Jack Hiatt

An interview in 2022 with the former big league catcher

Teams:

• Los Angeles Angels, 1964; San Francisco Giants, 1965 - 1969; Montreal Expos, 1970; Chicago Cubs, 1970; Houston Astros, 1971 - 1972; California Angels, 1972.

Hiatt's Career Bio

Baseball Beginnings

Jack Hiatt was born on July 27, 1942 in Bakersfield, California. 

He played high school ball at San Fernando High School, the same school that has produced such major leaguers as Gary Mathews and Buddy Bradford.

After high school, Hiatt stayed local and went on to play at Los Angeles Pierce College.

In 1961, Hiatt was signed by the new expansion team named the Los Angeles Angels.

He began playing minor league ball that season in the Western Carolina League playing for a team named the Statesville (North Carolina) Owls.

Hiatt then played for the San Jose Bees in the California League, followed by the Hawaii Islanders in the Pacific Coast League.

Making it to the Big Leagues

Hiatt made his major league debut on September 7, 1964 in a home game for the Angels at Dodger Stadium against the Boston Red Sox.

His first MLB game was incredibly exciting. It was a tie game in the 11th and Angels manager Bill Rigney put Hiatt in to pinch hit. 

Hiatt smashed a single to left field, driving in Willie Smith to win the game for the Angels. 

What a way to start a big league career!

Though he only had 16 MLB at bats in 1964, Hiatt made the most of it and got 6 hits (.375 average).

He was shipped the following season to another team in California, this one up the coast to the north: the San Francisco Giants. 

Hiatt played in 49 games for the 1965 Giants and spent the rest of his season in AAA with the Tacoma Giants.

He also spent significant time at the AAA level in 1966, and only appeared in a few big league games that year.

However, by 1967, he was up in the majors for good.

Hiatt went on to have more than 180 MLB plate appearances each season for the next five years.

In 1968, he had 52 hits, 10 doubles, four home runs and 34 RBIs for the second place Giants. 

The following season, he hit a career high 7 home runs and matched his previous season's RBI total.

Playing Career After the Giants

Hiatt's contract was purchased by the Montreal Expos in April of 1970, where he played for one short month. He was then traded to the Chicago Cubs for Boots Day in May of the same year.

Hiatt had a positive impact on the 1970 Cubs, as he played in 66 games and collected 43 hits with 2 home runs and 22 RBIs that year.

After the 1970 season ended, however, Hiatt was sent south to the Houston Astros. 

He had a good season in 1971, splitting time with catcher Johnny Edwards and hitting .276 in 174 at bats. He also had a solid .991 fielding percentage behind the dish that year.

However, Hiatt didn't get off to a hot start in 1972 and soon the Astros shipped him back to the team he had his MLB debut with, the Angels.

He played in 22 games for the Angels that season, hitting .289. 

In March of 1973, the Angels released him. Hiatt then went on to play minor league ball in the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs' organizations, but he never made it back to the big leagues.

In total, Jack Hiatt played nine seasons in the major leagues and batted .251 with 287 hits, 22 home runs, 154 RBIs and an 8.5 bWAR. 

Hiatt caught approximately 2,370 MLB innings in his career, maintaining a .990 fielding percentage as a catcher and throwing out an average of 35% of all runners attempting to steal. 

Hiatt's Post-Playing Career

After Jack Hiatt's playing career ended, he got into coaching.

He began as a manager in the Chicago Cubs' organization, leading teams such as the Pompano Beach Cubs and Wichita Aeros.

In 1981, he was back in the big leagues as a bullpen coach with the Cubs. 

After that, Hiatt spent a few more seasons managing at the minor league level. 

Later, Hiatt worked in the San Francisco Giants' front office and spent the rest of his career with the organization. 

He retired from the Giants in 2007, and at the time of his retirement he was the team's Director of Player Development.

Q&A with Jack Hiatt

Jack Hiatt is a former catcher who caught hundreds of games behind the plate at the big league level. 

He has been a teammate with such Hall of Famers and legendary names as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and more.

I wrote to Mr. Hiatt a few weeks back with some questions I had about his career. 

Not only did he take the time to answer my questions (which you can read below) he also signed my 1968 Topps card.

See below for Jack Hiatt's responses to my questions…

 

Question 1: I'm Curious to know/learn about your best memory from your playing career. Can you tell me about that?

Answer: That's easy. Being a teammate with the best ever Willie Mays.

Question 2: As an MLB catcher in the 60's and 70's, what was the hardest thing about being a catcher? What was the most enjoyable?

Answer: [hardest thing] To be consistent, everyday is big, you have to win! 

[most enjoyable] I think catching Hof'ers Gaylord Perry & Juan Marichal.

Question 3: You were teammates with Hall of Famers like Mays, McCovey, and Marichal. What was it like playing with these men?

Answer: What they did looked easy, hard for the rest of us!

That's A Wrap!

Not only do I love baseball but I love baseball history, and I always thoroughly enjoy learning from catchers that played years - even decades - ago. 

These men often have great wisdom to share, and interesting stories (and perspectives!) as well. 

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us. 

Thanks for stopping by Catchers Home.