Editing Harry Danning

{{short description|American baseball player (1911-2004)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Harry Danning
|image=Harry Danning 1947.jpg
|caption=Danning, circa 1947
|position=[[Catcher]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1911|9|6}}
|birth_place=[[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2004|11|29|1911|9|6}}
|death_place=[[Valparaiso, Indiana]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=July 30
|debutyear=1933
|debutteam=New York Giants
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 25
|finalyear=1942
|finalteam=New York Giants
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.285
|stat2label=[[Home runs]]
|stat2value=57
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=397
|teams=
* [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] ({{baseball year|1933}}–{{baseball year|1942}})
|highlights=
* 4× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1938 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1938]]–[[1941 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1941]])
}}
'''Harry Danning''' (September 6, 1911 – November 29, 2004), nicknamed "'''Harry the Horse'''", was an American professional [[baseball]] player.<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/danniha01.shtml |title=Harry Danning at Baseball Reference |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref> He played his entire [[Major League Baseball]] career as a [[catcher]] for the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]], and was considered to be both an excellent hitter and one of the top defensive catchers of his era.<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSsDAAAAMBAJ&q=harry+danning+baseball+digest&pg=PA63 |title=''Harry Danning: Catching Star of Another Era'', by Rick Van Blair, Baseball Digest, October 1994, Vol. 53, No. 10, ISSN 0005-609X |access-date=January 22, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He batted and threw [[right-handed]], and was a member of the National League All-Star team for four consecutive years, 1938-41.<ref name=autogenerated1>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/danniha01.shtml Harry Danning Stats | Baseball-Reference.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Early and personal life==
Danning was born in [[Los Angeles]] to [[Jews|Jewish]] parents:<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref>[[iarchive:ellisislandtoebb00levi/page/120|<!-- quote=harry danning jewish. --> Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience - Peter Levine - Internet Archive]]</ref> his father, Robert Danning, was a Polish immigrant and owned a used-furniture store; his mother, Jennie Danning (née Goldberg), was a Latvian immigrant.  Danning was one of six children, including three sons; Robert Danning took his sons to see baseball games, including the Pacific Coast League and the Negro league games.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Harry Danning – Society for American Baseball Research|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/harry-danning/|access-date=December 29, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> Robert's love of baseball inspired both Harry and his older brother [[Ike Danning]], who played for the [[St. Louis Browns]] in {{baseball year|1928}}.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Danning attended [[Los Angeles High School]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> His father became ill and Harry started working at 13, including delivering ice.<ref name=":0" /> Danning also worked for a rug salesman after high school.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Slater|first=Robert|title=Great Jews in Sports|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers, Inc|year=2003|isbn=0824604539|location=New York|pages=64}}</ref> By that time, Danning's father had passed away, and the rug store job paid well&nbsp;— $90 a month&nbsp;— helping Danning support his family. He supplemented his income playing semipro baseball on Sundays, for $7.50 a week.<ref name=":0" />

==Baseball career==
In 1931, Danning signed a $150-a-month contract with the Class-A team in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], owned by the [[New York Giants (baseball team)|Giants]].<ref name=":0" /> When the Bridgeport franchise folded, mid-season 1932, Danning moved to [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina]] based [[Winston-Salem Twins]] to be part of the [[Piedmont League]].<ref name=":1" /> Danning's batting average in the minor leagues was above .300 every season.<ref name=":0" />

Danning first played with the New York Giants in [[1933 New York Giants (MLB) season|1933]]. From [[1934 New York Giants (MLB) season|1934]] to [[1936 New York Giants (MLB) season|1936]], he served as the Giants reserve catcher, working behind [[Gus Mancuso]]. In 1934 in spring training, despite a team reservation Jewish ballplayers [[Phil Weintraub]] and Danning were refused entry to the [[Flamingo Hotel, Miami Beach|Flamingo Hotel]] in Miami Beach, Florida, which had a "No Jews" policy. However, they were allowed to stay when Giants manager [[Bill Terry]] threatened he would take the whole team to another hotel if his Jewish ballplayers were not allowed in.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qETFBAAAQBAJ&dq=Phil+Weintraub+baseball+hotel+bill+terry&pg=PA146 ''Jews and Baseball: Volume 1, Entering the American Mainstream, 1871–1948'' - Burton A. Boxerman, Benita W. Boxerman<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/17122/Media_Monitor.html |title=JewishPress.com |access-date=September 4, 2013 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025134018/http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/17122/Media_Monitor.html |archive-date=October 25, 2006 }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CwsSvXKTcM4C&dq=Phil+Weintraub+baseball&pg=PA41 ''Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words: Oral Histories of 23 Players'' - Peter Ephross, Martin Abramowitz<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In the [[1937 New York Giants (MLB) season|1937 season]], Danning and Mancuso shared the catching duties with Danning appearing in 93 [[Games played|games]], while Mancuso appeared in 86 games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYG/1937.shtml |title=1937 New York Giants at Baseball Reference |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref> In [[1938 New York Giants (MLB) season|1938]] Danning took over the role as the Giants starting catcher.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYG/1938.shtml |title=1938 New York Giants at Baseball Reference |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref> He was selected for the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] squad in four consecutive years (1938–1941), was on the world champion Giants team that defeated the [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] in the [[1933 World Series]], and appeared in the pennant-winning clubs that were defeated by the [[New York Yankees]] in the [[1936 World Series|1936]] and [[1937 World Series|1937]] World Series.<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference" />

