Johnny Hutchings

Who was Johnny Hutchings?

John Richard Joseph Hutchings was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who worked in 155 Major League games, mostly as a relief pitcher, for the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves during the 1940s. The native of Chicago, Illinois, stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 250 pounds.

Hutchings' professional career began in 1935 and he reached the Majors after winning 22 games in 1939 for the Pensacola Pilots in the Class B Southeastern League. As a 1940 rookie playing for the defending National League champion Cincinnati Reds, he appeared in 19 games, including four starting assignments, for a team that ultimately won the 1940 world championship.

Hutchings started one of the most tragic games in Cincinnati club history, the second game of a doubleheader on August 3, 1940, in Boston, against the "Bees". Hutchings lasted only 1²⁄₃ innings of the nightcap, and Boston won, 5–2, for a split of the twin bill. Willard Hershberger, temporarily the Reds' starting catcher due to injury, had not reported to the ballpark for the day's doubleheader and stayed behind in his hotel room.