Andy Hansen
Andrew Viggo Hansen Jr., nicknamed "Swede", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. In a nine-season career, he played for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. Hansen was officially listed as standing and weighing. He was nicknamed Swede despite being of Danish ancestry, according to The Sporting News' Baseball Register.
A two-sport star in high school, Hansen rose quickly through the Giants' minor league system and made his major league debut at age 19. He played for the Giants until 1946, when he voluntarily retired due to a family illness and then served in the United States Army. He returned to baseball in 1947 and earned a career-best five wins in 1948. After a contract holdout in 1949, Hansen's bullpen workload increased in 1950, leading to an elbow injury and the Giants sending him to the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft.
Hansen worked nearly exclusively from the bullpen after being an occasional starting pitcher with New York. After tying his career high with five victories in 1952, Hansen went winless in 1953 and had a short tenure with the minor-league Hollywood Stars before retiring and beginning a 31-year career with the United States Postal Service.
Early life
Hansen was born November 12, 1924, in Lake Worth, Florida. As a young player, he was a second baseman and third baseman before moving to pitcher. He attended Lake Worth High School, where he played offensive end on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. In 1942, Hansen was a member of Lake Worth's "Trojans" football team that went undefeated, and the school's baseball team went to the state tournament in the 1943 season with Hansen as a member of the pitching staff. After graduating that year, Hansen spurned football scholarship offers from "a number of schools, including Georgia Tech" to sign an amateur free agent contract worth $75 per month with the National League's New York Giants.Early career
Minor leagues
The Giants assigned Hansen to their Appalachian League affiliate, the Bristol Twins, where, at age 18, he posted a "sensational Win–loss record | record" of 12–3 in 16 games started. He allowed 39 runs in 115 innings pitched while walking 15 batters. Hansen began the 1944 season pitching for the Jersey City Giants, New York's top-level farm team. Managed by Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett, Hansen posted an 8–4 record, compiling a 1.89 earned run average in 11 starts and 4 relief appearances. He allowed 90 hits and 28 walks in 100 innings pitched.1944: Major league debut
Hansen was called up to the major league club to make his debut on June 30, 1944, in place of Cliff Melton. He started the second game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching innings, striking out two and allowing six earned runs. However, the Giants scored five runs in the sixth inning against Pirates starter Fritz Ostermueller, so Hansen did not receive a decision; the Giants lost the contest, 9–8. His first career loss came the next week on July 5, a 4–1 defeat against the St. Louis Cardinals. Hansen pitched six innings and allowed four runs, but Cardinals starter Red Munger, 10–2 on the season to that point, pitched a complete game and allowed only one run. He lost again on July 9, this time to the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader. Hansen pitched only innings, allowing five runs, before being relieved by Rube Fischer.Hansen earned his first win a week later, an 8–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on July 16. The victory came in relief of Frank Seward, who started the game but pitched only one inning. He pitched four innings, allowing only one run; Ace Adams followed with four scoreless innings and earned the save. His fourth decision, a second career victory, did not come until July 31, when he defeated future teammate Jim Konstanty in a 9–7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Hansen appeared again in a relief role, but pitched eight innings of one-run ball after starter Bill Voiselle allowed six runs in the game's first inning. At the plate, Hansen got his first major-league hit and scored his second career run while striking out once.
Philadelphia provided Hansen with his third career win as well; it came on August 4 when he pitched against Ken Raffensberger. Hansen entered in the eighth inning and pitched three scoreless frames in relief of Voiselle as the game went to extra innings. The Giants won, 4–3, on a 10th-inning run with no one out. Sporting a 3–2 record, Hansen earned his first career save against the Phillies on August 6, pitching two scoreless innings in relief of Harry Feldman and striking out two. It was his only save of the season. He lost his third decision of the year on August 19, allowing five runs and walking six batters in the Giants' 12th consecutive loss out of a season-long 13-game streak. For his rookie season, Hansen finished with a 3–3 record and a 6.49 ERA in innings pitched; he appeared in 23 games and struck out 15 batters while walking 32 at age 19.
1945–1946: New York, Jersey City, and the Army
In the 1945 season, Hansen spent most of his playing time with the major league Giants, appearing in 23 games for them that year. Described by Baseball-Reference.com as New York's fifth starter, he was the Giants' youngest pitcher, and second-youngest player, in 1945.Hansen started New York's third game of the season, pitching against the Boston Braves; he struck out three and allowed one run through seven innings, earning the victory. He defeated Raffensberger and the Phillies again on April 24, pitching his first career complete game in a 5–2 Giants win. After that game, manager Mel Ott said that he was encouraged by the performance because pitching was a concern of the Giants entering the season. Hansen's first loss of the season came against the Brooklyn Dodgers, a 4–3 defeat. After dueling to a stalemate in a tie game with Boston—he and Braves starter Al Javery each allowed one run through seven innings in the second half of a rain-shortened doubleheader—Hansen earned his third victory on May 13 against the Cardinals; it was the last game of New York's season-long eight-game winning streak. Hansen earned a no decision in a May 17 start against the Cubs, but a 5–2 loss to the Pirates on May 21 dropped his record to 3–2; he allowed four earned runs in four innings. His first save of the season came on May 24, when he pitched two innings following Adams, the regular closer, who earned the win; his final decision in May was a victory over Cincinnati, a 5–1 win which was the last in a four-game win streak. He started the first game of a doubleheader on May 30, pitching innings and allowing six runs; the Giants managed an 8–6 win, however, as Slim Emmerich relieved him and pitched scoreless innings.
