Terry Hughes

Terry Hughes was a ballyhooed prospect. “I wanted to sign Hughes more than any boy I’ve ever seen,” said Boston Red Sox scout Mace Brown. “He’s got all the equipment.”1 After the Chicago Cubs made Hughes the second overall pick in the June 1967 draft, their manager, Leo Durocher, said, “All I know is that this kid might be ready to play major league ball right now. The reports on him are fantastic.”2 Yet the South Carolinian played just 54 games in the majors, scattered over three seasons: 1970, 1973, and 1974. What happened?

It was a combination of factors. Military service frequently interrupted his play, he was shuffled from one position to another, and he suffered assorted injuries. Plus, the Cubs under Durocher strongly preferred veterans, and when Hughes came up, there were several entrenched stars at his positions. Looking back in 2015, he said, “It just wasn’t meant to be.”3

Terry Wayne Hughes was born on May 13, 1949 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His father was James N. Hughes, a worker in one of South Carolina’s textile mills, who died in 1961. “He had a heart attack at work,” Hughes recalled. “They tried to revive him, he got up and tried to work again, and it hit him again. He wasn’t but about 41, and I never did really get to know him. I was only in sixth grade, and I had to grow up in a hurry.”4

Terry’s mother, Ethel Hughes (née Henson), supported the family by working in the same industry, at Butte Knitting Mills and Raycord. Terry was the elder of two children, preceding his sister Deborah.5

Hughes always wanted to be in professional baseball. He played Little League, Colt League, and American Legion ball as a youth. Bob Tallant, who coached him at the latter two levels, said, “I knew even when he was 11 he had good hands, good speed, and was potentially a good batter. He looked like a natural.”6

Hughes attended Paul M. Dorman High School in Roebuck, just south of Spartanburg. He excelled in baseball and basketball but he did not play football, with its potential for injuries that could take him away from either or both of his main sports.7

He captained the baseball team in his senior year even though he wasn’t even eligible for the team in his junior year.8 It was academics, he explained later. “I wasn’t worried about the books, I was worried about playing ball. I failed Spanish or something, and that got my attention right there. It was a rude awakening,” he said.9

Hughes was good enough at hoops to attract the interest of at least one major college program, Wake Forest University. At that time, the president of the local minor-league baseball team, the Spartanburg Phillies, was Pat Williams. Williams, a Wake Forest alum, later went on to huge success as an executive in the National Basketball Association and as a motivational speaker. Williams brought the coach of the Demon Deacons, Jack McCloskey – who also became a prominent NBA exec – to recruit Hughes. Young Terry also had offers from a couple of junior colleges. But, he said, “I told them all that if I got a good offer from baseball, I would take it. Baseball was my first love.”10

In baseball, scouts had been following Hughes “ever since his first game as a freshman and even in his days as an eighth-grader.” That same report from the Spartanburg Herald quoted scouts A.C. Swails of the Philadelphia Phillies, Chase Riddle of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Frank Verdi of the New York Mets on the prospect’s potential. It also quoted Hughes, who credited practice and the help of Coach Tallant. 11

Another interested club was the New York Yankees, who had the top choice in the June 1967 draft. Their local scout was another South Carolinian, Bobby Richardson, whose big-league career had ended just the year before. Drawing comparisons to Ron Hansen, Richardson recommended that the Yankees select Hughes, who had hit .615 in a 12-game schedule as a senior. That was also the press consensus. In 1968, however, Richardson recalled, “I was new at scouting and I guess they figured that the scout that recommended Ron Blomberg had more experience and they took [Blomberg] as number one.”12

The Cubs picked next, and they took Hughes. Their scout, Graham “Doc” Mathis, had been watching the 18-year-old from sophomore year onward.13 Six days after he was drafted, Hughes signed. The bonus was later reported to be $65,000.14 At the time, however, the Cubs did not disclose the amount. John Holland, the team’s general manager, revealed that he and his fellow GMs had agreed the prior winter not to divulge bonus figures. Holland said that it wasn’t good for anyone involved.15

