Playing career McRae was selected by the
Cincinnati Reds in the 6th round of the 1965 draft with the 117th overall pick. In the pre-1969 offseason, playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, McRae suffered a multiple leg fracture sliding on the basepaths. In the words of
Bill James in
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, "Before the accident, McRae was a burner, a center fielder who could fly...after the accident, his speed was major league average." He was considered a below-average outfielder with the Reds. In spring training 1969, McRae came to the Reds' camp with his leg still in a cast from the fracture. The same offseason,
St. Louis Cardinals announcer
Harry Caray had suffered multiple fractures being struck by a car while on foot. During a Reds–Cardinals preseason game where Caray was interviewing ballplayers on the field while still on crutches, Reds Manager
Dave Bristol pointed in Caray's direction and said to McRae, "Look at that. There's an old man. Broke two legs. Broke his shoulder. Broke his everything. And here he is walking around doing his job, doing anything he wants. Here you are, all you did was break your leg sliding into second base, and you can't get your leg out of your goddam cast! You ought to be ashamed of yourself." McRae later mentioned to Caray that it was "one of the best motivational speeches he'd ever heard. He learned that he had to want to recover before he'd really be able to." Later in his career, his
Kansas City Royals teammate
Dan Quisenberry recalled that whenever a Royals player took time off because of injury, "McRae gets dressed like a commando, hides in a trash can in the clubhouse, and then jumps out and 'shoots' the guy...McRae believes that if a guy is hurt and can't play, he's dead to the club, so McRae shoots him and kills him." McRae was traded along with
Wayne Simpson to the Royals for
Roger Nelson and
Richie Scheinblum on December 1, 1972. McRae developed as a consistent
designated hitter in the
American League (AL). His playing career spanned 23 years, including 14 seasons with Kansas City. He was selected to the
All-Star Game three times, had a
batting average over .300 for six seasons with the Royals, and received the
Outstanding Designated Hitter Award three times. McRae led the AL batting title race entering the final game of the 1976 regular season which was a 5–3 loss to the
Minnesota Twins at
Royals Stadium on October 3. He lost out to teammate
George Brett .3333 to .3326, with the race decided in the ninth inning when he grounded out to the shortstop immediately after Brett hit an
inside-the-park home run to left field. He confronted Twins manager
Gene Mauch on the field, with both being restrained by players and umpires. McRae accused Mauch of
racism for allegedly ordering
left fielder Steve Brye to let Brett's fly ball drop in front of him. His claim was declared unsubstantiated by a post-season league investigation. Oddly, the other two of the top four finishers that season, the
Minnesota Twins'
Rod Carew and
Lyman Bostock, played in that same game. McRae did end up leading the AL with a .407 on-base percentage. The following season, he led the majors with 54 doubles. After his recovery from the leg fracture, McRae became known as "the most aggressive baserunner of the 1970s," as quoted by James, "a man who left home plate thinking 'double' every time he hit the ball...he taught the younger players and reminded the veterans to take nothing for granted, and to take no prisoners on the bases." In game four of the
1980 World Series, McRae twice turned a seemingly routine single to center field into a two-base hit. McRae played hard—so hard, in fact, that the rule requiring a runner to slide into second base when breaking up a
double play is still referred to as the Hal McRae Rule in honor of the man whose cross-body blocks into second base broke up a lot of double plays and second basemen at the same time. In 1982, McRae had another outstanding year as he led the majors with 46 doubles and 133
runs batted in (RBIs). He finished fourth in AL
MVP voting. In a 19-year major league career, McRae posted a .290 batting average (2091-for-7218) with 191
home runs, 1097 RBIs, 484
doubles, 65
triples and 109
stolen bases in 2084
games played. He added a .351
on-base percentage and a .454
slugging average for a combined .805
OPS.
Managerial career Following his playing retirement, McRae
managed the Royals (1991–94) and
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2001–02). He also served as
hitting coach for the
Cincinnati Reds,
Philadelphia Phillies, and
St. Louis Cardinals. McRae, who won a
World Series ring playing for Kansas City against the Cardinals in
1985, won a ring as a coach for the Cardinals when they defeated the
Detroit Tigers in the
2006 World Series, four games to one. McRae is perhaps well known for a profanity-laced tirade he went on as Royals' manager early in the 1993 season while being interviewed by reporters after a Royals loss. The tantrum included throwing numerous objects around his office, including a cup of Coke and his office phone, and one reporter left McRae's office with a bloodied face. The tirade was captured on video and widely disseminated at the time. A video of the meltdown was later uploaded to YouTube and has 1.5 million views as of July 2024. McRae managed the Royals for one more season before he was fired after the 1994 season. ==Managerial records==