Jim Ray Hart

Positions: Third Baseman and Leftfielder
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
5-11, 185lb (180cm, 83kg)
Born: October 30, 1941 in Hookerton, NC
Died: May 19, 2016 in Acampo, CA
Buried: Cremated
Debut: July 7, 1963 (12,134th in major league history)
vs. STL 5 AB, 2 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: May 27, 1974
vs. CHW 4 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Full Name: James Ray Hart
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1963

Pete Rose
Rusty Staub
Joe Morgan
Willie Horton
Jose Cardenal
Jim Wynn
Dick Allen
Tommy John
Mickey Lolich

All-Time Teammate Team

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Notable Events and Chronology

July 7, 1963

Jim Ray Hart breaks shoulder in ML debut

May 23, 1965

In the first inning of a 5-2 loss to San Francisco, Jimmy Wynn is unable to catch Jim Ray Hart’s two-out routine fly ball when he loses the ball in the glare of diffused Texas sunlight streaming through plastic panes of the newly-opened Astrodome. The play, now a base-clearing inside-the-park three-run home run instead of an easy third out, results in the painting of the ballpark’s ceiling the next day and will lead to the use of Astroturf next season because the grass will be unable to be grown due to the reduced amount of sunlight.

June 25, 1968

San Francisco Giant rookie Bobby Bonds becomes the second player to hit a grand slam in his first major league game

July 20, 1968

aging speedster Willie Mays scores from first base on a Jim Ray Hart single

July 8, 1970

Jim Ray Hart ties a modern major-league record with 6 RBIs in one inning and hits for the Cycle

Biography

Bob Gibson welcomed Jim Ray to the big leagues in 1963 by breaking his shoulder blade with a fastball in the back. A few days after Hart’s return, he was beaned by Curt Simmons and missed the rest of the season.
But in 1964, his first full year, the stocky strongman proved he wasn’t gun-shy with a San Francisco rookie record 31 homers. Until a 1969 shoulder injury made him a part timer, he averaged 28 homers a season. On September 8, 1970 he hit for the cycle and tied a major-league record with six RBI in one inning.

Although the former North Carolina cotton picker was so quiet it was said a soft chuckle was a whole conversation for him, he was vocal about his hatred of playing third base: it was “just too damn close to the hitters.”

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