Looking back in 1976, Hughes said, “If I had to do it over again I would really think seriously about college. I could have gotten my education with somebody else paying for it and I feel sure that I would have still been drafted when I got out of college.” But he added with a laugh, “You know a little bit of money will make you do strange things.”16

After signing, Hughes reported to Caldwell, Idaho in the Pioneer League for the 1967 season (rookie ball’s short schedule started in late June). He enjoyed the whole experience – early on, he expressed his opinion that the pitching was a little better than he had seen in high school and Legion ball, but overall he found the level of play comparable.17 A teammate, catcher-first baseman Tom Whelan, recalled, “Terry Hughes could play. He was pretty polished for a kid out of high school.”18

However, Hughes went 7-for-45 in the early going; manager George Freese thought he was pressing.19 But he recovered to hit .278 with 3 homers and 13 RBIs, although injuries meant that he played in just 32 out of 66 games.20 In his first pro season, Hughes played mainly shortstop, his high-school position, but committed 14 errors in 102 chances. According to his friend and roommate, pitcher Darcy Fast, the Cubs organization decided that year that Hughes’ future was not at short.21

The Vietnam War was then in full swing, and like most young American men, Hughes had a military service obligation. He had hoped to join a reserve unit in Chicago during the 1967-68 off-season, and then attend spring training in Arizona. That didn’t work out, though, so instead he attended classes at Cecil’s Business College in Spartanburg and worked for the city’s Recreation Department. As young as he was himself, he enjoyed coaching young people, which turned out to be his future occupation.22

There was talk that the Phillies wanted to get Hughes on loan from the Cubs to play in his hometown in 1968. Instead, he played part of the season on loan to the Red Sox, who had a Class A farm club in Greenville, about 30 miles southwest of Spartanburg. Meanwhile, he continued to take classes at Cecil’s Business College. After classes would end, he would take his own car to wherever the team was playing that night, then return home. That June he said, “Having to go to school and then play ball at night is killing me. I’m not getting any rest.”23

Greenville tried Hughes at third base one night, and even though it wasn’t a planned move, that became his main position as a professional. Hughes said, “They hit some shots at you over there. But I like it all right. Just so I am playing somewhere, that is the main thing.”24

After Hughes played 58 games with Greenville, the school semester ended and so did the loan. The Cubs transferred him to their affiliate in Quincy, Illinois (Class A Midwest League). He earned promotion in early August to San Antonio in the Class AA Texas League. Overall in 1968, Hughes hit .272-10-48 in 114 games. At the end of August, he left San Antonio to study at Spartanburg Junior College.25 That fall, the Cubs placed him on their 40-man major league roster.

Hughes spent all of 1969 with San Antonio but got into just 83 games, hitting .249-3-35. On July 26, his season ended when he suffered a broken jaw. Hughes was playing first base that night when a throw from shortstop pulled him off the bag. It led to a collision with the runner, burly future major leaguer Don Baylor. The game was delayed 10 minutes and Hughes was carried off the field on a stretcher.26 Ironically, he had been allowed to enlist in the National Guard in South Carolina with an agreement to take six months of training at the end of the season, which freed him to play ball.27

Hughes remembered the Baylor play vividly. “It was one of the first times I tried to play first base, and I shouldn’t have been down the line to start with. Baylor wasn’t as big back then, but he was still big, and he just cold-cocked me. I’ve had pain in my life, but I’ve never had pain like that.”28

In 1970, Hughes stepped up to Triple-A for the first time. With Tacoma in the Pacific Coast League, he was tried in left field, in addition to playing third base. He had to travel back to Spartanburg frequently for National Guard duty, but he still hit .286-5-44 in 104 games.

Hughes actually got his first call-up to the majors that May after third baseman Ron Santo strained a knee. The rookie watched from the bench at Wrigley Field as the great Ernie Banks hit his 500th major-league homer on May 12. The following day, Hughes celebrated his 21st birthday.29

Santo was not badly hurt, though, so Hughes soon returned to Tacoma without getting into a big-league game. But the Cubs recalled him that September, and he made his debut at Wrigley on September 2. That afternoon, the Cubs thrashed the Phillies, 17-2, so the starters all came out of the game early. Hughes entered in the top of the fifth inning, subbing for left fielder Billy Williams. He later shifted to third base after Santo departed. Hughes lined out and fouled out in his first two big-league at-bats.

