Sport: Baseball
Born: January 7, 1940
Town: Jersey City, New Jersey
James John Hannan was born January 7, 1940 in Jersey City, NJ. A good all-around athlete, he followed in the footsteps of his older cousin, John Clune, and starred for St. Peter’s Prep, a Catholic school with a strong sports program. Among its graduates were basketball star George Blaney and football star Mickey Murtagh. Jim was the star of the baseball team. He stood 6’3” and had a smooth delivery and a heavy, sinking fastball. Jim accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame, where he became a teammate of Carl Yastrzemski. The Irish went to the College World Series his freshman year and reached the NCAA Regionals the next three.
Jim followed Yaz to the Boston, signing with the Red Sox in 1961. After going 17–7 in his first pro campaign and being named Rookie of the Year in the NY-Penn League, Jim was drafted by the expansion Washington Senators. In 1962, he became the last player ever to make the jump from Class-D to the majors. Working primarily out of the bullpen, he strung together 23 scoreless innings as a rookie and also saved 4 games. He also saw action in Triple-A Syracuse that season.
In 1965, the Senators converted Jim into a starter. He spent most of that year in the minors but threw his first major-league shutout at the end of the year against the Kansas City A’s. In 1968, Jim went 10–6 for a Washington team that finished with a 65–96 record. His sinking fastball produced a 3.01 ERA and resulted in just 4 home runs in 140 innings. In a game against the Indians that season, he retired 26 batters in a row.
In 1970, Jim just missed a no-hitter against the Royals when rightfielder Frank Howard missed a shoestring catch on a Paul Schaal liner. It was the only hit Jim allowed that day. After the 1970 season, Jim was included in a multiplayer deal with the Tigers that brought fellow New Jerseyan Elliott Maddox and former Cy Young winner Denny McLain to DC. The Tigers turned around and traded Jim to the Brewers a month into the 1971 season.
Milwaukee released Jim after 1971. He went to spring training with the Braves in 1972 but did not make the cut. At 32, he decided it was time to move on.
Jim had worked as a stockbroker in the off-seasons and continued in that business after baseball. He earned his MBA at NYU and became an executive with Morgan Stanley in Washington, DC. His did his masters thesis on retirement benefits for baseball players.
Jim was politically active during his major-league career, serving as a team player rep and an American League player rep, as well as a member of the pension committee. He was also one of the founders of the MLB Players Alumni Association and served as its president in the 1980s and later as its board chairman.
In 2005, St. Peter’s started a sports Hall of Fame. Jim was one of its original inductees, along with Blaney and his cousin John.