Bob Hogan, P

Robert Edward Hogan is credited on the Baseball Reference website with starting one game for the St. Louis Brown Stockings, in St. Louis, on July 5, 1882. However, if all you did was read the game reports in some of the local papers the next morning, you might not know that. The game was between the Browns and the Louisville Eclipse; Louisville won by a score of 7-4. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that McGinnis was laid up with a sprained ankle and Shappert had a lame arm. "In the absence of both, Williams, a semi-professional, entered the box." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that "Williams, a new pitcher, tossed the ball for the Browns." The box score in the Globe-Democrat listed Williams as the pitcher, as did the box score for the game in the Louisville Courier-Journal. Williams pitched eight innings, allowing seven runs, only one of which was earned, on ten hits, striking out four and walking no one. ¹

The home team often batted first at that time, so the visitors (Louisville) would not have had to bat in the ninth inning.

The Globe-Democrat stated Williams did "splendid work, but the Browns failed to support him, the Eclipse getting seven runs when only one of them was earned." His entire major league career lasted one hour and thirty-five minutes.

So why is it then that Williams is identified in papers for both of the clubs involved in the game, yet Robert Hogan is credited in the record books? The answer is found in the Times of Philadelphia of July 6, 1882. The Times states "McGinnis, the Browns' regular pitcher, was disabled and Shappert was suffering with a sore arm, and the Browns had to swear in Hogan, of the Standard, to do the twirling." For whatever reason, the local papers used the name Williams to hide the identity of the player, but even at the time it was known the player was in fact Hogan. Ultimately, even the Globe-Democrat, in discussing the state of the Browns pitching staff, noted that "Shappert gave way to Bob Hogan and afterwards to Critchley" (August 24, 1882). So Williams was really Bob Hogan, but who was Bob Hogan?

The Sporting News kept index cards for major and minor league players since the early 1880s. In their records is a card for Robert Edward Hogan, indicating that he played for St. Louis in 1882, Milwaukee in 1884, the Metropolitans in 1887 and Cleveland in 1888. (This was in fact an error, as the player who appeared with Milwaukee, and later the Metropolitans and Cleveland was Eddie Hogan, full name Mortimer Edward Hogan.) The Sporting News was based in St. Louis, and the editor, Al Spink, was involved in the organization of the Brown Stockings. Al Spink includes a photo of Robert Hogan in his book The National Game (pg 379), identifying him as the starting pitcher for the Standard in a game they played against the Browns on April 2, 1882. Spink clearly knew who Bob Hogan was. (This makes the error on his index card all the more puzzling.)

The game Spink referred to occurred as the St. Louis Brown Stockings were preparing for the inaugural season of the American Association in 1882. The club played its first game on April 2 against the St. Louis Standards, a new local club at the time. Playing for the Browns that day were W. Gleason, Walker, Comiskey, Davis, Smiley, Seward, McGinnis, Cuthbert, and Schappert. All of these players except Davis played for the Brown Stockings in 1882. ²

Davis was engaged just a few days prior to fill in for Jack Gleason, who was hurt.

Playing for the Standards that day were Morgan, Simpson, Decker, Cunningham, Croft, Magner, Hogan, Dillon and Houtz. The Standard won by a score of 4-2, with Hogan allowing only seven hits while walking three. None of the runs by either side were earned.

It is curious, given the success Hogan had in this game, as well as in his only start for the Browns, that he did not pitch more for the club in 1882. That season nine different pitchers started at least one game for the Browns. (A tenth player, Ed Brown, normally an outfielder, appeared in relief.) Jumbo McGinnis started 45 games, and John Schappert started 15. Bert Dorr was brought onto the club in late August, and he started eight games. Critchley, Doyle, Fusselback and Mitchell all got one or more starts. Even Charles Comiskey started one game. Hogan's one start was arguably better than most for any of those other starters (except McGinnis). It is not clear why he never got another chance, but it may simply be that he didn't want to be a professional pitcher. The Globe-Democrat reported in November 1882 that "Bob Hogan, who pitched so well for the Standards this season, has received letters from a dozen different managers, but he prefers stopping at home to entering upon a professional career." It should also be noted that he got married in September of 1882, and that he and his wife had twin daughters the next year.

Hogan's baseball career started with the St. Louis Red Stockings in 1880 and 1881. In 1882, when the Standard were organized, the Globe-Democrat noted that "Hogan pitched well for the Reds last year, and with good support will prove very effective." In 1883, the name Hogan appaers in the box scores for various local clubs, incuding one known as the Grand Avenues organized by Chris Von der Ahe and Browns manager Ted Sullivan. In all of these, Hogan is playing first base. It cannot be proven if any (or all) of these were Bob Hogan. However, in 1884, Bob Hogan, described as "an old time St. Louis player," signed to play right field for Baltimore in the Union Association, along with another local player, Jack Shields. After going to Baltimore, they got into a dispute with the manager of the club and returned to St. Louis. In 1885, R. Hogan was a change pitcher and first baseman for a local club called the Drummonds. This supports that Bob Hogan was transitioning from pitching to a positon player during this time.

In May of 1886, Leavenworth signed a pitcher named Hogan. Baseball-Reference attributes this to Bob Hogan. The website also lists Bob Hogan as playing with Denver in 1886 and 1887 and St. Joseph in 1887. However, on July 19, 1886, the St. Joseph News-Press reported that Leavenworth signed Bob Hogan of St. Louis to play first base. Shortly after, on August 5, a box score in the Leavenworth Times included R. Hogan playing first base and T. Hogan pitching. The pitcher, T. Hogan, was sold to Denver later in the season, while R. Hogan remained with Leavenworth. ³

T. Hogan was Tom Hogan. He returned with Denver in 1887 and then was sold to St. Joseph during that season. The Globe Democrat reported on August 7, 1887 that "Tom Hogan, the St. Louis pitcher, late of Denver and St. Joseph, is at home, and will take a needed rest. He is not in the best of health."

The 1886 season with Leavenworth is the last record for Bob Hogan in professional baseball.

Robert Edward Hogan was born April 6, 1862. A brief item in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on January 24, 1932 notes the death of Robert E. Hogan, husband of Nora E. Hogan and father of M. F. Covert and Gertrude H. Fox, in Yucaipa, California. His record originally indicated he was born in 1862, as is indicated on later Census records. However, his grave has 1860 on the gravestone, and he is listed in the 1860 Census as age 3 moinths. The 1900 Census record lists Robert as born in April of 1860, with wife Nora and daughters Nora, Maud and Gertrude. It is clear that Robert Hogan was born in 1860, not 1862, and the later census records are wrong.

Bob Hogan, born 1860, played in one game in the major leagues in 1882. He and Nora married in September 1882, had three children, and lived a full life together. That is who Bob Hogan was. Bob died on January 22, 1932. Nora died in 1960, at the age of 99, in Clayton, MO.

Posted May 12, 2020