Walter John Hriniak (pronounced RIN-ee-ack) (born May 22, 1943, at Natick, Massachusetts) is a former catcher in American Major League Baseball who—despite a very brief MLB playing career and a batting average of only .253—became one of the most prominent batting coaches in the game during the last two decades of the 20th century. As a player, he stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, weighed 178 pounds (81 kg), batted left-handed and threw right-handed.