Ray Wilson Hathaway (October 13, 1916 – February 11, 2015) was an American baseball player who made a brief appearance in the major leagues during the 1945 season. Hathaway was a right-handed pitcher and batter, listed at 6 ft 0 in and 165 lb. His time in the majors was limited to a four-game stint with the Brooklyn Dodgers, a club in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Career overview

Hathaway's major-league opportunity came in the final year of World War II, when many teams saw roster changes because of military service and travel restrictions. He started one game and worked a total of nine innings in the big leagues. While his MLB tenure was short, those appearances are part of the historical record of wartime baseball when many journeymen and minor-league veterans briefly reached the highest level.

Statistical summary

  • Major league games played: 4
  • Win–loss record: 0–1
  • Games started: 1; games finished: 3
  • Innings pitched: 9
  • Earned run average (ERA): 4.00
  • Throws/Bats: Right/Right
  • Team: Brooklyn Dodgers (MLB), 1945

These numbers capture his major-league ledger; like many players who logged only a handful of big-league innings, Hathaway's professional baseball life also included activity outside MLB. Brief major-league careers were common in the 1940s, especially around wartime seasons that produced unusual roster opportunities.

Context and legacy

Hathaway's story is representative of a group of players who reached the majors briefly and then returned to lower-level professional ball or left organized baseball. He lived from 1916 to 2015, and his life spanned much of modern baseball's transformation. While not a widely celebrated figure, his MLB appearances are preserved in statistical archives and serve as a reminder of the many players whose professional contributions were fleeting but historically meaningful.

For readers interested in exploring further, standard baseball reference works and historical rosters document players like Hathaway and place short major-league careers in the broader patterns of the sport; see general resources on baseball history and rosters for wartime seasons, or consult team histories of the Brooklyn Dodgers and league records in MLB-era compilations. Additional statistical explanations can be found where measures such as ERA are described and contrasted with other pitching metrics.