 Arthur F. Hofman
Chicago N.L.
 Lifetime:
.269 BA
1910:
.325 BA, 86 RBI's, 83 Runs
SOLLY HOFMAN
Hofman, Arthur Frederick "Circus Solly"
b: 10/29/1882, St.Louis, Mo. d: 3/10/56, St.Louis, Mo.
BR/TR, 6', 160 lbs. Deb: 7/28/03
==============================================================================
YEAR TM/L G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1903 Pit-N 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1904 Chi-N 7 26 7 7 0 0 1 4 1 .269
1905 Chi-N 86 287 43 68 14 4 1 38 20 .237
1906 *Chi-N 64 195 30 50 2 3 2 20 20 .256
1907 Chi-N 134 470 67 126 11 3 1 36 41 .268
1908 *Chi-N 120 411 55 100 15 5 2 42 33 .243
1909 Chi-N 153 527 60 150 21 4 2 58 53 .285
1910 *Chi-N 136 477 83 155 24 16 3 86 65 34 .325
1911 Chi-N 143 512 66 129 17 2 2 70 66 40 .252
1912 Chi-N 36 125 28 34 11 0 0 18 22 13 .272
Pit-N 17 53 7 15 4 1 0 2 5 6 .283
Yr 53 178 35 49 15 1 0 20 27 19 .275
1913 Pit-N 28 83 11 19 5 2 0 7 8 6 .229
1914 Bro-F 147 515 65 148 25 12 5 83 54 41 .287
1915 Buf-F 109 346 29 81 10 6 0 27 30 28 .234
1916 NY-A 6 27 0 8 1 1 0 2 1 1 .296
Chi-N 5 16 2 5 2 1 0 2 2 2 .313
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 14 1194 4072 554 1095 162 60 19 495 421 ?171 .269
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Circus' Solly Hofman was one of the quickest centerfielders who played the game. He got his nickname for the
'circus' catches he made in the field. As a rookie with the Cubs, Solly was a headstrong upstart who wanted to
be in the starting lineup. He argued daily with his manager, HOF'r Frank Chance, that
he was better than any player in the Cub's infield (he came up to the majors as an infielder) including his manager
(remember "Tinkers to Evers to Chance"). After being admonished by catcher Johnny Kling to keep his mouth
shut, Solly began working out at every position until he became adept to play anywhere on the infield. This forced
Chance to finally place Solly in centerfield, replacing Jimmy Slagle, because the infielders were feeling threatened
by Solly replacing one of them.
Solly was directly involved in one of the most unusual plays in the history of modern baseball when he threw
in a ball (after a basehit) from the outfield that ultimately dashed the league-leading NY Giants pennant hopes
and gave the crown to his Cubbies in 1908. The 'throw' was made to a beckoning teammate, HOF'r, Johnny Evers, at
second base who stepped on the bag amidst the greatest on-the-field confusion and controversy of the early modern
era. It was the famous Merkle incident (see Fred Merkle for full details).
|
Player Index