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Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:30 pm Posts: 10274 Location: Brooklyn to New Jersey
Hoak was an outspoken, brawling firebrand, the spiritual leader of the 1960 World Champion Pirates. A pro boxer as a teenager, he lost seven straight knockouts before giving it up. He carried his pugnacity to the ballfield. He broke in sharing third base in Brooklyn with Billy Cox and Jackie Robinson. As a Cub on May 2, 1956, he set a NL record by striking out six times in a game (17 innings). In 1957, he led the NL with 39 doubles for the Reds and earned an All-Star Game berth in the Cincinnati ballot-box-stuffing incident. Traded to Pittsburgh, he led the Pirates in walks in 1959-61, and paced the 1960 championship team with 97 runs scored. In a Braves-Reds game on April 21, 1957, Hoak was on second and Gus Bell was on first when Wally Post grounded to shortstop. Hoak fielded the ball himself, flipping it to a stunned Johnny Logan at short. Hoak was out for getting hit by a batted ball, but the Reds still had two on and Post was credited with a single. The third such incident involving the Reds that season, it moved league presidents Warren Giles and Will Harridge to jointly announce a rule change that declared both the runner and the batter out if the runner intentionally interfered with a batted ball, with no runners allowed to advance.
Hoak later managed in the Pittsburgh system. He died of a heart attack chasing his brother-in-law's stolen car on October 9, 1969, the day Danny Murtaugh was rehired as Pirates manager - a position Hoak had openly sought.
_________________ You can take the DODGERS out of BROOKLYN but you can't take BROOKLYN out of the DODGERS
I don't think teams understood just what Hoak brought to their teams, until he was gone. He was a combative player, that is for sure. He died when he suffered a heart attack while chasing someone who stole his brother-in-laws truck.
Yes, we forget how competitive the NL race was in 1957 for most of the season. If you just look at the final standings, it looks like the Braves ran away with the pennant.
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