Moe Morhardt

Meredith Goodwin Morhardt

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• School University of Connecticut
• High School Manchester (CT) High School
• Debut September 7, 1961
• Final Game May 19, 1962
• Born January 16, 1937 in Manchester, CT USA

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Biographical Information

Moe Morhardt played for the Chicago Cubs as a first baseman. His son Greg Morhardt was a minor league player and a scout.

Moe was a three-sport athlete at Manchester High School. As a baseball player, he hit over .450 in both his junior and senior seasons. He also lettered in soccer and basketball. He went to college at the University of Connecticut, where he became an All-American in both soccer and baseball, making the American Baseball Coaches Association All-American team in 1959 as an outfielder. He played in both the 1957 College World Series and 1959 College World Series.

Moe received a bonus to sign with the Cubs, and was assigned to the Fort Worth Cats but hit just .111 in limited action for Chicago's top minor league team in 1959. He also played in Lancaster (.176, 1 HR, 6 RBI) and Paris (in Illinois) (.293, 4 HR, 19 RBI) in his first season in the minors. The next year, 1960, he returned to Lancaster but hit just .205 with 5 HR and 40 RBI. In 1961, he was with the Wenatchee Chiefs, hitting .339 with 18 homers and 90 RBI. Dick Bogard had a higher average but Morhardt won the title as Bogard apparently fell short in plate appearances. He was third in the Northwest League in RBI and tied Dick Green for third in home runs. He got called up to Chicago as a result and was 5 for 18 with three walks for the Cubs.

Morhardt played for the Cubs early in the 1962 season but was just 2 for 16 with two walks and 8 strikeouts in a difficult pinch-hitting role and never played again in the majors. Sent down, he hit .267 with 1 HR and 10 RBI for Wenatchee and .279 with 5 HR and 25 RBI for the San Antonio Missions.

He hit just .067 for the 1963 Salt Lake City Bees but had more success in old stomping grounds of Wenatchee. He hit 17 homers, tied with Jim Lefebvre for fifth in the NWL, batted .278 and drove in 79, sixth in the Northwest League. In 1964, Morhardt concluded his pro baseball career by hitting .226 with 6 HR and 60 RBI for the Fort Worth Cats.

After his playing days, he was athletic director and coached at The Gilbert School. He was the baseball coach at the University of Hartford in 1993-1994 and Western Connecticut State University in 1997-1999.

He has three granddaughters named Amanda Morhardt, Melody Lincoln, and Lindsey Morhardt, and four grandsons, Justin Morhardt, Noah Lincoln, Alex Morhardt, and Jonathan Morhardt.

He lived in Winsted, Connecticut as of early 2007.

Sources include Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database

Related Sites

• Moe Morhardt at the SABR Bio Project