The rookie’s only other taste of game action for Chicago came on September 17. In the fifth inning that Thursday, pinch-hitting for pitcher Jim Colborn, Hughes singled to right off Jerry Reuss of the Cardinals.

Manager Leo Durocher’s penchant for veterans kept his rookies mainly on the bench. The same afternoon that Hughes got his first hit, teammate Roe Skidmore made his first and only big league appearance and also got his first hit, a pinch-hit single off Reuss. In 2014, Skidmore said of Durocher, “He didn’t like the young players and he let us know it by totally ignoring us.”30 In 1971, Hughes remarked, “Leo can really put some pressure on a young kid. He expects you to go out and play without making a mistake. And you are afraid to make a mistake because you will be back in the minors. It’s really hard when you have to play that way.” On the flip side, genial Ernie Banks boosted Hughes’ confidence, telling him that he had a good stroke.31

After getting his hit against Reuss, it turned out that Hughes was injured. “I guess I was too excited to realize that my hand hurt,” he said in February 1971. “I came on home for a reserve meeting that weekend and went to Fort Jackson [in Columbia, South Carolina]. The hand began swelling up and I went to the doctor. He told me that a snake had bitten me. I knew I hadn’t been bitten by a snake so I went to my doctor when I got home and he found a cracked bone.”32

As a result, Hughes missed the rest of the 1970 regular season, plus the early part of the Arizona Instructional League’s season, which ran from October 12 to November 21. “I didn’t get in but about three weeks in the Instructional League,” he said. “And I was right surprised that I hit the ball as well as I did out there.”33

Hughes hit very well in spring training in 1971, going 12 for 24 despite absences from camp to attend military drills. Yet there was simply no room for him in the Chicago infield, even as a reserve. The Cubs returned him to Tacoma in 1971 with an eye toward focusing him on left field.34 As it developed, the club also used him at first base, third base, and right field. He got into just 88 games, however, and hit just .255-1-26.

The Cubs had a new top affiliate in 1972, Wichita in the American Association. Hughes was still viewed as a potential successor to Ron Santo.35 However, he played just 78 games that season. One media account said that he was dogged by injuries, but Hughes did not recall anything particular about being hurt.36 Yet when he was in the lineup, he was productive. He hit 13 homers, the most he ever had in one pro season. He also hit .302 and drove in 37. He played primarily third base but also filled in as an outfielder and at second base.

Though Hughes had hoped for another shot with the Cubs, it did not happen. Aside from his injuries, position changes, and military absences, the club simply made other choices. At one point in 1972 Hughes’ bat was especially hot, but instead Chicago called up 28-year-old second baseman Frank Coggins, who stayed with the big club for a few weeks in July and played very little. Hughes was still optimistic that September, though, saying, “I still love the game. And I still think I’m a big-league player. I think I’m ready to play.” He added, “At least Whitey [Lockman] will give you a chance to make the club, whereas Leo might not.”37 Chicago had fired Durocher that July and brought in Lockman.

In 1973 spring training, however, Hughes lasted only until the second round of cuts.38 On April 4, the Cubs traded him to St. Louis for minor-league outfielder Bill Bright.39 Hughes reported to Tulsa, also in the American Association. In 89 games for the Oilers, he hit .289-10-51. In late July, the Cardinals called him up along with Bake McBride while sending down Mick Kelleher and Jim Dwyer. Hughes was surprised by the timing because he hadn’t been hitting quite as well and because he had a two-week National Guard commitment in mid-August.40

During August and September, Hughes appeared in 11 games for St. Louis, starting once at third base and once at first. He got three hits in 14 total at-bats, which included five pinch-hitting appearances. Previously he had remarked, “Pinch-hitting is one of the toughest things to do. It’s hard to sit on the bench for four or five days and then come on against a pitcher like Tom Seaver.” Nonetheless, he added, “I’d sure rather be doing that than staying in the minors. I just got tired of those bus trips, some of them 14 hours long.”41

That year was the closest Hughes came to a possible postseason appearance in the majors. The Cardinals had started miserably in 1973, but their division that year became known as the “National League Least” because every team was struggling to get to or stay above .500. As late as September 11, St. Louis was in first place with a record of 72-72.

