St. Louis Browns left-handed pitcher, Chester Cornelius Hoff, was born on May8, 1896 in Ossining, New York. Better known to the baseball world as "Red" Hoff, he may not have enjoyed the longest career, but he would see one of the longest lives in MLB history. His professional baseball career lasted eight years, but it is believed he playe
St. Louis Browns left-handed pitcher, Chester Cornelius Hoff, was born on May8, 1896 in Ossining, New York. Better known to the baseball world as "Red" Hoff, he may not have enjoyed the longest career, but he would see one of the longest lives in MLB history. His professional baseball career lasted eight years, but it is believed he played for years before and after his time in organized baseball.
Red Hoff began playing baseball in the semipro leagues of New York with the Ossining Colts. There are no statistics supporting his successes in the semipro leagues, but he captured the attention of the New York Highlanders in 1911. New York signed the 20-year old pitcher and debuted him on September 6, 1911 against the Washington Senators. He would pitch in five games in the final weeks of the season. His biggest moment came in his second appearance on September 18 against the Detroit Tigers when he struck out Ty Cobb with just three pitches. Over the next two seasons he bounced between the Highlanders and the Lawrence Barristers (1912) and the Rochester Hustlers (1913-15).
He had a 12-10 record with Rochester in 1915, when the Browns decided to purchase his contract August 14, and bring him up for the final month. Red Hoff made his Browns debut on August 16 in relief of Tim McCabe and pitched the final two innings against the Chicago White Sox. He would appear in 11 games for St. Louis, giving up 26 hits, 16 runs, while issuing 24 walks and striking out 23 batters. His best game came on August 24, when he pitched a three-hit complete game victory over the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-2. The win was one of two Hoff tallied in the Majors, both with the Browns in 1915.
Even though he had a 1.24 ERA with the Browns, they decided to release him prior to the 1916 season. He would go on to play for the Little Rock Travelers (1916), Salt Lake City Bees (1916-17), and the Kansas City Blues (1918). It was said that he continued to play semipro baseball with the Ossining Colt for years after he left professional baseball.
Hoff returned to New York and began working for Rand McNally before retiring to Florida. Red Hoff would set an incredible mark for "endurance" when he lived to be 107 years old (107, four months, nine days to be exact). He was the last surviving player to have played in the 1910s at the time of his passing in 1998. Red Hoff may not have been a household name in baseball, but he lived longer and told more stories than almost anyone in the games' history.
HEADLINE
"BROWNS CLOBBER RED SOX PITCHING IN BLOWOUT WIN"
FEATURED GAMES
1948 - Browns drive 16 hits off Red Sox pitching to support a complete game from Fred Sanford to beat the Boston , 9-4. Sanford would hold the the mighty Red Sox lineup to seven hits, four walks, while striking out three. The Browns offense is led by CF Al Zarilla who
HEADLINE
"BROWNS CLOBBER RED SOX PITCHING IN BLOWOUT WIN"
FEATURED GAMES
1948 - Browns drive 16 hits off Red Sox pitching to support a complete game from Fred Sanford to beat the Boston , 9-4. Sanford would hold the the mighty Red Sox lineup to seven hits, four walks, while striking out three. The Browns offense is led by CF Al Zarilla who was a perfect 4-for-4, with three RBIs, two runs, and a stolen base. 2B Roy Partee went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. 3B Whitey Platt and RF Ken Wood would both go 2-for-4 , with a triple, and two runs scored. Wood did add two RBIs, along with SS Eddie Pellagrini and 1B Chuck Stevens who also drove in a run. It would be Sanford's third win of the year.
BROWNS' ALL-TIME RECORD ON THIS DAY
13 WINS, 24 LOSSES
1902-09: 2-1
1910-19: 3-4
1920-29: 4-5
1930-39: 0-7
1940-49: 3-6
1950-53: 1-1
DOUBLE-HEADERS:
Swept in 1917 and 1949
Split in 1944
TRANSACTIONS
There were no transactions on this day
DEBUTS
There were no debuts on this day
BROWNS' BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1885 - SS Ed Murray (1917)
1896 - LHP Chester "Red" Hoff (1915)
The impact of the 1949 Browns comes with the fact that many young players were thrust into playing at the Major League level. With limited veteran leadership, these younger players had a chance to play and gain experience for seasons to come. Many of these players were familiar with the on-field leadership of Manager Zack Taylor, who coac
The impact of the 1949 Browns comes with the fact that many young players were thrust into playing at the Major League level. With limited veteran leadership, these younger players had a chance to play and gain experience for seasons to come. Many of these players were familiar with the on-field leadership of Manager Zack Taylor, who coached them while they were in the minor leagues. Taylor was in his third season as the Browns skipper, and had to deal with outside forces unfamiliar to most. First there was a change in ownership from Frank Muckerman to the DeWitt brothers.
Then the Browns became the subject of a pyschological study that appeared in The Sporting News. With all of these factors, the Browns struggled through a 53-101 record.
The highlight of the season was Roy Sievers, who was awarded the the first American League Rookie of the Year award.