{{Short description|American baseball player (1947–2020)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Rich Hacker |position=Shortstop |image=Rich Hacker Cardinals.jpg |bats=Both |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1947|10|6|mf=y}} |birth_place=Belleville, Illinois, U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|2020|4|22|1947|10|6}} |death_place=Fairview Heights, Illinois, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=July 2 |debutyear=1971 |debutteam=Montreal Expos |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 29 |finalyear=1971 |finalteam=Montreal Expos |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.121 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=0 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=2 |teams= ;As player *Montreal Expos ({{mlby|1971}}) ;As coach * St. Louis Cardinals ({{by|1986}}–{{by|1990}}) * Toronto Blue Jays ({{by|1991}}–{{by|1993}}) |highlights= * 2× World Series champion ({{wsy|1992}}, {{wsy|1993}}) }} '''Richard Warren Hacker''' (October 6, 1947 – April 22, 2020) was an American Major League Baseball player, base coach and scout. Hacker played 16 games for the Montreal Expos in the 1971 season as a shortstop. He had a .121 batting average, with four hits in 33 at-bats. Hacker attended Southern Illinois University. After his playing career Hacker became a coach.
==Coaching== Hacker was a base coach in the Major Leagues from 1986 to 1993, coaching for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1986 to 1990 and the Toronto Blue Jays from 1991 to 1993. Hacker coached first base for the Cardinals from 1986–87 and third base from 1988–90. He was a coach for Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog who also attended New Athens High School in New Athens, Illinois.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/schools/index.cgi?key_school=eb8a5e96|title=New Athens HS (New Athens, IL) Baseball Players|access-date=2025-04-06}}</ref> Hacker was the third base coach for the Blue Jays from 1991–93. He coached in two World Series (1987 and 1992) and was on the Blue Jays bench for a third (1993). He also coached in the 1988 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Hacker was seriously hurt in a car accident on the Martin Luther King Bridge in St. Louis in July 1993, when he collided with a driver who was racing.<ref>{{cite web |title=SPORTS PEOPLE: BASEBALL; Coach Hospitalized After Crash |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/13/sports/sports-people-baseball-coach-hospitalized-after-crash.html |website=The New York Times |accessdate=April 11, 2020 |date=July 13, 1993}}</ref> The accident ended his career. During his recovery from injury he remained a member of the Blue Jays coaching staff, but was transferred to off-field work such as creating hitting charts of opposing teams. He was replaced as third base coach by Nick Leyva.<ref name="Schmitz">{{cite web |last1=Schmitz |first1=Brian |title=Jays Accident Victim Regaining His World |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1993-10-24-9310240509-story.html |website=OrlandoSentinel.com |accessdate=April 11, 2020 |date=October 24, 1993}}</ref>
==Personal life== Hacker and his wife Kathryn lived in Belleville, Illinois, and had three grown children. He remained an active hunter and amateur baseball scout. He was a member of the New Athens High School Hall of Fame. Hacker's uncle was former Major Leaguer, Warren Hacker.<ref name="sabr">{{Cite web |last=Vincent |first=David |title=Rich Hacker |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Rich-Hacker/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Society for American Baseball Research |language=en-US}}</ref> Hacker died on April 22, 2020, in Fairview Heights, Illinois, due to leukemia.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hummel |first1=Rick |date=April 23, 2020 |title=Former Cardinals coach Rich Hacker, a New Athens product like Herzog, dies at 72 |url=https://www.stltoday.com/former-cardinals-coach-rich-hacker-a-new-athens-product-like-herzog-dies-at-72/article_a7275f0e-e8a8-529a-9441-4857cdce7a80.html |accessdate=2025-03-11 |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=115284 |br=h/hackeri01 |brm=hacker001ric |retro=Phackr101}} * {{Sabrbio|Rich-Hacker|David Vincent|April 24, 2020}}
{{1992 Toronto Blue Jays}} {{1993 Toronto Blue Jays}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hacker, Rich}} Category:1947 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Amarillo Gold Sox players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:Baseball coaches from Illinois Category:Deaths from leukemia in Illinois Category:Major League Baseball first base coaches Category:Major League Baseball shortstops Category:Major League Baseball third base coaches Category:Mankato Mets players Category:Memphis Blues players Category:Montreal Expos players Category:Peninsula Whips players Category:St. Louis Cardinals coaches Category:San Diego Padres scouts Category:Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Category:Baseball players from Belleville, Illinois Category:Toronto Blue Jays coaches Category:Toronto Blue Jays scouts Category:Visalia Mets players Category:Winnipeg Whips players