minors in 1916 and 1917 as well as for five years after his major league days. In addition to his playing career, he filled in for a couple of games as a National League umpire in 1912­.

He also played for the Little Rock Travelers and the Vancouver Horse Doctors/Vancouver Beavers, leading the 1908 Northwestern League in runs, hits and home runs.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1909