Arthur Frederick "Solly" Hofman (October 29, 1882 – March 10, 1956) was an American
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), ...
player from 1903 to 1916. He played the majority of his 1,194 games in the outfield.
His nickname was "Circus Solly". Some attribute this name to a comic strip of the era, while others attribute it to spectacular catches while fielding.
He is considered by some to be the first great
utility player in baseball due to his versatility.
In the
1906 World Series
The 1906 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1906 season. The third edition of the World Series, it featured a crosstown matchup between the American League champion Chicago White Sox and the National Leagu ...
, Hofman batted leadoff and played center field for the
Chicago Cubs against their crosstown rivals, 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 ...
. He had seven hits and three walks during the Series, batting .304. Hofman was the Cubs' center fielder on October 14, 1908 when they defeated the
Detroit Tigers 2-0 to win the
1908 World Series
The 1908 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1908 season. The fifth edition of the World Series, it matched the defending National League champion Chicago Cubs against the American League champion Detroit Ti ...
. He hit .316 for the Series. It was the Cubs' last championship until 2016.
In 1,194 games over 14 seasons, Hofman compiled a .269
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 ...
(1095-for-4072) with 554
runs, 162
doubles, 60
triples, 19
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s, 498
RBI, 208
stolen bases, 421
base on balls, 323
strikeouts, .340
on-base percentage and .352
slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .966
fielding percentage at all positions except catcher. In three World Series covering 16 games (1906, 1908, 1910), he batted .298 (17-for-57) with 7 runs, 8 RBI and 3 stolen bases.
He was the uncle of
Bobby Hofman of the
New York Giants.
References
External links
SABR biography*
1882 births
1956 deaths
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Chicago Cubs players
Brooklyn Tip-Tops players
Buffalo Blues players
New York Yankees players
Major League Baseball center fielders
Evansville River Rats players
Des Moines Prohibitionists players
Nashville Vols players
Baseball players from St. Louis
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