Sonny Hoffman

William A. Hoffman

• Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown

• Debut May 10, 1879
• Final Game July 19, 1879
• Born 1853 in Cleveland, OH USA

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Biographical Information

Sonny Hoffman was one of two professional baseball catchers named Hoffman playing in the 1870s in Ohio: Otto Charles "Hickey" Hoffman and William A. "Sonny" Hoffman. It was long believed that the man who played two games for the 1879 Cleveland Blues, filling in for an injured Doc Kennedy, was Hickey Hoffman. However, information recently uncovered by SABR's Biographical Research Committee suggests that it was actually William Hoffman, about whom little is yet known beyond the fact that he had played for Davenport, IA the previous year.

What is known is that Sonny Hoffman was the son of Henry and Mary Hoffman and was born in Cleveland, OH around 1853. He married Jennie Ogburn in Minnesota in the 1870s and moved to Chicago, IL. There is evidence of the two still being married in 1897, but do not appear in the 1900 census. In 1910, Jennie was married to one John McKenna, having been maried for eight years, and she died in Chicago in 1923. It is thus likely that the ballplayer died some time between 1897 and 1902, likely in Chicago, but proof is still needed.

Further Reading

• "William Hoffman", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, January/February 2012, p. 3.