Happy Birthday AJ Hinch

May 15th, 1974, a legend was born in Waverly, IA : Andrew Jay Hinch.

He moved to Oklahoma at the age of 8, eventually graduating from Midwest City High School, where he became the 1992 National Gatorade Player of the Year, drawing scouts to come see this up and coming star.

He was drafted after High School (2nd Round), after his Junior year (3rd Round), and finally signing after being drafted in the 3rd round (75th overall) of his senior year. Ultimately graduating with a degree in Psychology from Stanford University.

I found this art

Todd LaRocca

icle, which I thought was a great read about Hinch and his Stanford days.

Hinch also represented America throughout his playing days appearing in:

1991 World Junior Championship - Bronze medal - Drove in 10 runs (tied 1st) and lead the team in batting average.

1992 World Junior Championship - Silver Medal - hit .450 with 10 steals

1993 Intercontinental Cup - Silver Medal

1994 Baseball World Cup

1996 Olympics - Bronze Medal

His playing career doesn’t have quite the same legacy, with a .219/.280/.356 line across 7 years for 4 organizations accumulating 0.1 WAR across his 350 game career. But even before his career ended, people started taking note of his abilities and potential post career. In 2006, Baseball America named him on the 10 to watch over the next 10 years for his potential growth into a Farm Director or a General Manager.

In 2006, the Diamondbacks named him Director of Player Development. 3 Years later, he was named the manager of the team becoming the youngest manager in the league (and for the past 7 years), despite having never managed a single professional game before. His Diamondbacks career did not end well, being fired approximately a year later with a 89-123 record.

Two months later, the San Diego Padres recognized his abilities hiring him as their VP of Professional Scouting. He excelled in this role until he was recruited by Jeff Luhnow to take over as the manager of the Astros.

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

As a manager for the Astros, Hinch currently holds a 402-289 record, good for a .582 winning percentage. His post season record of 32-18 comes in at a similarly remarkable .563 winning percentage. And of course, he brought Houston their first World Series title in the history of the organization.

By record, he has the second highest winning percentage (Salty Parker taking the #1 Spot with his 1-0 record).

Currently he’s third on the all time Wins list with Dierker (435-348) and Bill Virdon (544-522) still ranking ahead of him.