Andy Hansen

Andrew Viggo Hansen, Jr. (November 12, 1924 – February 2, 2002), nicknamed "Swede", was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.

In a nine-season career, he played for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hansen was officially listed as standing 6 ft and weighing 185 lb. He was nicknamed Swede despite being of Danish ancestry, according to The Sporting News' Baseball Register.

A two-sport star in high school, Hansen rose quickly through the Giants' minor league system and made his major league debut at age 19.

Hansen was born November 12, 1924, in Lake Worth, Florida.

As a young player, he was a second baseman and third baseman before moving to pitcher.

He attended Lake Worth High School, where he played offensive end on the football team and pitched for the baseball team.

In 1942, Hansen was a member of Lake Worth's "Trojans" football team that went undefeated, and the school's baseball team went to the state tournament in the 1943 season with Hansen as a member of the pitching staff.

After graduating that year, Hansen spurned football scholarship offers from "a number of schools, including Georgia Tech" to sign an amateur free agent contract worth $75 ($0 today) per month with the National League's New York Giants.

The Giants assigned Hansen to their Appalachian League affiliate, the Bristol Twins, where, at age 18, he posted a "sensational [win–loss] record" of 12–3 in 16 games started.

He allowed 39 runs in 115 innings pitched while walking 15 batters.

Hansen began the 1944 season pitching for the Jersey City Giants, New York's top-level farm team.

Managed by Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett, Hansen posted an 8–4 record, compiling a 1.89 earned run average (ERA) in 11 starts and 4 relief appearances.

He allowed 90 hits and 28 walks in 100 innings pitched (1.18 WHIP).

Hansen was called up to the major league club to make his debut on June 30, 1944, in place of Cliff Melton.

He started the second game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching 2 1⁄3 innings, striking out two and allowing six earned runs.

However, the Giants scored five runs in the sixth inning against Pirates starter Fritz Ostermueller, so Hansen did not receive a decision; the Giants lost the contest, 9–8.

His first career loss came the next week on July 5, a 4–1 defeat against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hansen pitched six innings and allowed four runs, but Cardinals starter Red Munger, 10–2 on the season to that point, pitched a complete game and allowed only one run.

He lost again on July 9, this time to the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader.

Hansen pitched only 2 2⁄3 innings, allowing five runs, before being relieved by Rube Fischer.

Hansen earned his first win a week later, an 8–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on July 16.

The victory came in relief of Frank Seward, who started the game but pitched only one inning.

He pitched four innings, allowing only one run; Ace Adams followed with four scoreless innings and earned the save.

His fourth decision, a second career victory, did not come until July 31, when he defeated future teammate Jim Konstanty in a 9–7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Hansen appeared again in a relief role, but pitched eight innings of one-run ball after starter Bill Voiselle allowed six runs in the game's first inning.

At the plate, Hansen got his first major-league hit and scored his second career run while striking out once.

Philadelphia provided Hansen with his third career win as well; it came on August 4 when he pitched against Ken Raffensberger.

Hansen entered in the eighth inning and pitched three scoreless frames in relief of Voiselle as the game went to extra innings.

In the 1945 season, Hansen spent most of his playing time with the major league Giants, appearing in 23 games for them that year.

He played for the Giants until 1946, when he voluntarily retired due to a family illness and then served in the United States Army.

He returned to baseball in 1947 and earned a career-best five wins in 1948.

After a contract holdout in 1949, Hansen's bullpen workload increased in 1950, leading to an elbow injury and the Giants sending him to the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft.

Hansen worked nearly exclusively from the bullpen after being an occasional starting pitcher with New York.

After tying his career high with five victories in 1952, Hansen went winless in 1953 and had a short tenure with the minor-league Hollywood Stars before retiring and beginning a 31-year career with the United States Postal Service.

The Giants won, 4–3, on a 10th-inning run with no one out.

Sporting a 3–2 record, Hansen earned his first career save against the Phillies on August 6, pitching two scoreless innings in relief of Harry Feldman and striking out two.

It was his only save of the season.

He lost his third decision of the year on August 19, allowing five runs and walking six batters in the Giants' 12th consecutive loss out of a season-long 13-game streak.

For his rookie season, Hansen finished with a 3–3 record and a 6.49 ERA in 52 2⁄3 innings pitched; he appeared in 23 games (4 starts) and struck out 15 batters while walking 32 at age 19.