Don Hoak - Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia

Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia

After the 1956 season the Cubs traded Hoak to the Cincinnati Redlegs in a five-player deal. In 1957 Hoak improved his batting average to .293, after leading the league well into May at over .400, and set career highs in home runs (19) and RBIs (89), as well as leading the National League in doubles with 39. In a game against the Milwaukee Braves on April 21, Hoak was involved in a controversial play that would lead to a change in the rules. He was on second base and teammate Gus Bell was on first, when Wally Post hit a ground ball to short. Hoak broke up a potential double play by fielding the ball himself and flipping it to Milwaukee shortstop, Johnny Logan. Hoak was called out for interference, but Post was given a single on the play. The day before Johnny Temple let Bell’s ground ball hit him with the same result, Temple being called out for interference and Bell being awarded a single. The two incidents prompted league presidents Warren Giles and Will Harridge to jointly announce a rule change that declared both the runner and batter out if the runner intentionally interferes with a batted ball, with no runners allowed to advance. (Without the new rule, it was sometimes advantageous for a runner to touch a batted ball, because doing so avoided a double play. The rule, which put Temple and Hoak out, still exists that a runner is out if a batted ball touches him in fair territory before it touches a fielder, with the batter getting a single and no runner advancing unless forced.)

1957 also marked Hoak's only All-Star appearance, but it also would be mired in controversy—though not of Hoak's doing. At the time (as they do now) fans had the right to vote for the starters (minus the starting pitchers). As a result a ballot stuffing campaign by Reds fans resulted in Hoak, Post, Temple, Bell, Ed Bailey, Roy McMillan, and Frank Robinson being voted into the starting lineup. First baseman, George Crowe, then 36 and the eventual team home run leader with 31, was the only Red not selected; the fans instead voted for Stan Musial. (Crowe would be selected to the All-Star team in 1958—the only Red so honored.) Commissioner Ford Frick removed Bell and Post from the starting lineup and replaced them with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron; Bell remained on the team as a reserve, but Post was taken off altogether. Frick also stripped the fans of the right to vote for the starters, which they’d held since 1947 and wouldn’t hold again until 1970 (ironically, the Reds’ newly opened Riverfront Stadium would host the All-Star Game that year). In the third inning of that game, Hoak grounded out to shortstop Harvey Kuenn in his only plate appearance. He was subsequently replaced by Eddie Mathews.

Hoak batted .261 for the Reds during the 1958 season before being traded, along with Harvey Haddix and Smoky Burgess, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for four players (one of whom was Frank Thomas) and cash in January 1959. Hoak batted .294 in 1959 and .282 in 1960 on a Pirates team that won the World Series; like the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh defeated the Yankees in seven games, and the Pirates won the 1960 Series on Bill Mazeroski’s famous ninth-inning home run in Game Seven. During the Pirates’ championship season, Hoak finished second in National League MVP honors to teammate Dick Groat.

Hoak played two more seasons with the Pirates (in 1961 he batted a career-high .298) before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. After batting .231 during the 1963 season he was released in early 1964.

Hoak will be remembered by many fans for his intense style of play, sometimes shrugging off injuries to stay in the game. Typically, in one game, he played with numerous stitches in his foot to patch up a previous-game injury. During the game the stitches gradually pulled from his flesh, an event which he successfully ignored. After the game, other players and sportswriters were surprised to see Hoak remove a sock entirely soaked in blood from shoe-level down. Hoak shrugged it off.

Don Hoak also played in the Dominican Republic during the 1956 season with the Escogido team. His game always rapid and daring and full of risks. In those days the radio announcer called him "el loquito Hoak" (crazy Hoak) for his risky plays which contributed to his team winning several games and the season. In a final series a game was won when he stole home after making the pitcher nervous several times moving between third and home.