Hobie Landrith was an undersized catcher with big desire.
At 5-foot-8, according to the Associated Press and his Topps baseball card, Landrith stood “about as tall as the bat boy,” the Baltimore Sun noted, but he played in the majors for 14 seasons, including two with the Cardinals.
A left-handed batter, he had many good games at St. Louis, both for and against the Cardinals. Landrith had more career hits (78) in St. Louis than he did in any other big-league city.
Though best known for being the first player the Mets took in the National League expansion draft, Landrith didn’t last a full season with them. He was 93 when he died on April 6, 2023.
Catching up
Hobart Landrith was born in Decatur, Ill., and moved with his family to metropolitan Detroit when he was 7. At 15, he served as a bating practice catcher for the Tigers.
In 1948, according to the Detroit Free Press, Landrith was one of two top high school catchers in Detroit. The other was Harry Chiti. Both became big-leaguers. (Landrith and Chiti were teammates on the 1956 Cubs and 1962 Mets).
After attending Michigan State for a year, Landrith signed with the Reds in 1949. Sent to their Tulsa farm club in 1950, Landrith broke a leg sliding into home plate in the season opener at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Tulsa World reported.
When he recovered, the Reds, needing a bullpen catcher, brought Landrith, 20, to Cincinnati. He impressed manager Luke Sewell, who put him on the roster. Landrith started four games for the Reds that summer.
After spending most of 1951 and 1952 in the minors, Landrith stuck with the Reds through 1955 as backup to Andy Seminick and then Smoky Burgess.
Flair for dramatic
For a player who hit .198 in 1954, Landrith had his share of standout performances. In May, his three-run home run against the Cardinals’ Gerry Staley sparked the Reds to victory. Boxscore Two months later, Landrith hit a walkoff home run in a 1-0 triumph over the Giants. Boxscore
Reds broadcaster and former pitcher Waite Hoyt referred to Landrith “with unabashed affection as Little Hobie because he’s been the sort of guy it’s always easy to root for,” the Dayton Journal Herald reported.
On Sept. 1, 1954, Landrith impressed with his glove _ and his courage _ when he took part in a promotional stunt and caught a baseball dropped 575 feet from a helicopter at Crosley Field. “It knocked me to the ground, ” Landrith told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “but I held on.”
Landrith received $500 for catching the ball.
(The record was set in 1938 when Indians catchers Hank Helf and Frank Pytlak each caught a ball dropped from atop the 708-foot Terminal Tower in Cleveland, the Associated Press reported.)
Second string in St. Louis
In November 1955, Landrith was traded to the Cubs and he made 90 starts for them in 1956. After the season, the Cubs dealt Landrith, pitchers Sam Jones and Jim Davis, and utilityman Eddie Miksis to the Cardinals for pitchers Tom Poholsky and Jackie Collum, catcher Ray Katt, and an infield prospect, Wally Lammers.
Cardinals general manager Frank Lane then tried to flip Landrith to the Reds for Smoky Burgess, but was turned down, the Associated Press reported.
Used primarily as a backup to Hal Smith, Landrith made 56 starts for the 1957 Cardinals. He hit .243 and nailed 14 of 30 runners attempting to steal.
Seeking a catcher with more pop, Bing Devine, Lane’s successor as Cardinals general manager, tried to swap Landrith to the Reds for Burgess after the 1957 season, but he was turned down, too, according to the Associated Press.
Landrith was the Cardinals’ Opening Day catcher in 1958, but most of the playing time that season went to Hal Smith (61 starts) and Gene Green (48). Landrith, who started 34 games, batted .215.
A highlight came on July 13, 1958, when Landrith had four hits and two RBI against the Pirates at St. Louis. (A lifetime .233 hitter in the majors, Landrith batted .313 versus the Pirates in his career.) Boxscore
A month later, Landrith walloped a game-winning home run in the eighth inning against the Phillies’ Turk Farrell at St. Louis. Boxscore
On Oct. 7, 1958, Landrith, pitcher Billy Muffett and third baseman Benny Valenzuela were traded to the Giants for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Marv Grissom.
Tall among Giants
Landrith twice had four-hit games for the Giants at St. Louis. The first was July 4, 1959. Boxscore The other came on Aug. 16, 1960, when Landrith had three doubles and a single against Bob Gibson and caught the four-hitter of rookie Juan Marichal, who was facing the Cardinals for the first time. Boxscore (Landrith also was the catcher when Marichal pitched a one-hit shutout versus the Phillies in his Giants debut. Boxscore)
“Hobie has helped me a lot, especially on gripping the ball so the batters can’t see if it’s going to be a fastball or a curve,” Marchial told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
On Aug. 17, 1961, a spectacular catch by Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood robbed Landrith of an extra-base hit at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
With the Cardinals ahead, 2-0, in the eighth, the Giants had a runner on second when Landrith batted against Larry Jackson. “At least three Cardinals (in the dugout) grabbed towels and signaled Flood to shade farther to the right,” the San Francisco Examiner reported. “He took five steps and needed every one.”
Landrith drove a pitch to right-center. “I hit that ball as hard as I’ve ever hit any,” he said to the Post-Dispatch.
Flood told the newspaper, “I thought for sure the ball was going out.”
“Flood took off with his back to the infield all the way,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “About one step from the fence he timed his high leap perfectly and speared the ball.” Boxscore
An original
After being drafted by the expansion Mets, Landrith went to spring training with them in 1962. Crouched behind the plate in a game, he was struck on top of the head by the backlash of a batter’s big swing. After a few days on the sideline, Landrith returned and was knocked on the noggin by another batter’s backlash. “I’m three inches shorter than when I reported to camp,” he told Dick Young of the New York Daily News.
