Myril Hoag

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Myril Oliver Hoag

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut April 15, 1931
• Final Game September 16, 1945
• Born March 9, 1908 in Davis, CA USA
• Died July 28, 1971 in High Springs, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Myril Hoag played 13 seasons in the major leagues, making the All Star team in 1939. Hoag was never exactly an everyday player, getting at most 482 at-bats in a season and often having fewer than 300 at-bats per season.

Hoag was born in Davis, CA and went to high school in Sacramento, CA. At age 18 he was playing in the minors with the PCL team in Sacramento, and he spent several years in the minors, mostly with Sacramento, before making his major league debut at age 23 with the 1931 New York Yankees. In 1930 he had hit .337 with 17 home runs for Sacramento, but the Yanks in 1931 let him have only 29 at-bats in 44 games. The Yankee outfield that year was Babe Ruth, Earle Combs and Ben Chapman, all of whom hit at least .315.

Myril played back-up for years with the Yankees (although he spent 1933 in the minors with Newark). In 1936 he had a serious collision in the outfield with Joe DiMaggio and needed brain surgery. With the 1937 Yankees he finally became a regular of sorts, appearing more often in right field than any other player, although his 70 games there barely beat out the 69 that George Selkirk played at the position, and young Tommy Henrich played 29 there. Both Selkirk and Henrich were regulars in the outfield the next season.

Hoag appeared in the 1932, 1937 and 1938 World Series with the Yankees, hitting .320. He was a regular in the 1937 World Series, appearing in 5 games and slugging .500. He mostly batted sixth in the lineup in that Series.

After the 1938 World Series he was traded to the St. Louis Browns. He became a regular with the Browns in 1939, getting 482 at-bats, the most he was to get in any one season in his major league career. He was also on the All Star team. He didn't hit as well in 1940 (and played less), and after one game in 1941 he was sold to the 1941 White Sox. He was a regular for the White Sox in 1941-42 although he had only around 400 at-bats each year.

Hoag enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in November 1942 and was discharged in November 1943. He played service ball on the same team as Tony Freitas. However, the Army discharged him as a result of headaches and dizziness from his 1936 injury. Source: Baseball in Wartime.

In 1944 he started slowly with the White Sox and was sold in June 1944 to the 1944 Cleveland Indians for whom he had 277 at-bats in the remainder of the season, hitting .285. In 1945 he hit .211 and his major league career was over after 13 years.

Myril went to the minors and hit over .300 in 1946-49. In 1950 he hit .290 but in 1951 when he hit .206 at age 43, his minor league career ended. In addition to his batting, Hoag became a minor league pitcher at age 38 in 1946, and from 1946-51 he had a record of 91-46. He twice won 24 games for Gainesville. In addition, if that weren't enough, he also managed during 1946-51.

He wore the smallest shoe of any Major League player, size 4 on the right foot and 4½ on the left. He had to have them specially ordered. He went six for six on June 6, 1934.

Hoag became a player/manager in 1946, leading the Florida State League in batting in 1946-1947 with averages of .342 and .350. He also started pitching at the same time, winning 17 games in 1947 and finishing among the FSL leaders with 24 wins in 1948 and 1949. He fanned 280 batters for Gainesville at age 41 in 1949.

Hoag's father Tracy Hoag, played in the California League and the Pacific Coast League from 1906-1909, and they were teammates for Woodland of the Sacramento Valley League in 1926. His uncle, Oliver Hoag, played two years in the minors. His nephew Sam Stassi and great-nephew Jim Stassi played in the minors and Italy.

Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (1939)
• Won four World Series with the New York Yankees (1932, 1936, 1937 & 1938; he did not play in the 1936 World Series)

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1946	Palatka Azaleas	Florida State League	62-75	6th	none
1947	Gainesville G-Men	Florida State League	80-57	2nd	none	League Champs
1948	Gainesville G-Men	Florida State League	77-63	3rd	none	Lost in 1st round
1949	St. Petersburg Saints	Florida International League	2-11	--	Cleveland Indians	--	replaced by Coleman Powell (2-6) on April 20
1950	Valley Rebels	Georgia-Alabama League		--	none	--	replaced by Jake Daniel July 17
	Rome Red Sox	Georgia-Alabama League		8th	Washington Senators		replaced John Stowe July 17
1951	Gainesville G-Men	Florida State League	10-33	7th	none		replaced Charles Brewster (47-48) on July 22