Larry Haney

[Michael Trzinski]

Wallace Larry Haney was born in 1942 in Charlottesville, Virginia and attended Orange County High School. His plan was to enroll at Virginia Tech as a quarterback but instead signed with the Baltimore Orioles in 1961 for a reported $60,000 bonus.

The four-sport star (track, baseball, basketball, football) became a full-time catcher in the pros. He spent six years in the minors before making his big-league debut with Baltimore in July 1966. Haney played 116 games for Baltimore over three years before he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft.

After splitting time at catcher for the Pilots for two months, Haney was traded to the Oakland Athletics in June. He played 53 games for the A’s but only hit .151/.221/.267. Over the next two years he played only two games for Oakland and in mid-1972, was purchased by the San Diego Padres. Haney played at Triple-A Hawaii and never suited up for Sand Diego before he was sold back to Oakland.

After a ‘lost’ season in 1973, Haney was once against purchased by Oakland, this time in spring training before the 1974 season. Although he didn’t hit that well, Haney was a key part of the A’s between 1974-76, playing 211 games while slashing .201/.241/.247. The A’s won the World Series in 1974.

The Brewers purchased Haney in December 1976. The right-handed hitter split time with Charlie Moore in 1977 but only played four games during a September call-up in 1978. Haney retired from playing but served as a pitching coach, bullpen coach, and major league scout for Milwaukee until 2006.

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