NEW YORK (AP) - Hank Bauer, the hard-nosed ex-Marine who returned to baseball after being wounded during World War II and went on to become a cornerstone of the New York Yankees dynasty of the 1950s, has died. He was 84.
Bauer died Friday of cancer in Shawnee Mission, Kan., according to the Baltimore Orioles. Bauer managed the 1966 Orioles to their first World Series title.
A three-time All-Star outfielder, Bauer played on Yankees teams that won nine American League pennants and seven World Series in 10 years. He set the Series record with a 17-game hitting streak, a mark that still stands.
Bauer played his last two seasons with the Kansas City Athletics, a team he managed in 1961-62. He also managed Baltimore from 1964-68 and the Athletics again in Oakland in 1969.
Bauer was voted The Associated Press AL Manager of the Year in 1964 and 1966, when his Orioles swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Bauer's World Series hitting streak stretched from 1956-58 when the Yankees' dynasty was at its peak.
Bauer enlisted in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor and saw action in a number of battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa and Guadalcanal, according to Hall of Fame archives. He earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
After he retired from playing baseball, he returned home to the Kansas City area, where he scouted for the Yankees and the Royals.
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press