Hughes was involved in a very odd game-ending play during the race. On September 17, at old Jarry Park in Montreal, the Cardinals faced the Expos in a twi-night doubleheader. In the opener, Hughes replaced third baseman Ken Reitz in the eighth inning. St. Louis took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but Montreal rallied and tied it on a two-out pinch-hit single by veteran Felipe Alou, who advanced to second on the play at the plate.

The Expos’ third pinch-hitter of the inning, Ron Woods, worked the count full and fouled off seven pitches. Finally, Woods hit a towering popup just short of the mound. Pitcher Al Hrabosky, first baseman Joe Torre, shortstop Kelleher, catcher Ted Simmons, and Hughes all called for the ball. No one took charge. The ball dropped for a base hit and Alou came around to score the winning run.

St. Louis manager Red Schoendienst said, “It was a foolish mistake. My team fell asleep on that play. At the last second, Hrabosky yelled at Hughes to catch it, he made a lunge and missed. The pitcher should have called the man much earlier.”42 Hughes, distracted by Torre’s late charge, also took his eye off the ball.

“I tried to forget that play until you mentioned it!” said Hughes with a chuckle when interviewed in 2015. “I never did see the ball. It was just one of those fluke things. I don’t recall Red saying anything afterward. The main thing I was thinking about was that when you play once in every three or four weeks, you’re always looking over your shoulder.”43

St. Louis came back to win the nightcap, but the team eventually finished in second place in the NL East, missing the playoffs. More than 40 years later, Hughes remembered his two Hall of Fame teammates, Bob Gibson and Joe Torre. Again referring to his status as a rookie reserve, he said, “They were nice guys to you in the clubhouse and everything, but they weren’t going to go out with you after the ballgame.”44

On December 7, 1973, St. Louis traded pitchers Reggie Cleveland and Diego Seguí, along with Hughes, to Boston. In return the Cardinals received three pitchers: Lynn McGlothen, John Curtis, and Mike Garman, who had been chosen right after Hughes in the June 1967 draft.

Hughes, who had been playing first and third base in Instructional League, was initially stunned by the news. He said the Cardinals had him in their plans for 1974 and “the rumor was that they were going to trade Joe Torre to the Mets.”45 The Torre-to-New York trade did come to pass about 10 months later.

Hughes took an optimistic view of the deal, though, especially about hitting in cozy Fenway Park. During spring training in 1974 he said, “All I’m looking for is a chance to play and show what I can do. I think all I have to do right now is start hitting the ball and they’ll have to take a long, hard look at me.” He’d had his fill of the minors, though he admitted he’d go back if he had to because he needed the money. He also thought that he had a better chance of making it with Boston than he ever did with Chicago or St. Louis.46

Indeed, Hughes made the Boston roster in spring training, defying the team insiders who said, “Slim and none are his chances.”47 Manager Darrell Johnson explained, “Hughes proved to us that he is a lot better ballplayer than reports indicated.” Another factor was that Hughes was out of options, and the Red Sox feared losing him on waivers if they were to send him down to Triple-A.48

Hughes spent the entire 1974 season in Boston. It was the only year in his decade as a pro in which he did not appear at all in the minors. The incumbent utility infielder, John Kennedy, played just 10 games for the Red Sox in 1974. Hughes got into 41 games, starting 20 times at third base as the backup to Rico Petrocelli and Dick McAuliffe. He hit .203-1-6 in 69 at-bats.

