- Series: 1880s: Loving Paupers
- City: Denver
- Team: Grizzlies
- League: Western Association
Frank J. Hoffman began in professional baseball with the New Orleans Pelicans in 1887. Frank appeared in two games, is shown as having been age 25 at the time, and was the pitcher of record for both starts. He surrendered seven runs, none of them earned, and was 1 for 9 at the plate. He saw a bit more action the next year with the San Antonio Missionaries of the Texas-Southern League. He started eight games and was spectacular, going 7-1 with a .91 ERA. This was an abbreviated turn with the Missionaries. Although unrecorded by Baseball Reference, the Goodwin editors state that the San Antonio squad had begun the ‘88 season as the Austin Senators. The previous franchise in the Alamo city had gone out of business. On July 4 the Senators came to town, but they didn’t do any better drawing customers. After only the eight games, Hoffman was sold to the American Association’s Kansas City Cowboys. This opportunity provided Frank his sole chance to pitch in the big leagues. He couldn’t match his performance down south, going 3-9 with a still-respectable 2.77 ERA. He was released for the 1889 season and played for the Denver Grizzlies, where he was captured on camera by an Old Judge photographer for five known poses before returning to Texas with the Houston Mudcats for the 1890 campaign. He had a good enough ERA at 2.30, but lost 12 of his 17 decisions. His final known year in pro ball came in 1892 with the San Francisco Metropolitans of the California League. Team data show an eye-popping 39-37 record with an ERA of 1.72. It appears that Frank may have adopted San Francisco as his permanent home, having died there in 1916, 24 years after leaving baseball.
- Despite Hoffman's obscurity, he enjoyed one of baseball's most celebratory but confounding nicknames: The Texas Wonder. Because Frank was most likely born in Mississippi, one might surmise he earned the sobriquet during his 1888 career year with the San Antonio Missionaries, when he went 7-1 with a .91 ERA
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Old Judge Pose: 228-1
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Kansas City
- Team: Blues (WA)
- League: Western Association
William Louis Hassamaer (1864-1910) played outfield for three seasons in the National League. His rookie campaign was with the Senators in 1894, the team he would start the ‘95 season with before being sent to Louisville, where he would finish his ML career a year later. Bill made a splash in his first year in the big leagues. On June 13, 1894 he became the 30th ML player to hit for the cycle, in a game against the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The feat had actually been accomplished 36 times previously. Curry Foley recorded the first cycle in 1882 (some sources cite a 1st cycle by George Hall in 1876); Long John Reilly recorded three cycles with the Reds between their stints in both the AA & NL (his first two cycles were only seven days apart); and Dave Orr, Tip O'Neil, Pete Browning & Mike Tiernan had each recorded two cycles by the time Hassamaer earned his membership to the elite club.
Hassamaer’s debut was auspicious in every sense that rookie year. He hit .322 with four homers and 90 RBI. He showed some speed as well, stealing 16 bases. Unfortunately, Hassamaer’s performance would steadily decline thereafter. He never again attained any of the offensive output of that first season. His second year with Washington saw his average drop to .278 with a tail-off in every category. He was purchased by Louisville for $200 on August 23, 1895. The move to Kentucky only sent Bill’s record into a deeper spiral. He batted a mere .208 for the 23 games he played at the end of the ‘95 season. Despite this meager accomplishment, the Colonels gave Hassamaer another shot in ‘96, but his .245 average with little power proved too little and he was released after only 30 games.
Prior to joining the National League, Bill had a successful tenure in the minors. He had begun in 1887 with the Western League’s Kansas City Cowboys, playing full time and hitting .371. After a second year in KC, he bounced around a number of teams and his average fluctuated wildly. His efforts for the Montgomery Colts of the Southern Association in 1893 paved the way for his major league call-up when he hit .321.
- Hassamaer’s swan song came with the Bridgeport Orators of the Connecticut League in 1899 where he played for the club’s namesake and manager, Jim “The Orator” O’Rourke. O’Rourke had enjoyed one of the finest playing careers in the early game and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945
- Series: Mort's Reserve
- City: London
- Team: Tecumsehs
- League: International Association
Michael Joseph Hornung (1857-1931) made a lasting impression in the baseball world of his day on at least two grounds. Most noteworthy, he was perhaps the premier defensive outfielder of the 1880s. His sure-handedness allowed him to lead the National League in fielding percentage in 1881, ‘82, ‘83 and ‘86. The second basis of notoriety for Hornung was what must have been a very annoying habit. He would shout “ubbo, ubbo!” whenever he got a hit or made a play he fancied. Since he hit a respectable .257 over his twelve-year career, and made just about all the plays that came his way in the no-glove era, the ballparks of the day must have resounded with many an “ubbo.” His antics led to his nickname Ubbo Ubbo, which meant others beside himself were uttering the gibberish all too frequently.