In early June, Hansen pitched in both games of a doubleheader against the Cardinals; he started the first game and relieved Feldman in the second. He earned his second save of the season pitching perfect innings against Brooklyn in relief of Van Mungo on June 7, but followed that with his third loss against Boston, where he allowed three runs in six innings. The third loss was Hansen's final major league decision of the season. He pitched in four more games in June, starting on June 15 and allowing four earned runs in five innings, and pitching in relief on June 17, 22, and 24. He picked up a save in his final June game, pitching the final third of an inning in relief of Voiselle and Feldman in a 7–6 victory over Philadelphia. On June 26, Hansen reported to Camp Blanding in his home state of Florida for a pre-induction examination for the United States Army; his service commitment had previously been deferred due to a breathing handicap from an earlier broken nose.
In July, Hansen appeared for the first time on Independence Day, pitching of an inning in relief of Emmerich and allowing three runs. His final start of 1945 came against the Reds on July 7; he allowed four runs through innings as the Giants won, 11–7. Hansen allowed two runs in four innings facing the Cubs on July 15, and gave up three runs in against the Pirates on July 20. His final outing of the season was also his shortest; he allowed a run to Boston without putting out a single batter in the second game of a doubleheader.
At the beginning of August, Hansen injured his shoulder and was optioned to Jersey City in favor of Sal Maglie, where he appeared in five games. After serving seven months in the military, Hansen asked the team to voluntarily retire him in early 1946 due to his father's severe illness. He did not appear in a game at any level during the 1946 season, but stated that he did not plan to give up baseball as a career.
After the military
1947: One win for New York
Hansen returned to the Giants in April 1947, pitching a scoreless ninth inning in his first appearance against the Phillies. In his second game back, he allowed four runs to the Braves, working three innings in relief of Monty Kennedy; the Giants lost the game, 14–5. Hansen did not appear for the Giants in May, but returned to action on June 1 for his first start of the season. After allowing four runs in of an inning, Hansen was relieved by Junior Thompson, who earned the victory as the Giants defeated the Reds, 13–9; the outing raised Hansen's ERA to a season-high 16.62. He did not appear again for New York until June 21, when he pitched of an inning against the Cardinals, allowing no runs. As the summer months continued, Hansen was used more heavily; he made six appearances in July, all in Giants losses. On July 2, he pitched the final inning of an 11–3 loss to Brooklyn, allowing no hits. Hansen allowed runs in each of his next two outings, both against St. Louis: he pitched two innings on July 10, and threw five innings on July 12 in the second game of a doubleheader. In a 10–5 loss to the Cardinals on July 22, Hansen made his third consecutive appearance against the Redbirds, allowing no earned runs in innings. On July 28, he turned in a hitless, scoreless performance against Cincinnati, working one inning in a 5–0 shutout, and received his first decision—a loss—against the Reds on the final day of that month in an 8–7 contest.In August, Hansen appeared in nine games, his most in a single month during the 1947 season; he began on August 3 by allowing two runs to the Pirates in of an inning. He made his second start of the season against the Braves on August 10; although he pitched innings and allowed just three runs, he did not factor in the decision. Closer Ken Trinkle, who relieved Hansen, took the loss after a three-run home run by Tommy Holmes in the ninth inning as the Giants lost, 7–5. After a one-inning appearance against the Phillies on August 13, Hansen made his third start of the year on August 17 and notched his second loss of the season, this time to Boston. He allowed one run through seven innings, but the Braves defeated New York, 3–1. The defeat was Hansen's first of four consecutive appearances in the second games of doubleheaders, the third of which was another start and his third loss of the year. He allowed the game's only runs in a inning performance; the Giants lost, 4–0. After two more multi-inning relief appearances against Chicago on August 24 and 25, Hansen pitched seven innings in a start against Brooklyn in what would be his last appearance in the month. He allowed one run in seven innings, walking six batters. In the seventh inning, his middle finger was bruised by a line drive hit up the middle by Dixie Walker. Hansen walked Arky Vaughan, the first batter in the eighth inning, before leaving the game, and Cookie Lavagetto singled with the bases loaded to drive in the winning runs for the Dodgers; the Giants fell, 3–1.
Hansen returned to the mound on September 4, starting his sixth game of the season. Although he pitched eight innings and allowed two runs, Hansen earned his fourth loss of the season, as the Giants lost to Brooklyn, 2–0. His next outing, which came in relief against the Dodgers, was scoreless, but he allowed four runs in three innings to the Pirates the following day. After two more scoreless relief appearances, Hansen started against the Phillies on September 20. He pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on four hits; the 5–3 victory was his only win of the 1947 season, defeating Philadelphia starter Ken Heintzelman. Hansen appeared twice more in the 1947 season: he pitched innings in a start against the Dodgers on September 24, allowing four runs; and he lost his final start of the season against the Phillies four days later, pitching four innings and allowing three runs. For the season, Hansen posted a 1–5 record, a 4.37 ERA, and 18 strikeouts in 27 games as a 22-year-old, the Giants' second-youngest pitcher.