Hinkey and the Babe teamed up in ’23
York County has several connections with Babe Ruth, now pushed to No. 3 on the list of all-time home run hitters.
One of the most direct links involved a native son who played with Ruth’s New York Yankees in 1923. He’s former Penn State and New York Football Giants’ player Henry “Hinkey” Haines. Background posts: Did the Babe visit York? and York turned its eyes to DiMaggio.
Here’s how “Never to be Forgotten” describes Hinkey:
Henry “Hinkey” Haines, a York County native, graduates from Penn State to the New York Yankees, where he plays a bit role with Babe Ruth on the World Series-winning team in 1923. He switches to football, where he played on the New York Giants first-place team in 1927, reportedly the only professional athlete to play on two championship teams in major league sports. A reporter assesses Haines during his Penn State football years: “This Tris Speaker of halfbacks comes from Red Lion. … In that part of the country a youth must run 100 yards in 10 seconds and be able to throw a grizzly bear to get along. Hinkey can do both.”
Many others with county ties joined Haines in the major league sports arena: Ken Raffensberger, Gene Crumling, Greg Gross, Butch Wynegar, Vic Wertz, Jimmy Sheckard (Major League Baseball); Chris Doleman, Andre Powell, Tisen Thomas, Omar Brown, Jon Witman, Woody Bennett, Ed Khayat, Scott Fitzkee and (General Manager) Ron Wolf (National Football League); and Mark Hendrickson (National Basketball Association). Chantel Tremitiere, a William Penn High School grad, was a starting point guard for the Sacramento Monarchs in the Women’s National Basketball Association in 1997. Tyrone Doleman, formerly of William Penn High School, played for the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1990s.