In the Mets’ first regular-season game, against the Cardinals, Landrith started, went hitless and made an errant throw to second on Julian Javier’s stolen base. Boxscore
Landrith’s Mets highlight came on May 12, 1962, when he hit a two-run walkoff home run at the Polo Grounds against the Braves’ Warren Spahn. The high fly down the line in right “just did make the railing of the upper deck as it fell almost straight down,” the New York Daily News reported. Boxscore
A month later, Landrith was traded to the Orioles as the player to be named in a deal for first baseman Marv Throneberry.
In his second week with the Orioles, Landrith slugged a two-run walkoff home run against Dick Radatz of the Red Sox at Baltimore, earning a win for starter Robin Roberts. Landrith, Radatz and Roberts all attended Michigan State.
“Roberts leaped out of the Orioles dugout, jumped up and down, and gave Landrith a big bear hug as Hobie battled his way through congratulating teammates.” the Baltimore Sun reported. Boxscore
RetroSimba 
Thanks Mark. Another post that I enjoyed reading and taking some time to look up somethings. Maybe the reason why the Cardinals tried to trade for Smokey Burgess is because he hit better against St.Louis than any other team. Against the Cardinals he had career highs in Batting Average, Hits, Doubles,Rbi’s and Homeruns. I would be willing to bet that those 3 Doubles that Hobie Landrith had against Bob Gibson on August 16th 1960 were the most extra basehits any one player had against Bob Gibson in a single game.
I didn’t know Smoky Burgess hit the Cardinals so well. I noticed he was especially tough against them in 1955 _ 16 RBI in 59 at-bats.
I’m glad you appreciated Hobie Landrith’s remarkable feat against Bob Gibson. it’s the only time in his big-league career that Landrith got 3 extra-base hits in a game _ and to do it against a pitcher like Gibson is astonishing.
I did a quick look on baseball-reference.com and noticed that the most extra-base hits Gibson allowed in a game was 6. It happened twice _ Aug. 15, 1965, vs. the Reds and Aug. 17, 1970, vs. the Dodgers _ but no one in either game got 3 extra-base hits against him.
According to Wiki, citing Detroit Free Press, Hobie’s 1961 Giants contract was for $80,000, which is incredible for that time period, even for a guy expected to be a starter, and especially from a cash-strapped owner like Horace Stoneham. In 1968, SI had Tim McCarver, a 5-year regular, making $60,000. Would the Detroit writer inflate the salary just to make the home town fans feel proud? The other interesting assertion from Wiki is that Hobie only signed a pro contract because once in college he learned that Michigan required a master’s degree to teach high school phys. ed. That’s what I call a violation of substantive due process.
I don’t know about Landrith’s salary, but from 1958 until the A’s moved to Oakland in 1968, I think Stoneham was doing pretty well financially.
I find it hard to believe that Landrith’s salary was $80K.
I did a scan of the Detroit Free Press archives and found no reference to Hobie Landrith getting a 1961 Giants contract of $80,000. If such a figure was reported anywhere, it likely was an error or a typo.
When Landrith signed with the Giants on Feb. 11, 1961, the San Francisco Examiner, Associated Press and United Press International all reported that terms were not disclosed. That same day, according to those sources, Eddie Mathews signed with the Braves for $60,000 and Hoyt Wilhelm signed with the Orioles for $21,000. In its Feb. 22, 1961, edition, The Sporting News reported that Orlando Cepeda signed with the Giants for $27,000. So, any alleged mention of Landrith getting $80,000 clearly was inaccurate.
Regarding your other item, in explaining why he didn’t want to pursue a master’s in order to become a high school teacher/coach, Landrith told The Sporting News for its March 21, 1956, edition, “That meant I’d have to stay in college for 5 years and after that you’d be getting about $4,500 or $5,000 per year coaching. I didn’t think there was much percentage there, and so I decided to go into professional ball.”
I think I’d be three inches shorter as well if I got tagged a couple times with backswings, Mark!
Yep, I love that anecdote, Bruce.
Here’s another good one that was reported by Arthur Daley of the New York Times:
Hobie Landrith brought his 11-year-old son with him on a Mets road trip. During the trip, the Mets informed Hobie he’d been traded to the Orioles. Hobie went to tell his son. “I know, Dad,” his son said, “I heard about it 3 days ago.” An astonished Hobie asked, “How can that be?” The son said he was in the clubhouse 3 days earlier when he overheard a Mets official discussing the deal on the phone. “The only reason I didn’t tell you about it,” the son said, “was that I remembered you’d once ordered me never to repeat anything I heard in the clubhouse.”
That’s wonderful that at 15, he was batting practice catcher for the Tigers. What a thrill that must have been and a harbinger of a future as an MLB catcher.
Mark, you mentioning his Landrith throwing out 14 of 30 runners for the Cards in 1957 had me looking up his defense on b-ref and wow, in 1959 for the Giants, he threw out 51% of runners and that was in 109 games! Has me thinking that he could make it in today’s games with bigger bases and more stolen base attempts.
I am glad you picked up on the item about Hobie Landrith being 15 when he caught batting practice for the Detroit Tigers, Steve.
In a recorded interview posted on You Tube, Hobie tells the story of how Hank Greenberg was coming back to the Tigers in the summer of 1945 after missing three full seasons because of military service. The Tigers wanted Greenberg to get some private batting practice sessions at Tiger Stadium before being activated to the roster after his long layoff. The Tigers asked Hobie to be the batting practice catcher for those Greenberg sessions. Hobie did so well that the Tigers asked him to stick around that summer and be the batting practice catcher for Tigers home games.
Good point about Hobie’s value to a team _ both today and in the past _ at being able to hinder a foe’s running game.