Henry Hatch
Encyclopedia
W. Henry Hatch was the equipment manager
for the University of Michigan
varsity sports programs
for 43 years from 1921 to 1964. For many years, he lived with his wife and daughter in a house on the grounds of Michigan Stadium
and was considered a legendary figure in Michigan sports history. The Hatch-Falk Award is named in his honor, and he was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
in 1992. Hatch is responsible for the tradition of retiring Michigan Wolverines football
jerseys and is part of the lore of the Little Brown Jug
.
and Bennie Oosterbaan
. In its obituary on Hatch, the Associated Press
described him as follows: "A stocky, white-haired man, Hatch was familiar to thousands of Michigan football fans as the man scampering on and off the stadium gridiron on game errands."
During his time as Michigan's equipment manager, Hatch became a legendary figure on campus. He worked out of the equipment room at Yost Arena and lived with his wife and daughter in a house on the grounds of Michigan Stadium
. In a book by Jim Brandstatter
published in 2002 about the stadium's history, Hatch's daughter recalled calling Michigan Stadium home 1952-1964. The house was located just outside the stadium walls but inside the fence at the south end of the stadium. Even though the football team played games there only seven or eight days a year, Hatch and his family lived on the stadium grounds 365 days a year. They watched over the stadium at night and were responsible for locking and unlocking the gates each day.
Hatch was reportedly beloved by Michigan athletes. All-American Albert Wistert told a story about Hatch's kindness to him. Wistert's older brothers, Francis "Whitey"
and Alvin
, had also played for Michigan, and had been All-Americans wearing the No. 11 jersey. The youngest Wistert said he never asked for the No. 11 jersey, but Hatch had saved it for him. When Wistert picked up his uniform in 1940, Hatch reached under the counter and pulled out the No. 11 jersey. Wistert later recalled, "I never needed a pep talk after that. Every time I put on that jersey, that was all I needed."
. After Oosterbaan graduated in the 1920s, Hatch said, "Nobody's ever going to make All-American three years running again. I'm not going to give Bennie's number out." As Tom Harmon
finished his playing career at Michigan, Hatch decided Harmon's No. 98 jersey would join Oosterbaan's as the second to be retired. One newspaper reported: "Ol' 98 will be folded carefully and laid away to rest in the Michigan Niche of Fame. That is the decree announced by Henry Hatch, Ann Arbor equipment manager." And when Harmon completed his final game, the United Press
reported: "The book was closed on number 98 today, and Equipment Manager Henry Hatch of Michigan university put it reverently away in a musty trunk beside number 47." The other of the four original retired numbers (see main image above) are No. 87, which belongs to Ron Kramer
and No. 11, which belongs to the Wistert brothers.
, one of the most famous trophies in college athletics. In 1903, the Michigan Wolverines traveled to , where the unbeaten Wolverines played the unbeaten Minnesota Golden Gophers
. At the end of the game (a 6-6 tie), the crowd poured onto the field, and Michigan left its earthenware water jug on the field. Michigan asked to have it returned, but Minnesota refused, saying Michigan would have to win the jug back. Michigan reclaimed the jug several years later. In 1919, Minnesota beat Michigan on the Wolverines' home field in Ann Arbor. When Minnesota asked for the symbolic trophy at the end of the game, Michigan officials said they could not locate it. Eventually, Hatch came up with it. Hatch recalled, "When Minnesota made such a fuss about getting it back, I started looking around and found it behind a clump of shrubbery near the gym. I shined it up and shipped it on to Doc Cooke." Minnesota fans have long doubted Hatch's story, raising their suspicions that Hatch did not find the jug in a clump of shrubbery, but more likely "in a trophy case inside the gymnasium, easily dusted off and proudly brought back to Minnesota."
In the decades that followed, one of Hatch's jobs was to serve as the custodian of the jug during the time it was in Ann Arbor and to print each year's game score on the side of the jug. In 1953, the NEA wire service
distributed a photograph of Hatch placing the score on the jug on the 50th anniversary of the first Little Brown Jug match.
home in April 1964 of a heart attack, the day after being released from the hospital for surgery on an intestinal ailment. He was survived by his wife, Wanda, and his daughter, Patricia Ann.
In 1993, Hatch was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
. As a further tribute to Hatch, the University of Michigan Club of Greater Detroit presents the "Hatch-Falk Award" each year to the university's senior manager. The award is named after Henry Hatch and his successor, Jon Falk, and provides a full tuition grant to the current Senior Manager. The Award refers to Hatch as the "legendary Equipment Manager in the early years of Michigan Athletics." Hatch was awarded an honorary varsity letter
from the M Club (as W. Henry Hatch) for outstanding service to the Athletic Department.
Equipment manager
An equipment manager is a person who is in charge of a sports team's equipment. In professional and Collegiate sports, this is usually a full-time job....
for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
varsity sports programs
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...
for 43 years from 1921 to 1964. For many years, he lived with his wife and daughter in a house on the grounds of Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Before playing football at the stadium, the Wolverines played on Ferry Field...
and was considered a legendary figure in Michigan sports history. The Hatch-Falk Award is named in his honor, and he was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...
in 1992. Hatch is responsible for the tradition of retiring Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
jerseys and is part of the lore of the Little Brown Jug
Little Brown Jug (football)
The Little Brown Jug is an earthenware jug that serves as a trophy awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game played annually by the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team of the university of Minnesota and the Michigan Wolverines football team of the University of Michigan...
.
Michigan's equipment manager for 45 years
Hatch was hired as Michigan's equipment manager under legendary coach Fielding H. Yost. He held the position for 45 years until his death in 1964. He served under seven head football coaches, including Yost, Harry Kipke, Fritz CrislerFritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
and Bennie Oosterbaan
Bennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
. In its obituary on Hatch, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
described him as follows: "A stocky, white-haired man, Hatch was familiar to thousands of Michigan football fans as the man scampering on and off the stadium gridiron on game errands."
