Don Hoak with the Brooklyn Dodgers
Don Hoak died on October 10, 1969 at the age of 41.
His death was tragic, but his life was not a tragedy.
Many who begin reading this piece will not be familiar with Don Hoak's major league baseball career and/or his hometown of Roulette (Pa.). It's my hope that this essay is enlightening.
I was only eight or nine years old when my parents bought me a book entitled "Baseball's 50 Greatest Players." The maroon, hard-covered book was the largest literary work, both in size dimensions and number of pages, I had ever possessed, maybe ever seen.
The book traced the careers of players ranging from the early 1900's to the mid-60's. No Bonds, Pujols, Jeter, etc., but it did include players who may still have been active (Koufax, Mays, Mantle et al.), but had already established themselves as some of the game's best.
The names were arranged alphabetically and the detailed background of each baseball great was seven or eight pages long. Not only did I learn about the players, beginning with Henry Aaron and concluding with Cy Young, but I was introduced to the people and significant events of each time period.
Henry Aaron
The stories of the 50 stars were a part of history and I learned that what occurred in the 30's set the stage for a many events and incidents that took place in the 50's, '60's and '70's.
You can't replace history. It's passed down through the years with the hope that with it comes knowledge, understanding, benefits and appreciation.
Don Hoak was not one of the players sited in my book, but the contributions he made to the game and the teams he played on and the role he played in some of the most memorable moments in baseball are bountiful.
So, this is a biography of Don Hoak and the many stories that shine some light on one of baseball's greatest competitors.
Don, early in his ML career-with the Brooklyn Dodgers
Roulette is located in northwestern Pennsylvania and the far western portion of Potter County. Potter County is the fifth least populated counties in the state and the 2010 census found Roulette with a population of 779 residents.
Roulette is closely centered between two larger towns, Port Allegany (7 miles) and the county seat, Coudersport (9 miles). All are located on Route 6. My mother and her eight sisters lived in Burtville-three miles from Roulette and my father grew up in Mina, halfway between Roulette and Coudersport.
My parents, brother and I lived approximately 20 miles west of Roulette, near Eldred, Pa. Roulette lies 27 miles from the New York State border village of Portville and 31 miles from Olean, N.Y. .
The purpose of this geographical information is to give some context to various area locations that played a part in Don's youth and to preface the fact that my mother attended Roulette High School at the same time as Hoak. Roulette H.S. no longer exists and there are no public schools of any type in the town.
Class of 1943, Roulette High School. That's my mom, Helen Nicklaus in the back row, far right.
As with bordering counties and extending to some of the areas in southwestern New York State, the population of many of the towns has dropped, some quite dramatically. Roulette's current population may be closer to 500 than the nearly 800 inhabitants of 2010.
The population decrease in almost every circumstance is linked to the loss of employment opportunities. The closing or relocation of factories that employed a large percentage of people had a direct and punishing effect on local communities.
Don Hoak was born on February 5, 1928 in Roulette, the second of three children. The family lived on Main Street and Don attended Roulette High, but very shortly after turning 17, like several of his male classmates, he left school and enlisted in the Marines during WWII.
The headline read "Roulette is Home Town of Don Hoak." It mentions Potter County and Rt. 6, Don's parents, his grandmother and his military service returning home to gain his diploma. The article ran after Don's ML career ended in the mid 60's.
He was discharged from the service the following year ('46) and returned to Roulette, eventually receiving his diploma.
Soon after, he drove to Olean, N.Y. for a tryout. The Olean Oilers were a Class D affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939-1948. The league was known as the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League until 1957 when it became the N.Y.-Penn League with Olean holding on to a franchise until 1963.
The 18-year-old Hoak impressed the Dodgers' player development staff and was quickly signed, beginning his pro career in Valdosta, Georgia in 1947. He hit .295 and five homers in his rookie professional season.
FIRST INNING- Don received his first World Series Championship ring in 1955 (Dodgers) and his second in 1960 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I was born in '55 and probably didn't start recognizing players and teams until the early '60's. I'm quite sure the Yankees with Berra, Ford, Mantle, Richardson and company were the first to come in to light, but Hoak was on the list also, because my mom often made it known she went to school with Don.
My mother also used to tell me about her days as a young softball player, playing bare-handed. I knew she was athletic, competitive and indeed, did not use a glove. Those facts were all confirmed at our family reunion games each summer when every able-bodied person played and my mom in her late 30's and early 40's disdained a glove and when hitting, ran full speed down the line after making contact.
Even though she had the tendency to embellish the athletic talents of her sons, she was a keen observer of the game and could recognize some of the traits of good ballplayers.
