Happy Hogan (baseball)
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Happy Hogan (born Wallace Louis Bray, formal baseball name Wallace Louis Hogan)(1877–1915) was an American minor league baseball catcher and manager in the early 20th century. He is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.
![](../I/m/Happy_Hogan_1911.jpeg)
Hogan was born on October 13, 1877, in Santa Clara, California. He played at Santa Clara College and then USC, captaining the Trojans to a championship.[1] He first played professionally in 1901 in the 1899–1902 iteration of the California League. His team (Sacramento) moved to the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as a founding member in 1903, and Hogan remained in the PCL for the rest of his career. He played through the 1914 season, serving as a player-manager 1909–1914.
Hogan changed his last name, at least for baseball purposes, from Bray to hide his participation in the then–somewhat–déclassé profession of baseball from his father.[2] Although Hogan was a very poor hitter[1] (his lifetime batting average is .180 and slugging average is .217),[3] he was a good catcher,[2] had a scrappy larger-than-life personality and was a well-known figure in the beginning days of the PCL,[1] was the longest-serving player from the PCL's founding year (playing from 1903 to 1914), and managed the Vernon/Venice Tigers (1909–1915),[4] dying in harness. He was selected to the league's hall of fame[5] either in 1943[6] or at some unknown point between 1943 and 1958[7] (detailed records have not been kept).
After Hogan took over the manager's chair of the Vernon Tigers in 1909, newspapers sometimes called the team "Hogan's Tigers".[8] As a manager, Hogan was an advocate of the controversial innovation of uniform numbers.[9]
Hogan contracted pneumonia[2] and died on May 17, 1915 in Los Angeles at age 37.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 Snelling, Dennis (2012). The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957. McFarland & Company. pp. 54–55. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Assumed Names–Happy Hogan". Baseball History Daily. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- 1 2 "Wallace Hogan". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ↑ "Happy Hogan". Baseball Reference Bullpen (SABR/Baseball Reference Encyclopedia). Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ↑ "The Original Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ↑ "Happy Hogan". Pacific Coast League. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ↑ "Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame". Baseball Reference Bullpen (SABR/Baseball Reference Encyclopedia). Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ↑ Worth, Richard (2013). Baseball Team Names: A Worldwide Dictionary, 1869-2011. McFarland. p. 313. ISBN 978-0786468447. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ↑ ""Branding us as if we were a Band of Convicts"". Baseball History Daily. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
External links
- Hogan at Baseball Reference