During his time as Michigan's equipment manager, Hatch became a legendary figure on campus. He worked out of the equipment room at Yost Arena and lived with his wife and daughter in a house on the grounds of Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Before playing football at the stadium, the Wolverines played on Ferry Field...
. In a book by Jim Brandstatter
Jim Brandstatter
Jim Brandstatter is an award-winning American sportscaster based in Southeastern Michigan. He is currently the radio color commentator for the Detroit Lions and Michigan Wolverines football teams. Brandstatter is also a sports television show host and radio show host; both shows are about Michigan...
published in 2002 about the stadium's history, Hatch's daughter recalled calling Michigan Stadium home 1952-1964. The house was located just outside the stadium walls but inside the fence at the south end of the stadium. Even though the football team played games there only seven or eight days a year, Hatch and his family lived on the stadium grounds 365 days a year. They watched over the stadium at night and were responsible for locking and unlocking the gates each day.
Hatch was reportedly beloved by Michigan athletes. All-American Albert Wistert told a story about Hatch's kindness to him. Wistert's older brothers, Francis "Whitey"
Whitey Wistert
Francis Michael "Whitey" Wistert was an American football and baseball player. He played college football and college baseball at the University of Michigan...
and Alvin
Alvin Wistert
Alvin Lawrence "Moose" Wistert was an American football player. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he played college football at the tackle position for Boston University in 1946 and at the University of Michigan from 1947 to 1949...
, had also played for Michigan, and had been All-Americans wearing the No. 11 jersey. The youngest Wistert said he never asked for the No. 11 jersey, but Hatch had saved it for him. When Wistert picked up his uniform in 1940, Hatch reached under the counter and pulled out the No. 11 jersey. Wistert later recalled, "I never needed a pep talk after that. Every time I put on that jersey, that was all I needed."
Hatch and the tradition of retiring jerseys
Hatch also began the tradition of retiring jersey numbers at Michigan. The first jersey Hatch retired was the No. 47 jersey worn by Bennie OosterbaanBennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
. After Oosterbaan graduated in the 1920s, Hatch said, "Nobody's ever going to make All-American three years running again. I'm not going to give Bennie's number out." As Tom Harmon
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
finished his playing career at Michigan, Hatch decided Harmon's No. 98 jersey would join Oosterbaan's as the second to be retired. One newspaper reported: "Ol' 98 will be folded carefully and laid away to rest in the Michigan Niche of Fame. That is the decree announced by Henry Hatch, Ann Arbor equipment manager." And when Harmon completed his final game, the United Press
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
reported: "The book was closed on number 98 today, and Equipment Manager Henry Hatch of Michigan university put it reverently away in a musty trunk beside number 47." The other of the four original retired numbers (see main image above) are No. 87, which belongs to Ron Kramer
Ron Kramer
Ronald J. Kramer was a multi-sport college athlete and professional American football player. Before embarking on a career in the National Football League, he lettered in football, basketball, and track at the University of Michigan in the 1950s...
and No. 11, which belongs to the Wistert brothers.
Little Brown Jug
As Michigan's equipment manager, Hatch played a role in the early history of the Little Brown JugLittle Brown Jug (football)
The Little Brown Jug is an earthenware jug that serves as a trophy awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game played annually by the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team of the university of Minnesota and the Michigan Wolverines football team of the University of Michigan...
, one of the most famous trophies in college athletics. In 1903, the Michigan Wolverines traveled to , where the unbeaten Wolverines played the unbeaten Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota Golden Gophers football
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...
. At the end of the game (a 6-6 tie), the crowd poured onto the field, and Michigan left its earthenware water jug on the field. Michigan asked to have it returned, but Minnesota refused, saying Michigan would have to win the jug back. Michigan reclaimed the jug several years later. In 1919, Minnesota beat Michigan on the Wolverines' home field in Ann Arbor. When Minnesota asked for the symbolic trophy at the end of the game, Michigan officials said they could not locate it. Eventually, Hatch came up with it. Hatch recalled, "When Minnesota made such a fuss about getting it back, I started looking around and found it behind a clump of shrubbery near the gym. I shined it up and shipped it on to Doc Cooke." Minnesota fans have long doubted Hatch's story, raising their suspicions that Hatch did not find the jug in a clump of shrubbery, but more likely "in a trophy case inside the gymnasium, easily dusted off and proudly brought back to Minnesota."
In the decades that followed, one of Hatch's jobs was to serve as the custodian of the jug during the time it was in Ann Arbor and to print each year's game score on the side of the jug. In 1953, the NEA wire service
Wire Service
Wire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.-Synopsis:Wire Service focuses on three reporters for the fictional Trans-Globe wire service, which was similar to real-life news wire services such as the Associated Press and United Press International...
distributed a photograph of Hatch placing the score on the jug on the 50th anniversary of the first Little Brown Jug match.
Death and honors
Hatch died at his Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
home in April 1964 of a heart attack, the day after being released from the hospital for surgery on an intestinal ailment. He was survived by his wife, Wanda, and his daughter, Patricia Ann.
In 1993, Hatch was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor
The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...
. As a further tribute to Hatch, the University of Michigan Club of Greater Detroit presents the "Hatch-Falk Award" each year to the university's senior manager. The award is named after Henry Hatch and his successor, Jon Falk, and provides a full tuition grant to the current Senior Manager. The Award refers to Hatch as the "legendary Equipment Manager in the early years of Michigan Athletics." Hatch was awarded an honorary varsity letter
Varsity letter
A varsity letter is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.- Description :...
from the M Club (as W. Henry Hatch) for outstanding service to the Athletic Department.