A career highlight came on June 29, 1974 – Hughes hit his only home run in the majors. It was a two-run shot at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium against Milt Wilcox. The Red Sox had built a big early lead, and Hughes pinch-ran for Petrocelli in the sixth inning. He stayed in the game at third base, and two innings later his home run capped the scoring in the 12-2 win. As one might expect, he still remembered it clearly in 2015. “I hit it to left-center, it hit on top of the fence and went over.”49

Also memorable was the game of July 30, when Hughes started because Petrocelli had a virus. He went 1-for-3, and in the 11th inning, with the game tied 1-1, his sacrifice fly off Sparky Lyle scored the winning run for Boston. “I’m very pleased to have him around,” said Darrell Johnson. “I have no qualms about putting him in there.” Hughes himself commented, “Sure, I know I haven’t played much, but I try to stay ready for when I’m needed.”

In the locker room after that game, one writer pointed out something else curious: Hughes was wearing a Cardinals T-shirt. “It’s just something I have, and I guess I just wear it out of habit,” he said. “I’ve worn it ever since I’ve been here.” 50 When asked in 2015 whether there was anything more to it, Hughes replied, “I do think it was just a habit, probably the only one I had. I was so far down in the pecking order the Red Sox probably wouldn’t give me a T-shirt.”51

Hughes was not part of the dramatic 1975 Red Sox season. He was sent outright to Triple-A Pawtucket when Tony Conigliaro – after three and a half years out of baseball – completed his comeback to the majors.52 In 138 games for the Pawsox, playing at all four infield positions, Hughes hit .253-6-38.

According to Hughes, Darrell Johnson said that Boston would call him up if they needed him. Yet when Rico Petrocelli went on the disabled list in August, the Red Sox summoned Dick McAuliffe from his minor-league managing job. In 1976, Hughes said, “I didn’t figure out until a couple of days before the end of the season that my contract was frozen at the Triple-A level and I couldn’t be called back up.” In his view, Johnson had not been truthful with him. Hughes also said that he did not get along with Pawtucket manager “Walpole Joe” Morgan (who eventually managed the Red Sox from mid-1988 through 1991).53

When asked whether he was aware of what it meant to be outrighted, and that he would have to pass through waivers to get another chance, Hughes responded simply, “I don’t remember a whole lot of guys in my situation who had agents.”54

Maybe it was the T-shirt; the Red Sox sold Hughes’ contract back to the St. Louis organization in January 1976. He was happy that the Cardinals had showed an interest in him, he maintained his love for the game, and he still thought he could make it back to the majors. Meanwhile, he had been continuing his studies at Spartanburg Methodist College, with an eye toward coaching once his playing days were over.55

To start the 1976 season, Hughes was back in Tulsa, where he had played three years before. He hit .206-3-15 in 27 games, and in early June he was sidelined with shoulder tendinitis. A report late that month indicated that he would begin working out on July 1, but the club had no idea how long he would be out.56

The injury, which had been chronic, proved career-ending. “In rookie ball, I fielded a grounder, threw, and heard my shoulder pop,” said Hughes. “From that point on, it was cortisone shots. . .for years and years. I did some rehab, but it never did come around in 1976. I wasn’t but about 26.”

“When I got out of baseball, I had two years of college. I got the other two, and then I went into teaching and coaching.” In 1980, he took a position at Boiling Springs High School in Spartanburg as a physical education teacher and baseball coach. He resigned his teaching job in 2010 but remained involved with the baseball squad.57

Hughes and his first wife, Deloris Laster Weathers, were married on May 30, 1976. They had a son named Brandon, who became a star basketball player at Newberry College in South Carolina and then played pro hoops in Ireland. They were divorced in 1986. On July 20, 1996, Hughes got married again, to Freda McAbee Brown.58

Circumstances kept Terry Hughes from qualifying for his major-league pension, yet he was not bitter. He looked back fondly on his time in the game. He kept up in particular with a couple of his teammates from his days with the Cubs, Carmen Fanzone and Earl Stephenson. Hughes laughed often and spoke in an easygoing Southern drawl as he reminisced.

“I never felt like I got a chance with the Cubs, but I’m happy I went to the Red Sox, one of the best organizations that I played for.” Even Hughes’ e-mail address contains his uniform number with Boston, 38. “I tell people that when I was in the big leagues, I had the best seat in the house. It was a great experience, it really was.”59

Last revised: October 6, 2015

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgment to Terry Hughes for his memories.

Notes