So following the statements of going to high school with Don and playing without a glove she always added this, "There was a boy in our school who was a better baseball player than Don."
I think my mother's graduating class numbered 13 and I can't imagine any of the lower grades had more than 20 students at one time. Another student in a school that small who had more ability than a young man who played 11 years in the major leagues, well, I kept quiet while thinking, 'Mom, that's just too big of a stretch.' And it almost definitely was although after describing the talents of the other boy, she would add, "But, nobody had the determination of Don Hoak." And there is no one, friend or foe, that ever disputed that.
Mom's scouting report of 'the other boy' may have been skewed by her youth and inexperience evaluating one's ability to play professional baseball and almost half a century later I feel she was still wrong about this particular evaluation.
But is it less fathomable than what occurred 50 years later.
A young man, born in Coudersport and raised in Roulette- playing little league baseball for Roulette ( winning the Don Hoak Award ) in the Potter-McKean Little League (Austin, Eldred, Port Allegany, Shinglehouse, Coudersport and Roulette) graduated from Port Allegany High. He played high school baseball at Oswayo Valley HS until Port Allegany was able to field a H.S. team.
Pitching four years for a Division II school in Illinois, he went undrafted by a professional club, but when the Cardinals had difficulty signing drafted pitchers in time for the minor league seasons, the young man was asked to sign a minor league deal with Saint Louis.
These scenarios, 999 times out of 1,000 end up with the pitcher pitching a year, maybe two in the system before being released and moving on to a new occupation.
Signing in 2001 and after a route that took him to Peoria (Ill.), Palm Beach (Fl.), Springfield (Mo.), Memphis (Tn.) and a couple of stops in between, the Potter County native made his major league debut for the Cardinals on July 2, 2006 versus the Atlanta Braves.
The first pitch he threw in the big leagues was hit for a home run, but like Don Hoak, he refused to quit and stayed with the Cardinals the rest of the regular season, pitched well in the National League playoffs and was on the St. Louis roster in the World Series against Detroit. He pitched very well in tight situations in two games, playing a large role in the Cardinals' World Series Championship/
Josh Kinney, 46 years after Don Hoak earned a WS ring with the Pirates in 1960, became ANOTHER player with strong Roulette ties, who played an important role in professional baseball's World Series.
Josh Kinney on the right with the St. Louis Cardinals and his Quincy University teammate, Josh Rabe on the left. Rabe played in the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins.
Two young men from a town of less than a 1,000 people, not only playing professional baseball, but major league baseball. Not just playing in the World Series, but helping their clubs win it all.
Two baseball players from Roulette, winning a total of three World Series' rings.
My mom's belief about that other kid from her Roulette HS days suddenly became a tad more believable.
Nineteen miles south of Roulette sits the small town of Austin, Pa-population in the 500's and home of another big leaguer- a big leaguer with a Pittsburgh Pirates' history, like Don Hoak.
Mark Corey was born November 16, 1974 in Coudersport. He was drafted in the fourth round of the '95 ML baseball draft and made his big league debut with the New York Mets in 2001. He pitched a year with the Colorado Rockies and later, from 2003-2004, was a relief pitcher for the Pirates.
Mark pitched in 81 major league games.
Mark Corey-Potter County Big Leaguer
Hoak's path up the professional baseball ladder continued on a direct course, but it was a difficult trek, simply because the Dodgers' organization was loaded with talented players.
Brooklyn represented the National League in the World Series in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953. They lost each time to the seemingly unconquerable New York Yankees.
August 14, 1950 found Don making national headlines.
SECOND INNING- Don married Phyllis Warner. Phyllis was born in Coudersport. The marriage of two 22-year-olds wasn't unusual, but getting married at home plate at La Grave Field in Fort Worth, Texas was, especially when three of Hoak's teammates were married at the same time.
Another aspect of the ceremony that made it exceptional was that it was held in front of 10,000 or more guests or "fans".
The couples walked to home plate down an aisle created by players holding extended bats high in the air, standing across from each other.
The Hoaks had two children, Don and Kimberly. The couple divorced in 1961. Phyllis died in October, 2008. She was 80 years old.
Don went to spring training with the Dodgers in 1951 and eventually was sent to their farm club in Montreal. He homered in his first game with the Royals, but was moved to the Dodgers' St. Paul team after his second game with the Royals, again a probable victim of Brooklyn's depth, especially in the infield.
Don battled veteran Billy Cox for Brooklyn's third base job in 1953.
Cox made his ML debut with Pittsburgh in 1941, playing ten games at shortstop before serving in the military during World War II.
