Moe Morhardt

Meredith Goodwin "Moe" Morhardt (born January 16, 1937) is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played parts of the 1961 and 1962 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, appearing in 25 major league games.^[1]

Playing career

Morhardt attended the University of Connecticut, where he was a two-sport All-American in soccer and baseball, also playing basketball during his freshman year.^[2]

After three seasons of baseball at Connecticut, Morhardt was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in summer 1959. He spent the remainder of 1959 at three minor league levels, spending most of the season with the Class D Paris Lakers. He spent all of 1960 with the Class A Lancaster Red Roses. He was assigned to the minor leagues again in 1960 and played much of the season with the Class B Wenatchee Chiefs.^[3] In September, he was called up to the Cubs and made his major league debut on September 7, 1961. He appeared in seven games for the Cubs that month, starting each at first base and hitting .278.^[4]

Morhardt began the 1962 season with Chicago, appearing in 18 games as a pinch-hitter. After hitting .125 with the Cubs, Morhardt was sent down to the minor leagues and split the rest of the season between Class B Wenatchee and Class AA San Antonio.^[3][5]

He spent 1963 and 1964 in the minor leagues before retiring from professional baseball following the 1964 season.^[3]

Coaching career

After his playing career, Morhardt was the head baseball coach at The Gilbert School in Winsted, Connecticut from 1967–1987, also serving, at times, as the school's boys' soccer coach, boys' basketball coach, and athletic director. As head baseball coach, Morhardt had a record of 299-134, winning eight league titles and four Class M state championships.^[6][7] Starting prior to the 1988 season, Morhardt coached for seven seasons for the Hartford Hawks college baseball team, serving as an assistant from 1988–1992 and head coach from 1993–1994.^[8] From 1997–1999, he was the head coach of the Western Connecticut Colonials baseball team.^[6][9] Morhardt also spent time as the head coach of the Danbury Westerners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, coaching the team from 1998–2004.^[6][10]

Morhardt was elected to the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame on May 20, 1980.^[2]

Yearly coaching records

NCAA

^{[9][11][12][13]}

Collegiate summer baseball

NECBL

References

1. ↑ Moe Morhardt at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009. Archived 12/12/09
2. 1 2 Morhardt's Credentials earn Hall of Fame spot at mhs1955.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009. Archived 12/12/09
3. 1 2 3 "Moe Morhardt Minors". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2012. 
4. ↑ "Moe Morhardt 1961 Gamelog". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2012. 
5. ↑ "Moe Morhardt 1962 Gamelog". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2012. 
6. 1 2 3 Morhardt honored for his passion, love of the game at ctsports.homestead.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009. Archived 12/12/09
7. ↑ Yantz, Tom; Bohdan Kolinsky (December 12, 1999). "Connecticut's Best of the Century: The Great Coaches". Hartford, Connecticut, USA: Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012. 
8. ↑ "Transactions: College". Lawrence Journal-World. Lawrence, Kansas, USA. June 21, 1994. p. 5C. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013. HARTFORD-- ... Announced the resignation of Moe Morhardt, baseball coach. 
9. 1 2 "University of Hartford Baseball: Year-by-Year Records". Hartford Hawks. University of Hartford Athletic Department. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012. 
10. ↑ Whalen, Goslin join new-look Westerners at cmf.newstimes.com, URL accessed December 20, 2009. Archived 12/20/09
11. ↑ "Baseball Record Book" (PDF). AmericaEast.com. America East Conference. p. 14. Retrieved December 4, 2012. 
12. ↑ "Head Coaching Wins". ColonialBaseball.com. Western Connecticut Baseball. Retrieved December 4, 2012. 
13. ↑ "Baseball Yearly Results". LittleEast.com. Little East Conference. Retrieved December 4, 2012.