He averaged 34 home runs a year from and tied Don Mattingly's record for grand slams in a season in He was the large, rocky mass or Pronk at the center of the Indians lineup, who often found his way into big hits in big situations:. Unfortunately, the injury bug struck Hafner in his prime. A series of shoulder, back, knee, foot, ankle, abdomen and hand injuries made him more closely resemble an anatomy poster rather than the fearsome slugger.
Sure, he'd smash some world beaters, like this walk-off grand slam in , but he wasn't automatic any longer. The heights of his career didn't last long enough for the Hall of Fame, but Hafner's nickname belongs in its own wing.
There are plenty of power hitters in baseball history, but there is only one Pronk. He had played youth baseball, but his career really didn't take off until he participated in tryout camp for the Atlanta Braves after his senior year. Scouts like what they saw, but Hafner instead opted to attend Cowley County Community College, a school with a good baseball program.
He excelled there, and the Rangers drafted him in the 31st round of the Draft. At that time, a team could still retain the rights to a player who went back to a junior college until the next draft in what was called "draft and follow.
The Rangers offered Hafner a sizable bonus, and he started his pro career later that summer. Hafner started his first full season in Savannah of the South Atlantic League as a year-old, and had a decent season, but the Rangers sent him back to Savannah in This time he clobbered the ball, hitting. As a year-old he hit an astounding. As a year-old he hit. Now by this team he wasn't really old for his level, and any skepticism about his ability to hit was quickly falling by the wayside.
He made his major-league debut for the Rangers in , appearing in 23 games with the Rangers at the end of the season. The problem for Hafner was that the Rangers at this time was loaded with hitting talent. Rafael Palmeiro was ensconced at first base, and Mark Teixeira , who was almost universally acknowledged as the best prospect in baseball, was waiting in the wings. The thought was that Teixeira and Palmeiro would share between them first base and designated hitter, which meant that Hafner would be stuck in AAA again in But the Rangers did have a hole that needed filled.
Longtime star Ivan Rodriguez became a free agent after the season, and it was uncertain that they'd be able to re-sign him. Hafner tossed rock after rock into the air and swung again and again with his bat, sending rocks soaring into the air. The Hafner farm was located in central North Dakota, a state that has produced the third-fewest major leaguers as of Hafner never played in a World Series. He was the younger of two boys. Hafner was a well-rounded athlete at Sykeston High School.
He earned all-district honors in basketball twice and participated in the North Dakota state track and field championships in his junior and senior years. Sykeston was too small to field a high-school baseball team; Hafner was one of just eight students in his graduating class. Hafner graduated from high school in and was set to play baseball and basketball at the NAIA level for the University of Jamestown.
That summer he secured a spot in an Atlanta Braves tryout camp, which proved to be a turning point for his baseball career. The day before the camp, Hafner went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in a Legion game in Enderlin, North Dakota.
Why even waste time going to the Braves camp? They gave me an option to sign a free-agent deal for not much money or gave me a list of junior colleges to attend. There was something about having to prove myself that I found attractive. Hafner jump-started his professional career immediately after the college season. In , in his first full season in the minor leagues, Hafner played in games for Class A Savannah. With first base all to himself, his career took off.
Hafner moved up to Port Charlotte in and nearly won the slash-stat triple crown. Mench and Hafner led the league in RBIs with and , respectively. Wrist soreness limited him to 88 games and after the season he needed surgery to repair a broken hamate bone. When he did suit up to play, his production was way down, with his best marks from being 16 homers, 57, RBI and a. He played 82 games in what was his final season, hitting. Overall, in 11 seasons, he hit.
According to similarity scores , the most similar player through age 28 was slugger Dick Stuart , but while Stuart hit lots of home runs he was never anywhere near first in the league in Adjusted OPS. Hall of Famer Bill Terry was also on the list of the ten most similar players. By the end of , Stuart was most similar, with a score of only , though, showing that Hafner was somewhat of a unique player in major league history.
Others on the list included Tony Clark , Kevin Mitchell and Kevin Millar , all players who had some outstanding years mixed with a lot of injuries that depressed their overall production. He became eligible for the Hall of Fame in but did not receive a single vote in his lone appearance on the ballot.
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