Hardy Peterson

Harding William Peterson
(Pete; Hardy)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 205 lb.
• School Rutgers University
• High School Perth Amboy High School
• Debut May 5, 1955
• Final Game August 8, 1959
• Born October 17, 1929 in Perth Amboy, NJ USA
• Died April 16, 2019 in Union, NJ USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Hardy "Pete" Peterson was an All-American catcher at Rutgers University who played in the 1950 College World Series. Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates that year, he made the big leagues in 1955. He appeared in 32 games in 1955, 30 games in 1957 (when he hit .301), and a couple of games each in 1958 and 1959. His playing career was cut short due to a collision at home where he suffered a severe arm fracture. He was never the same throwing afterwards and retired as a player after several unsuccessful attempts to come back.

Peterson was the farm director for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1968 and the Scouting Director from 1969 to 1976. He was Co-General Manager of the Pirates, with Joseph O'Toole, in 1977-1978 and GM from 1979 to 1985. Peterson was General Manager of the New York Yankees in 1990 and special assistant to the GM in 1991.

His son, Rick Peterson, never reached the big leagues as a player but went on to serve as pitching coach for the Oakland Athletics,New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers.

Preceded by Joe Brown

Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager 1977-1985

Succeeded by Syd Thrift

Preceded by Bob Quinn

New York Yankees General Manager 1990

Succeeded by Gene Michael

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1959	Wilson Tobs	Carolina League	48-35 10-7	2nd	Pittsburgh Pirates	League Champs	replaced by Don Osborn (13-16) from July 14 to August 13
1960	Burlington Bees	Three-I League	66-74	5th	Pittsburgh Pirates	none
1961	Burlington Bees	Three-I League	65-65	5th	Pittsburgh Pirates	none
1962	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	83-57	2nd	Pittsburgh Pirates	League Champs
1963	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	77-66	3rd (t)	Pittsburgh Pirates	Lost in 1st round
1964	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	79-59	2nd	Pittsburgh Pirates	Lost in 1st round
1965	Asheville Tourists	Southern League	80-60	2nd	Pittsburgh Pirates	none
1966	Asheville Tourists	Southern League	78-61	2nd	Pittsburgh Pirates	none
1967	Columbus Jets	International League	69-71	4th	Pittsburgh Pirates	Lost League Finals

Record as a General Manager

Draft Picks

First Round - Pirates

• 1977 - 18th overall OF Anthony Nicely - Meadowdale High School (Dayton, OH)
• 1978 - 19th overall 1B Brad Garnett - DeSoto (TX) High School
• 1978 - 21st overall OF Gerry Aubin - Dougherty High School
• 1979 - No Pick (lost as compensation for signing Lee Lacy
• 1980 - 20th overall SS Rich Renteria - South Gate High School
• 1981 - 14th overall P Jim Winn - John Brown University
• 1982 - 7th overall SS Sam Khalifa - Sahuaro High School
• 1983 - 12th overall OF Ron DeLucchi - Campolindo High School
• 1984 - 15th overall P Kevin Andersh - University of New Mexico
• 1985 - 6th overall OF Barry Bonds - Arizona State University

Other Notable Selections - Pirates

• 1977 - 18th round (459 overall) P Dennis Rasmussen - Bear Creek High School (Lakewood, CO)
• 1978 - 39th round (758 overall) SS Vance Law - Brigham Young University
• 1979 - 2nd round (62nd overall) P Jose DeLeon - Perth Amboy, NJ
• 1979 - 37th round (842nd overall) C Joel Skinner - Mission Bay High School
• 1980 - 6th round (152nd overall) OF Joe Orsulak - Parsippany Hills High School
• 1981 - drafted Lance Johnson, Bip Roberts and Chris Bosio none signed.
• 1982 - 3rd round (61st overall) P Joe Magrane - Rowan County High School Did Not Sign
• 1983 - 12th round (300th overall) P John Smiley - Perkiomen School (Pennsburg, PA)

First Round - Yankees

• 1990 - 10th overall OF Carl Everett - Hillsborough High School

Other Notable Selections - Yankees

• 1990 - 16th round (435th overall) OF Ricky Ledee - Colegio Nuestra Senora (PR)
• 1990 - 22nd round (594th overall) P Andy Pettitte - Deer Park (TX) High School Did Not Sign
• 1990 - 24th round (646th overall) C Jorge Posada - Calhoun State Community College
• 1990 - 28th round (750th overall) OF Shane Spencer - Granite Hills High School (El Cajon, CA)

Significant Trades

Pirates

• November 5, 1976 traded Manny Sanguillen and $100,000 to the Oakland A's for Manager Chuck Tanner
• December 10, 1976 traded Richie Zisk and Silvio Martinez to the Chicago White Sox for Rich Gossage and Terry Forster
• March 15, 1977 traded Dave Giusti, Doc Medich, Doug Bair, Rick Langford, Tony Armas and Mitchell Page to the Oakland A's for Phil Garner, Tommy Helms and Chris Batton
• December 8, 1977 in a four team trade traded Al Oliver and Nelson Norman to the Texas Rangers for Bert Blyleven and John Milner
• April 4, 1978 traded Mike Edwards, Miguel Dilone & Elias Sosa to the Oakland A's for Manny Sanguillen
• June 28, 1979 traded Ed Whitson, Al Holland and Fred Breining to the San Francisco Giants for Bill Madlock, Dave Roberts and Len Randle
• December 9, 1980 traded Bert Blyleven and Manny Sanguillen to the Cleveland Indians for Gary Alexander, Victor Cruz, Rafael Vasquez and Bob Owchinko
• August 31, 1981 traded Phil Garner to the Houston Astros for Johnny Ray, Randy Niemann and Kevin Houston
• December 22, 1982 traded Tim Burke, Don Aubin, Josh Holland, and Jose Rivera to the New York Yankees for Lee Mazzilli.
• December 6, 1983 traded Mike Easler to the Boston Red Sox for John Tudor
• April 20, 1985 traded Kent Tekulve to the Philadelphia Phillies for Al Holland and Frankie Griffin
• August 2, 1985 traded Al Holland, John Candelaria and George Hendrick to the California Angels for Pat Clements, Mike Brown and Bob Kipper
• August 31, 1985 traded Bill Madlock to the Los Angeles Dodgers for R.J. Reynolds, Sid Bream and Cecil Espy

Yankees

• December 12, 1989 traded Hal Morris and Rodney Imes to the Cincinnati Reds for Van Snider and Tim Leary
• May 11, 1990 traded Dave Winfield to the California Angels for Mike Witt
• June 4, 1990 traded Clay Parker and Lance McCullers to the Detroit Tigers for Matt Nokes

Significant Signings

Pirates

• December 13, 1976 - signed Steve Farr as an amateur free agent
• January 19, 1979 - signed Lee Lacy as a free agent from Los Angeles Dodgers
• November 21, 1979 - signed Andy Hassler as a free agent from New York Mets
• July 10, 1980 - signed Rafael Belliard as an amateur free agent
• February 10, 1981 - signed Luis Tiant as a free agent from New York Yankees
• July 11, 1981 - signed Bobby Bonilla as an amateur free agent
• February 28, 1985 - signed Rick Reuschel as a free agent from Chicago Cubs

Yankees

• November 21, 1989 - signed Pascual Perez as a free agent from Montreal Expos
• February 17, 1990 - signed Mariano Rivera as an amateur free agent

Related Sites

• Hardy Peterson at the SABR Bio Project
• obit