Former Texas Rangers Manager, World Series Champion Billy Hunter Dies

Billy Hunter, who managed the Texas Ranges in 1977 and 1978 and won three World Series rings as a player, died earlier this week at 97 years old.

Hunter was better known to baseball fans in Baltimore, where he was the last surviving member of the first Orioles team in 1954. That franchise moved from St. Louis in 1953, which also made him the final surviving member of the St. Louis Browns team.

His death was reported on Thursday, and the Orioles remember him on social media accounts, including X (formerly Twitter). He was inducted into their Orioles Hall of Fame in 1996.

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Hunter became the Rangers manager midway through the 1977 season, joining a franchise that had already gone through three managers that season.

Frank Lucchesi managed to start 1977. He went 142-149 in two-plus seasons. In spring training that season he was injured in a fight with Lenny Randle, who played for the team. After a 31-31 start to the season, Lucchesi was fired on June 21.

Eddie Stanky took over as interim manager — for one game. He resigned the following day. Connie Ryan took over as interim manager for six games before the Rangers hired Hunter away from the Orioles, where he had been a third base coach for 13 seasons.

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Hunter managed the rest of the 1977 season, going 60-33 and Texas finished with a 94-68 record and second in the American League West, eight games back of the Kansas City Royals.

In 1978, Hunter again led the Rangers to a winning record, going 86-75. Texas finished second in the AL West, five games behind Kansas City. But Hunter turned down a five-year extension at midseason and he was fired with one game remaining in 1978.

Hunter never managed again, but he was the head baseball coach and eventual athletic director at Towson University from 1979-95.

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Hunter played baseball and football at Penn State and was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. During that time, he played with the Fort Worth Cats and was the Texas League MVP.

The Dodgers traded him to the St. Louis Browns, and he made his MLB debut in 1953. He made his only All-Star Game appearance as a rookie.

When the team moved to Baltimore, he played one season for the Orioles. He slashed .229/.265/.278 with three home runs and 64 RBI.

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He went on to play for the New Yor Yankees (1955-56), the Kansas City Athletics (1957-58) and Cleveland (1958). The Orioles traded Hunter to the Yankees in late 1954 in a multi-player deal that included Don Larsen, who threw the only perfect game in World Series history two seasons later.

Hunter slashed .219/.264/.294 with 16 home runs and 144 RBI for his career.

He was part of three World Series championships — as a player with the Yankees in 1956 and as a coach with the Orioles in 1966 and 1970.

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