Burt Carlton Hooton (born February 7, 1950),
nicknamed "Happy" (by former manager
Tommy
Lasorda, because he rarely ever smiled), is a coach and former
right-handed
starting pitcher in
Major League Baseball. He
won 151 games over a 15-year career,
mostly with the
Chicago Cubs and
Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hooton's career began auspiciously with a
no-hitter in his fourth major league game for the
Cubs, but he gained perhaps his widest recognition for his several
playoff performances with the Dodgers. His only
All-Star appearance was
in 1981, when he also was named the
NLCS Most Valuable Player on
the way to helping the Dodgers to a
World Series championship with four
postseason
wins in five
appearances.
He is currently the pitching coach of the
Round Rock Express, the AAA affiliate of
the
Houston Astros.
Playing career
College
Hooton
attended the University of Texas at Austin
, where he posted a 35-3 record including two
no-hitters. While at Texas, he was a member of the
Kappa Alpha Order.
Chicago Cubs
After college, Hooton was selected by the Cubs with the second pick
of the 1971 amateur draft. He made his major league debut with the
team on
June 17 of that year, but appeared
in only three games before the end of the season,
striking out 15 batters in one of them. He was the
third player to go straight to the Major Leagues after being
drafted without spending a day in the minors.
He began 1972 in
outstanding fashion, pitching a 4-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field
on April 16, the second day
of the strike-delayed season. But he was unable to win
consistently as the team's fortunes declined in the early 1970s,
and he was traded to Los Angeles in May 1975 after compiling a
34-44 record with a steadily increasing
earned run average.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers were headed in the opposite direction from the Cubs,
and Hooton was 18-7 with a 2.82 ERA over the remainder of the year,
winning his last 12 decisions for a team record. After a
disappointing 1976 season, he used his strong
knuckle curve to become a valuable member of
the pennant-winning teams of the next two years, leading the staff
with 153 strikeouts in 1977 and with 19 wins and a 2.71 ERA in
1978. He finished second to
Gaylord
Perry in the 1978
Cy Young Award
voting.
Hooton started Game 3 of the
1977 NLCS against
the Phillies, but was pulled after issuing three consecutive
bases-loaded
walks in the second
inning; the Dodgers came back to win 6-5. In the
World Series against the
New York Yankees, he pitched a 6-1 victory
in Game 2, allowing only five singles and retiring 14 of the last
15 hitters to tie the Series at one game each. But in Game 6, he
left in the fourth inning with the Dodgers behind 4-3 after giving
up a 2-run
home run to
Reggie Jackson – Jackson's first of three in
the game, all on the first pitch. The Yankees won 8-4, taking the
Series in six games. The 1978 playoffs were rematches; in Game 1 of
the
NLCS
against the Phillies, Hooton left after allowing three runs in the
fifth inning, although the Dodgers still led 7-4 and went on to win
the game. In the
Series rematch
with the Yankees he won Game 2, leaving in the seventh inning with
a 4-2 lead as Los Angeles held on for a 4-3 win to take a 2-0
Series edge. But Game 5 was another crushing defeat as Hooton was
yanked after allowing four runs in the third inning for a 4-2
Yankee lead, with New York romping to a 12-2 blowout and their
third straight win. The Yankees won again two days later for their
second consecutive title.
After solid but unspectacular years in 1979 and 1980, Hooton
enjoyed an 11-6 campaign in the
strike-shortened 1981
season, posting a career-best 2.28 ERA and being named to his only
All-Star team.
He began the playoffs with a win against the
Houston Astros in Game 3 of the
Division Series,
allowing only three
hits, including
an
Art Howe solo homer, through seven
innings. After the Dodgers won the series in five games, they went
on to face the
Montreal Expos
in the NLCS; Hooton won Game 1, allowing only six hits before
leaving in the eighth inning with a 2-0 lead. Returning in Game 4
with the Dodgers behind two games to one, he allowed only five hits
and one
unearned run before leaving in
the eighth inning with a 3-1 lead; the Dodgers went on to a 7-1
win, and won Game 5 to advance to the
World Series, again meeting the Yankees.
Hooton was named the NLCS MVP for his two wins and perfect 0.00
ERA. He started Game 2 of the World Series, but took a tough loss
after leaving the game in the seventh inning, behind 1-0 on an
unearned run; the Yankees went on to win 3-0 behind the pitching of
his former Dodger teammate
Tommy John.
But he came back with another strong outing in Game 6, leaving with
an 8-1 lead in the sixth inning as the Dodgers won 9-2, taking
their first World Series title since 1965.
Hooton remained with the Dodgers for three more years, but with a
combined record of just 16-21; he spent most of 1984 in the
bullpen.
Texas Rangers
Hooton played his last season in 1985 for the
Texas Rangers after signing with
them as a free agent, going 5-8.
After retirement
Hooton served as the pitching coach of the Astros from 2000 to
2004. He is currently the pitching coach for the
Round Rock Express, the Astros' top
minor league team.
Pitching
Hooton's signature pitch was the
knuckle
curve, and he was one of the few pitchers in MLB history to
master this pitch.
See also
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