Initially a light-hitting middle infielder coveted for his slick fielding, but not much else, Granville Wilbur Hamner underwent one of the most dramatic career transformations in baseball history, let alone UL history, by turning into the league's elite hitter.  Drafted at age 23 by the Detroit Sound in the 22nd round of the League's inaugural draft in 1951, Hamner was the 171st overall pick.  After his contract was not picked up, he was selected in the 4th round of the 1952 Reentry Draft by the Brooklyn Superbas, where he would spend the next 14 years of his career.

After batting around .265 will little power for the first six years of his career, Hamner had a massive breakout in 1957, nearly doubling his hit total in the same number of games to hit .356 and capture the Most Valuable Player award and the first of six batting crowns.  He went on to hit .350 or better in three straight seasons, including his second MVP year in 1959, when he established a career high .364 batting average.  After cooling off (to just .333) in 1960, Hamner won his third MVP in 1961.  He notched over 1,000 hits in five years from 1958-62, the first to do that since Stan Musial in 1946-50, and elicited favorable comparisons with some of the games all-time greats, Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth, after claiming his fourth MVP in 1962 with career highs in hits (217), doubles (52), RBI (128), and walks (70).  At age 35, his average dipped in 1963, but he still manage a seventh-consecutive 100-RBI season, and got his 1,000 career RBI.  But pure hitting was always Hamner's forte.  He reached 2,000 hits in 1965, his ninth consecutive .300 season, before moving on to Manhattan for two years and then Boston in 1968, where he got hit #2,500.

Granny's six batting titles--all of which with batting averages over .350--coincide with and neatly bookend Brooklyn's uninterrupted eight-year run as East Division champions, from 1957-64.  He won seven league championships with the Superbas, and added an eighth at age 41 with the St. Louis Maroons in 1969, his last full season, tying him with longtime teammate Lew Burdette.  He is the only player to win three All-UL Team nominations at two different positions (shortstop and second base), and his nine "big 4" batting titles (batting average, home runs, RBIs, and OPS) puts him two ahead of any other player.  As of 1971, he is the league's all-time leader in doubles (517), ranks fourth in batting average (.323) and hits (2574), and ninth in RBIs (1328, behind only Ernie Banks among middle infielders).  (TJS)


AWARDS & ACCOLADES
Hall of Fame (1971)
All-Decade Team (1951-60)
Most Valuable Player (1957, 1959, 1961, 1962)
All-UL Team (SS: 1957, 1958, 1959; 2B: 1960, 1961, 1962)
Batting Champion (1957, 1958, 1959. 1961, 1962, 1964)
RBI Champion (1959, 1961), OPS Champion (1959)
3-time Batter of the Month, 8-time Player of the Week
 
 

Career Batting Stats
Year/Team/League	Age	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	R	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	RC
1951 Detroit	23	13	10	2	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	0	0	.200	.333	.200	.533	0.8
1952 Brooklyn	24	36	83	21	1	0	1	14	8	4	5	0	1	.253	.287	.301	.589	7.2
1953 Brooklyn	25	113	334	99	21	2	3	43	40	14	22	6	2	.296	.325	.398	.723	43.8
1954 Brooklyn	26	101	243	64	13	2	2	39	31	15	22	7	1	.263	.306	.358	.664	27.8
1955 Brooklyn	27	128	404	105	19	5	4	53	46	25	27	10	4	.260	.303	.361	.664	45.3
1956 Brooklyn	28	141	475	130	24	3	8	59	57	34	41	14	7	.274	.322	.387	.710	60.1
1957 Brooklyn	29	148	579	206	38	5	21	109	104	41	26	11	2	.356	.398	.547	.946	129.4
1958 Brooklyn	30	147	575	203	39	2	11	109	99	55	34	14	4	.353	.410	.485	.895	118.6
1959 Brooklyn	31	136	536	195	48	6	17	115	93	55	25	11	2	.364	.422	.571	.993	135.4
1960 Brooklyn	32	149	574	191	50	2	16	118	92	46	39	9	2	.333	.378	.510	.888	117.8
1961 Brooklyn	33	151	583	211	40	4	20	117	99	49	48	6	3	.362	.410	.547	.957	136.1
1962 Brooklyn	34	157	600	217	52	3	14	128	99	70	47	9	2	.362	.421	.528	.949	145.3
1963 Brooklyn	35	142	517	170	34	0	16	105	77	61	26	4	5	.329	.394	.487	.882	95.0
1964 Brooklyn	36	133	508	181	26	7	8	99	74	71	30	11	6	.356	.432	.482	.915	99.2
1965 Brooklyn	37	152	610	196	31	1	11	70	94	59	28	7	2	.321	.379	.430	.808	80.3
1966 Manhattan	38	150	469	139	31	1	14	69	69	66	38	4	3	.296	.380	.456	.836	14.9
1967 Manhattan	39	32	117	33	5	1	3	14	16	11	15	1	1	.282	.344	.419	.763	15.6
1968 Boston	40	151	505	145	24	0	2	47	66	68	84	3	2	.287	.372	.347	.719	71.3
1969 St. Louis	41	97	244	67	21	1	1	20	25	26	53	0	1	.275	.344	.381	.726	31.5
1970 St. Louis	42	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667	0.3
Total UL		2267	7959	2574	517	45	172	1328	1189	770	611	127	50	.323	.381	.465	.846	1452.8