Urban John Hodapp (September 26, 1905 – June 14, 1980) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player in the 1920s and 1930s, mostly for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He primarily played second base, and was a solid

contact hitter In baseball, a contact hitter is a hitter who does not strike out often. Thus, they are usually able to use their bats to make contact with the ball (hence the name ''contact'' hitter) to put it in play, and then run fast to reach base. As a resu ...

, with a .311

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 ...

over nine major league seasons.

Career

Hodapp was first signed to the Indianapolis Indians in 1924, and he made his major league debut with the

in 1925. He was traded along with Bob Seeds to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in exchange for Bill Cissell and Jim Moore in 1932. A year later, he was traded with Seeds to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. In 1933, he was traded to the Rochester Red Wings, who sold him to the

Columbus Red Birds The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...

before he played a game. He finished the season with the Single-A

Knoxville Smokies Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

. Hodapp's best year was in 1930, when he batted .354 with 121 runs batted in, leading the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in hits (225) and doubles (51). Hodapp struck out only 136 times in 2,826 at-bats in his career, or once every 20.8 at-bats. During his nine-year career, Hodapp appeared in 791 games and had a .311 batting average (880-2826) with 28 home runs and 429 RBI. His career numbers include 378 runs, 169 doubles, 34 triples, 18 stolen bases and 163 walks for a .350 on-base percentage and .425 slugging percentage. He recorded a .964 fielding percentage.

Personal life

Hodapp was born on September 26, 1905, in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. His father was John Hodapp, an

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as ...

born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

of immigrant parents from

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

, Germany, and his mother was Lena (Helena) Kneuven, born in Holland of Dutch parents. He had two younger brothers, Clifford B. and John W. ("Bill"). His brother Cliff played for the 1928 Quincy Indians. Hodapp was raised in the

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

neighborhood of Cincinnati and attended St. Xavier High School. Hodapp married Martha Garaghan of Indianapolis on November 3, 1931, and together they had five children. He worked as a funeral director at the family funeral home after retiring from baseball. He died on June 14, 1980.

Sources

Biography at the Society for American Baseball Research
*

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodapp, Johnny Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Cincinnati 1905 births 1980 deaths Cleveland Indians players Chicago White Sox players Boston Red Sox players Indianapolis Indians players Columbus Red Birds players Knoxville Smokies players

Career

Personal life

See also

Sources

References

External links