Joe had begun his pro career in Canada with the London (Ontario) Tecumsehs in 1876. His major league debut was with the Buffalo Bisons in 1879 and in '81 made the move to Boston which would be his home through the 1888 season. The colorful star's performance declined and the Beaneaters tried to sell him to the White Stockings. The veteran balked, insisting on a piece of the $5000 price, and was rewarded by being ousted from the league. The American Association's Orioles welcomed Joe and he played one year on a bad leg before ending his big league career in 1890 with the Giants. His speed had been an asset afield and on the bases. Hornung was a renowned base-stealer, usually among the leaders in triples, and led the NL in scoring in 1883.
- Ubbo Ubbo's popularity was such that the vaunted '27 Yankees honored him on his June 12 birthday at the stadium. Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri and all serenaded Joe and he received a “nice check” from players who remembered him fondly as one of the greats.
- His hometown Utica paper hailed him as “King of the Left Fielders” and “just as much a baseball hero as Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth or Tris Speaker is today.”
- Series: Mort's Reserve
- City: Lowell
- Team: Invincibles
- League: League Alliance
William Hildreth Hawes (1853-1940) was an infielder out of New England who had a chance to play briefly for Harry Wright in the early days of the National League, first in an 1876 exhibition match in Boston while Bill was with the Lowell club, followed by a stint with Wright’s Red Caps in 1879. It appears he made an impression during that early game that prompted Wright to give Hawes a shot in the outfield. The ‘76 game definitely made an impression on Hawes and his family as, many years later at the end of his long life, Hawes’ obituary included reference to that long ago contest, per the Lowell Evening Leader: “He played second base in Boston when the first professional game was played there in 1876.” Despite his New England roots, Hawes’ passion for baseball took him out west in 1883 when he and many fellow players joined the first recognized minor league, the Northwestern League. Bill signed with Saginaw that year and got his one other opportunity at the big leagues with the Union Association’s Cincinnati Outlaw Reds in ‘84. When the UA collapsed that season, Hawes returned home with Brockton in the new New England League. His team made it to a play-off with Lawrence that inaugural year but Lawrence prevailed in a best-of-three. The prairie beckoned once more and Hawes moved to the Twin Cities, with Minneapolis in 1887-88 and St. Paul for 1889-90. Once again Bill headed home after the 1890 season and went into business in Lowell. He continued to play occasionally with his pals in local leagues and was part of numerous reunions of the Bartlett Club of Lowell, his original squad from 1874-75.
- Hawes served as treasurer of the “Junior Baseball Players of Massachusetts 1873, 1874, and 1875 Association”
- Hawes overcame a weak stint at the plate for Wright’s Boston club where he hit a mere .200 by feasting a bit on Union Association pitching. He managed .278 with the Outlaws giving him an overall .254 average in the major leagues
- Hawes is represented fairly well in Goodwin's Old Judge series with six known poses of him suited up with the Minneapolis Millers in 1888. Although OJ cards exist with his name Hawes properly spelled, it appears that his name was misspelled as "Howes" on his cards more often than not.
- Hawes also appears on the 1879 Boston Red Caps' team composite cabinet, beside teammates Tommy Bond, Ezra Sutton, John Morrill, Jack Burdock and Harry Wright.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Whites (WA)
- League: Western Association
Henry Fred Hines (1867-1928) was a fireplug of an outfielder. While his major league experience was ever so brief - two games with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in 1895 - Hines enjoyed a long career in professional baseball. He began as a teenager in 1887 with the Milwaukee Cream Cities, getting into a mere nine games, but that humble beginning launched him into a 19-season career that didn’t end until 1910 when Hunkey played for and managed the Joliet Jolly-ites/Sterling Infants of the Northern Association. By the time Hunkey became an "Infant," he was 42 years old. The available data show that Hines’ career batting average was .250, precisely what he achieved in those two games in Brooklyn where he got two hits and walked twice in two games. The Illinois native spent most of his minor league time in the greater midwest, but he did venture as far west as the Bay Area’s Oakland Oaks in 1891 and ‘93. He played two seasons for the Detroit Tigers when they were in the Western League, 1900-01. In 1906 Hines was in the deep south playing for the Baton Rouge Cajuns, evidence that baseball afforded the sturdy Hunkey a tour of much of the continent.
- Hines’ best year at the plate was a startling .427 for the Minneapolis Minnies in 1894. This wasn’t a fluke. Hunkey had 586 at bats that career-year when he also clubbed 34 home runs. He never hit more than six in any other season of his long career
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