New York Giants' Clint Hartung warms up during spring training baseball in Phoenix in February 1947.

Clint Hartung, one of baseball’s most heralded prospects of the 1940s, whose career never equaled its early promise, died July 8 in Sinton, Texas, of congestive heart failure. He was 87.

Hartung was a strapping 6-foot-5 Texan who seemed destined for a stellar career when he signed with the New York Giants in the 1940s. With his prowess as both a pitcher and a slugging outfielder, some thought he was destined for a career like that of Babe Ruth.

He told reporters that he expected to win 30 games and hit 75 home runs in a season.

Hartung made his debut with the Giants in 1947, winning nine games and losing seven as a pitcher but never found much more success. In four years as a pitcher, he won 29 games and lost 29, with a dismal earned run average of 5.02.

He fared little better at the plate, with a career batting average of .238 and only 14 home runs.

He did have one moment of glory, however, in the Giants’ celebrated “Shot Heard ’Round the World” playoff game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The winner of the game, played Oct. 3, 1951, at the Polo Grounds in New York, would go to the World Series.

Hartung played in only 28 more game for the Giants in 1952 before retiring to Texas and concluding his career in the minor leagues.

Clinton Clarence Hartung was born in Hondo, Texas, which became the source of his nickname, the “Hondo Hurricane.” He led his high school team to a state championship at 16, then excelled in the minor leagues. During World War II, he became a near-legend with Army Air Forces teams. Against professional-caliber players, he hit well over .500 and, at one point, won 25 consecutive games as a pitcher. Life magazine called him a “one-man ball team.”

For whatever reason, Hartung could not duplicate that early success in the major leagues. His name became a byword for a hyped rookie, or “phenom,” who couldn’t make the grade. Years later, baseball historian Bill James mockingly presented an imaginary “Clint Hartung Award” to players who couldn’t live up to their early billing.

Hartung, who later worked for an oil company and played for its baseball team, showed little outward regret over his failed promise. He was divorced twice, and his third wife died in 2004. Other information about survivors was not available.