Professional Playing Career
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, he began his career with the Tigers in 1912. After having two starts that year, he was 13–12 in 1913, with a 2.48 ERA and 22 complete games (2 shutouts) in 29 starts. He had four appearances as a reliever that year as well.
He had a similar 1914 season, but in 1915, Hooks won 24 games and lost 13, while ending up with a 2.50 ERA in 309 2/3 innings. Along with teammate Harry Coveleski, Dauss helped make Detroit into a serious contender, winning 100 games and losing 54. However, they finished two and a half games behind the Boston Red Sox, who would go on to win the 1915 World Series.
The next year, Dauss won 19 games, but Detroit was not the same team, and they never contended for a World Series quite like that again. Dauss continued his outstanding, but quiet, success with the Tigers through the teens and into the early 1920s. Dauss won 20 games, twice more, winning 21 in 1919 and 1923. His success earned him a reputation of being one of the most consistently solid pitchers in baseball.
Hooks led the league in batters hit three times and is 30th on the lifetime list. In 1914, he led the major leagues with 18 hit batsmen, including three in one game. On August 24, 1914, he and four Washington Senators pitchers combined to set a record with seven hit batsmen in a game: Dauss hit three, and Washington pitchers hit four. The Tigers won 11–0.
He finished his career with a record of 222–182 and a 3.30 ERA in 538 games (388 starts). His 222 wins rank him in the top 100 winning pitchers of all time, tied with Jerry Koosman at #70, and he has more wins than any Tigers pitcher in franchise history. (As of 2012, Dauss has held the Tiger win record for 87 years, since surpassing George Mullin in 1925.) He struck out 1201 batters in 3,3902⁄3] innings pitched. As a batter, he hit .189.
Dauss was also an excellent fielding pitcher, with a career range factor of 2.28, 65 points higher than the average pitcher of his era. He had 1,128 assists in his career, including 137 in 1915. His career fielding percentage of .968 was also 20 points higher than the average pitcher of his era. In the combined 1923 and 1924 seasons, Dauss was charged with only one error in 95 games.
Hooks Dauss died in 1963 at Firmin Desloge Hospital in St. Louis at age 73.
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