In the 1937 series, CBS announcer [[Ted Husing]] nicknamed Danning "Harry The Horse" for [[Damon Runyon]]'s Broadway character.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Harry Danning Obituary at The New York Times">[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/sports/baseball/05danning.html Harry Danning Obituary at The New York Times]</ref>

From [[1938 New York Giants (MLB) season|1938]] through [[1940 New York Giants (MLB) season|1940]] Danning hit .306, .313 and .300, and finished in the top 10 in [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|National League MVP]] voting in [[1939 New York Giants (MLB) season|1939]] (9th) and 1940 (7th).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1939.shtml#NLmvp |title=1939 National League Most Valuable Player Award voting results at Baseball Reference |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1940.shtml#NLmvp |title=1940 National League Most Valuable Player Award voting results at Baseball Reference |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref> He collected career highs in home runs (16) in 1939, and in RBIs (91) in 1940.<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference"/> He led all National League catchers with a .991 [[fielding average]] in 1939.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSsDAAAAMBAJ&q=july+2001+fielding+leaders+baseball+digest&pg=PA86 |title=Baseball Digest, July 2001, P.86, Vol. 60, No. 7, ISSN 0005-609X |access-date=January 22, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On June 9, 1939 against the pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds, Danning was one of five Giants to hit a home run in the fourth inning, breaking the prior record of four home runs by a team in one inning. Remarkably, all five were hit by the Giants with two outs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_hr8.shtml |title=Home Runs in a Game by a Team Records at Baseball Almanac |publisher=Baseball-almanac.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref> Then, on June 15, 1940, he [[hitting for the cycle|hit for the cycle]] in a game against [[Pittsburgh Pirates|Pittsburgh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/cycle.htm |title=Catchers Who Hit For The Cycle at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers |publisher=Members.tripod.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref> His home run came on an [[inside-the-park home run]] that landed {{convert|460|ft|m}} on the fly in front of the Giants' clubhouse, wedged behind the [[Eddie Grant (baseball)|Eddie Grant]] memorial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/iphr.htm |title=Inside The Park Home Runs by Catchers at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers |publisher=tripod.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}}</ref>

Through 2010, he was ninth all-time in career hits (behind [[Al Rosen]]) among Jewish major league baseball players.<ref name=JML>{{cite web|title=Career Batting Leaders through 2010|url=http://www.jewishmajorleaguers.org/|work=Career Leaders|publisher=Jewish Major Leaguers|access-date=February 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417202439/http://jewishmajorleaguers.org/|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
In addition to batting .300 or higher in three consecutive seasons, Danning had a .285 career batting average, tying Yogi Berra for the 18th highest lifetime batting average among Hall of Fame eligible major league baseball catchers. He hit 57 lifetime [[home run]]s and 397 [[run batted in|RBIs]] in 890 games.<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference"/> He had a career [[fielding percentage]] of .985,<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference"/> leading National League catchers three times in [[putout]]s, and twice in [[assist (baseball)|assists]] and baserunners [[caught stealing]].<ref name="Harry Danning at Baseball Reference"/> During his career, he threw out 47% of runners attempting to steal.<ref>BaseballReference.com.</ref>  He caught the [[screwball]]er [[Carl Hubbell]], and was also a teammate of [[Mel Ott]], [[Bill Terry]] and [[Travis Jackson]], four [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famers]].

==After baseball==
During [[World War II]], Danning served in the [[United States Army]], and announced his retirement from baseball after his military service. He went into the automobile business in Los Angeles, and also worked as a [[minor league baseball|minor league]] [[coach (baseball)|coach]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Harry Danning Obituary at The New York Times" />

He received one vote each for the Hall of Fame in both [[Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1958|1958]] and [[Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1960|1960]]. In 1996 he was inducted into the [[Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scjewishsportshof.com/danning.html|title=Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home}}</ref>

He died in [[Valparaiso, Indiana]], at the age of 93.<ref name="Harry Danning Obituary at The New York Times" /> His obituary and photograph appeared in the December 13, 2004, edition of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine.

==Other highlights==
* The [[BBWAA]] in [[The Sports Network|TSN]] poll for the 1940 All-Star team for both major leagues comprised [[Frank McCormick]], 1b; [[Joe Gordon]], 2b; [[Luke Appling]], ss; [[Stan Hack]], 3b; Harry Danning, c; and [[Bob Feller]], [[Bucky Walters]] and [[Paul Derringer]], p (January 8, 1941).
* In 1940 Danning was depicted on a Wheaties box as "the year's best catcher". Bucky Walters and Barney McCoskey were also depicted on that box.

==See also==
* [[List of Jewish Major League Baseball players]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Van Blair |first=Rick |year=1994 |title=[[Dugout to Foxhole|Dugout to Foxhole: Interviews with Baseball Players Whose Careers Were Affected by World War II]] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=078640017X}}

==External links==
{{baseballstats|mlb=|espn=|br=d/danniha01|brm=dannin001har|fangraphs=1002978|retro=D/Pdannh101}}
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{{Succession box| before = [[Harry Craft]] | title = [[Hitting for the cycle]]| years = June 15, 1940 | after = [[Johnny Mize]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Danning, Harry}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Jewish American baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Jewish American baseball players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball catchers]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball coaches]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) players]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:Bridgeport Bears (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles High School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:High Point Pointers players]]
[[Category:Winston-Salem Twins players]]