Forgotten history: The ace Atlanta never saw

(This is the second in a series of offseason posts that provide some stories and information that is in danger of being forgotten or lost in the history of the Atlanta/Milwaukee Braves. What could the 1966 Braves been like with this man?)


Jerry Hummitzsch had been a promising young pitcher in the Braves' system when his life ended in a car crash at Age 23. Warren Spahn and Joe Torre were among the pall bearers at his funeral. He had pitched a no-hitter for the Austin Senators in the Texas League in 1963 and was a non-roster invitee with the Braves in their spring instructional camp in 1964.
That 1964 season, pitching for the Braves' Class AA team in Austin, he by several accounts was close to earning his initial MLB promotion midway through the season. On May 22nd, he had just finished off a 10-inning,1-0 win in which he drove in the only run, putting his record at 3-2 with a 1.22 ERA (best in the Texas League) through five starts.
Teammate Walt Hriniak, a promising infielder, was having a birthday and Hummitzsch decided to take his teammate fishing. Driving a convertable sports car, it flipped over in the wee hours of the morning, killing Hummitzsch instantly.
Irony of ironies, Hummitzsch as driver was buckled in, while passenger Hriniak was not. Hriniak was reportedly launched through the windshield and needed more than 100 stitches on his face among numerous injuries that ended his season, but survived because of it. He was able to come back because of it, but reportedly was not the same infielder he was previous to the wreck. He moved to catcher beginning in 1968 and eventually reached the majors, then began a long career as a successful hitting coach.
But to this day, Hriniak will not talk about the accident.
(This story previously appeared on the OOTP message board, in part written by OOTP member Kusick)

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...3&d=1542343366

Obviously before my time but that could have been a big deal. There were some great lineups and we also had Tom Seaver stolen on a technicality. We really needed starting pitching.