Billy Hitchcock, 89; Major League Infielder Managed Three Teams

Billy Hitchcock, 89, a major league infielder during the 1940s and ‘50s who later managed three teams, died Sunday in Opelika, Ala., according to Auburn University, where Hitchcock led the university to its first football bowl game and its first Southeastern Conference baseball title.

Hitchcock spent more than 40 years in professional baseball as a player, manager, scout, coach and minor league executive.

He was an infielder with five major league teams between 1942 and 1953. In 1951, he hit .306 in 77 games for the Philadelphia Athletics. He managed the Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves in the 1960s.

As a football player, Hitchcock was a single-wing back who scored Auburn’s only touchdown, on a 40-yard run, in the Bacardi Bowl in Havana on Jan. 1, 1937. The game ended in a 7-7 tie with Villanova.

As captain and shortstop, Hitchcock also led the Tigers to their first conference baseball title in 1937.

A native of Inverness, Ala., Hitchcock was a lieutenant in the Army Reserve, earning the Bronze Star for service in the Pacific and three battle stars during World War II.