William "Silent Bill" Hopke (November 2, 1881 – April 18, 1959) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He played in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

from 1902 to 1914 with several teams. Hopke also played in the 1909

American Series The American Series (Spanish: ''La Temporada Americana'') was a set of baseball games played between Cuban and American teams in Cuba. An American team would travel to Cuba and play various professional, all-star and/or amateur Cuban teams throughou ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, though he never played in a major league game for Detroit. He also played for the Almendares club in the

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

in 1911.

Early baseball career

Hopke made his professional debut with the

Columbus Senators The Columbus Senators Minor league baseball team was created in as a founding member of the Tri-State League. After that, the Senators played in the Western League (1897-1899), Interstate League (1900), Western Association (1901), and America ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in 1902 as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He ended the season with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of either .134 or .135. He was signed to appear with Columbus for the 1903 season, but by February he had signed with of the

Fort Wayne Railroaders A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

. On April 17, 1903, while practicing at

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough, Cleveland, Hough neighborhood. It was built ...

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, Hopke rescued a drowning 8-year-old boy from the St. Marys River after the child attempted to retrieve a ball that had been hit into the river. With Hopke at third base, Fort Wayne won the Central League pennant in both 1903 and 1904. In June 1905, Hopke quit the Fort Wayne club after initially being denied a raise, and then denied his release at the end of the season. He played out the remainder of the season with the Canton Chinamen and returned for Canton for 1906, where he had a .500 batting average by May 5 and finished the year hitting .281. In February 1907, he was traded to the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

of the

for cash, third baseman Robert Armstrong and a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

, which was announced as

Dan Howley Daniel Philip "Dapper Dan" Howley (October 16, 1885 – March 10, 1944) was a Major League Baseball manager with the St. Louis Browns and the Cincinnati Reds. His first year as manager of the Browns saw his team lose 94 games and finish games be ...

in April. As reported in ''The Wilkes-Barre Record'' in 1910, Hopke did not talk the first month of the 1907 season while with Indianapolis, and fans attempted to use sign language to communicate with him, only for Hopke to then laugh and reveal that he could speak. While with Indianapolis, Hopke was regarded as one of the best fielding third basemen in the league. In June 1907, the ''

Muncie Evening Press ''The Star Press'' is a morning edition newspaper for Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.del ...

'' speculated that Hopke would be purchased by a major league club before the end of the season, though club leadership would not comment. He ultimately would remain with Indianapolis, and by the end of the 1908 season, the ''

Altoona Tribune The ''Altoona Tribune'' was a daily newspaper in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It was in operation from 1856 to 1957. History It was launched on January 1, 1856, by Ephraim B. McCrum and William M. Allison, with equipment purchased from the defun ...

'' reported that Hopke had not missed a regular season professional game since the start of his career. Before the 1909 season, he was moved to

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

after Indianapolis acquired Jimmy Burke to play third base. Midseason, Hopke missed time due to illness, ending his consecutive games played streak after being placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

Appearances with the Detroit Tigers in Cuba

From October 3 to December 19, 1909, Indianapolis, the

and several other American all-star clubs took part in the

against Almendares and

Habana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. On November 18, Tigers shortstop

Donie Bush Owen Joseph "Donie" Bush (; October 8, 1887Sources differ as to Bush's date of birth. Sources listing the date as October 8, 1887, include (i) baseball-reference.com, and (ii) findagrave.com. Sources listing the date as October 3, 1887, include ( ...

left Cuba to return home to his ailing mother and Hopke, who had remained in Cuba following Indianapolis' games, joined the team. In early December, the ''

Indianapolis News The ''Indianapolis News'' was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. The "Great Hoosier Daily," as it was known, at one time held the largest circulation in the state of Indiana. ...

'' reported that the Tigers' players thought highly of Hopke's fielding ability and

Charlie Carr Charles Carbitt Carr (December 27, 1875 – November 25, 1932) was an American baseball first baseman and manager. He played professional baseball from 1894 to 1919, including seven years in Major League Baseball with the Washington Senators (18 ...

was reportedly interested in trading him to Detroit for a surplus of players.

Later career

Instead of making the permanent move to the major leagues, Hopke was sold to the

Wilkes-Barre Barons The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a basketball team from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Barons played between 1933 and 1980 in different American leagues. The team won 11 titles during this time, including while playing in the American Basketball ...

in the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

on April 27, 1910. After hitting .302 in 1910, he was sold to the

Topeka Jayhawks Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...

in the Western League on December 20, before being sold again to the

Utica Utes Utica may refer to: Places *Utica, Tunisia, ancient city founded by Phoenicians *Útica, a village in Cundinamarca, Colombia *Port Perry/Utica Field Aerodrome, Canada United States *Utica, New York *Utica Mansion, in Angels Camp, California *Nort ...

of the same league in June. In January 1912, he returned

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and played in four games for Almendares in the

.Figueredo 2003, p. 99. Hopke played with Utica until July 1913 when he jumped to the

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which pla ...

of the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

, which operated outside

organized baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

. While playing in the Federal League, he was ruled ineligible for organized clubs by the

National Baseball Commission The National Baseball Commission was the governing body of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from 1903 to 1920. It consisted of a chairman, the presidents of the National League (NL) and American League (AL), and a secretary. The ...

. He only spent a few weeks with Indianapolis, and the following February he applied to be reinstated with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. In April 1914, he was reinstated and sold to the

York White Roses The York White Roses was the name of a minor league baseball team in the city of York, Pennsylvania, US, that existed from 1894–1969. History Early years The York White Roses began as members of the short-lived Keystone Association in 1884. ...

. He spent time with both the

Lancaster Red Roses The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named fo ...

and

Reading Pretzels Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

before the season ended. He signed with

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

of the Southern League in February 1915, but was released before the season began. Hopke signed with the

Muskegon Reds The Muskegon Reds was the primary name of the minor league baseball franchise in Muskegon, Michigan that existed on-and-off from 1890 to 1951. History Muskegon played in the Michigan State League (1890–1902, 1911–1914, 1926, 1940–1941), Cen ...

of the Central League in February 1916. In April 1920, he announced his retirement from baseball.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopke, Bill 1881 births 1959 deaths Columbus Senators players Fort Wayne Railroaders players Canton Chinamen players Indianapolis Indians players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Utica Utes players Topeka Jayhawks players Almendares (baseball) players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Baseball players from Ohio