Professional career
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox selected Hatteberg in the 1991 MLB draft with a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds as compensation from Kansas City Royals for the signing of Type A free agent Mike Boddicker.[2]
Hatteberg made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 1995. In parts of seven seasons from 1995 through 2001, he hit 34 home runs and batted .267. On August 6, 2001, against the Texas Rangers, he became the only player in MLB history to hit into a triple play and hit a grand slam in his next at-bat.[3] The bat he used for that game is now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In Hatteberg's last season with the Red Sox, he ruptured a nerve in his elbow and tore a joint capsule, requiring surgery.[4] The injury impaired his throwing ability and endangered his career as a catcher.[5] On December 19 he was traded to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Pokey Reese. Two days later, Colorado declined to offer Hatteberg salary arbitration and he became a free agent.[6]
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics signed Hatteberg to a one-year contract with a $950,000 base salary plus incentives, the day after the Rockies declined to offer salary arbitration. Due to his difficulty throwing resulting from the elbow injury, he was asked to play first base.[5][6]
Hatteberg's conversion from catcher to first baseman by the Athletics is the subject of a chapter in the Michael Lewis book Moneyball. In that chapter, Oakland General Manager Billy Beane openly admitted how the team had pursued Hatteberg because of his high on-base percentage, which Athletics' management had determined was most often correlated with runs scored. According to Beane, it was one of the most affordable skills at that time for small-market clubs like the A's. Infield coach Ron Washington worked with Hatteberg to teach him the new position. Hatteberg was a part of the A's 20 consecutive game winning streak in 2002.[7] A fictionalized version of Hatteberg (played by Chris Pratt) is a key character in the 2011 film Moneyball.
A career highlight for Hatteberg was as a member of the Oakland A's on September 4, 2002. The A's had won 19 straight games to tie the American League record. With their next game, against the Kansas City Royals, tied at 11 after the A's had blown an 11–0 lead, Hatteberg pinch-hit with one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth inning. He drove a 1–0 pitch well over the right center field wall off Jason Grimsley for a walk-off home run to give the A's a 12–11 win and a then-American League record 20-game winning streak. This moment is depicted in the Moneyball film.
As an everyday player Hatteberg helped the Athletics reach the playoffs twice, in 2002 and 2003. He hit 49 home runs and batted .269 from 2002 through 2005. He drove in 263 runs and had an on-base percentage of .355. His best year was 2004 when he hit .287, scored 87 runs, hit 15 home runs, drove in 82 runs, and had an on-base percentage of .367.[8]
Cincinnati Reds
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On February 12, 2006, the Cincinnati Reds signed Hatteberg to a one-year, $750,000 contract. He was originally expected to give them flexibility at first base, backing up Adam Dunn. When the Reds traded Wily Mo Peña to the Red Sox, Dunn moved back to the outfield and Hatteberg was to play at first base, improving the Reds' defense.[9]
On August 8, 2006, he recorded his 1,000th career hit against Jason Marquis of the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. He went 3-for-5 in this game, increasing his batting average to .323.[10]
During the first weeks of the 2008 season, he was relegated to pinch-hitting while rookie Joey Votto replaced him at first base.[11] Pinch-hitting was relatively new to Hatteberg, who admitted that it was a role he was not particularly comfortable in even though he had hit his historic September 4, 2002 20-game winning-streak clinching walk-off homer for Oakland as a pinch-hitter. On May 27, 2008, he was designated for assignment by the Reds to make room on the roster for top prospect Jay Bruce and officially released by the club on June 4.[11][12]
Career statistics
In 1,314 games over 14 seasons, Hatteberg posted a .273 batting average (1153-for-4226) with 538 runs, 249 doubles, 7 triples, 106 home runs, 527 RBI, 562 bases on balls, .361 on-base percentage and .410 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .992 fielding percentage playing at first base and catcher. In 17 postseason games, he hit .286 (12-for-42) with 9 runs, 2 doubles, 1 home run and 11 walks.
After retirement
Hatteberg serves as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations for the Oakland Athletics.[13] In the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Hatteberg substituted for Ray Fosse as the Oakland A's color commentator on TV broadcasts for a number of games.[14]