He resumed his baseball career with the Pirates in 1946, starting at shortstop in '46 and '47 before being traded to Brooklyn in December of '47.
Cox was the starting third baseman for the Dodgers during most of his tenure with Brooklyn and in the early 50's was part of an infield that included Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges. Reese and Robinson were inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Hodges was an eight-time all-star.
Hoak continued putting up solid numbers in the minors, but after the '53 season asked to be traded if the Dodgers had no big league plans for him. He was given a boost when Brooklyn hired Walter Alston as their big league skipper for the '54 campaign.
Alston had been Hoak's manager in Montreal for several years and 1954 became Hoak's breakthrough to the big leagues, playing in 88 games primarily as Cox's backup.
Brooklyn finished second in the National League in 1954. There was no playoff system in those years, 16 teams total, eight in each league with the the winners of the leagues meeting in the World Series.
Don Hoak on a return to the homeland-an honored guest at a banquet in Port Allegany. The picture below shows Don surrounded by members of the Port Allegany Babe Ruth, Little League and Potter-McKean All-Stars.
Don's quotes about the help he received at Cincinnati from Birdie Tebbets and a list of members of the banquet committee that put together this special night for the "hometown" player.
Kim Hoak, Don's daughter, stated that, "Dad was very good with kids. He worked really hard for the Boy Scouts." Growing up in Potter County, one obtained a great appreciation for the outdoors and all the aspects of living in small towns and rural areas.
Potter County Calendar- Don scheduled to speak at the Coudersport Exchange Club.
Billy Cox was traded to Baltimore before the '55 season and Jackie Robinson was moved to third base where he shared the position with Hoak.
Don played in the Dominican Republic during the winter of '56. In those days the radio announcer called him "el loquito Hoak" (crazy Hoak) for his risky and daring plays which contributed to many wins for his Escogido team. His club won the league championship helped by Don winning a late season game with a steal of home.A New York Times description of Hoak furnished by pitcher, Rex Barney, Don's teammate in the minors. "Hoak is one of the greatest competitors I've ever met. If he can't lick you on the field, he'll lick you under the stands. Do you know what he is? He's an Eddie Stanky with talent."
The Dodgers won the pennant and once again Brooklyn faced the Yankees in the World Series. It was the fifth time in nine years that the two teams met in the WS, the Yankees winning the previous four meetings.
THIRD INNING-There were 12 players on the combined rosters who eventually made the Hall of Fame. Managers-Walter Alston and Casey Stengel, two left-handed pitchers who did not play in the Series-Sandy Koufax and Tommy Lasorda (who made the Hall as a manager). Roy Campanella, Pee-Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider rounded out the seven Dodgers' HOF members. Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Phil Rizzuto of the Yankees joined the rest in the Hall of Fame.
The Series went seven games with Brooklyn winning the final, 2-0 with Johnny Podres throwing a complete game shutout.
It was the only World Series won by the Dodgers during their years in Brooklyn. They moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.
It also was the first and only time that Jackie Robinson did not play in a WS game during his career when his team was involved.
The starting third baseman for the Dodgers in the seventh game was Don Hoak. Hoak was flawless in the field and was 1-3 at the plate, gathering one of the Dodgers' five hits in their epic win.
NOTE: The back of one of Don's Brooklyn cards- his philosophy about hustle and winning.
The deciding game was played at Yankee Stadium in front of 62, 465 fans.
Hoak was traded to the Cubs after the '55 season and experienced the worst full season in his career, hitting only .215. He set a National League record by striking out six times in one game against six different pitchers in a 17 inning game against the New York Giants (soon to become the San Francisco Giants).
Hoak suffered from painful recurring headaches during the '56 season and that winter surgeons, during a four hour operation, removed 26 pieces of bone splinter and cartilage from around the sinus, eye and nose area. The headaches disappeared.
Don was traded for the second time in two years when he was sent to Cincinnati, part of a five-player deal.
The poor year with the Cubs and another trade had left Hoak frustrated and questioning his future in baseball.
The Roulette, Pa. native stated, "I was about ready to quit. I went to Gabe Paul (the Reds' G.M.) and I told him I'd give it a try, but if I didn't do much better, if I couldn't help the club, I was going to quit. I told him then and I still feel the same way: I'll never become a baseball bum."
Don speaking at a banquet and his thoughts about the Reds' home field, Crosley Field.
Hoak's concerns were short-term as he got off to a great start with the Reds, leading the league in hitting (over.400) well in to May. He finished the season with a .293 average (78 points higher than the previous season), led the league in doubles and set career highs in home runs and RBI's.
FOURTH INNING- Don made his only All-Star game appearance in 1957. It was an All-Star game whose selection process led to changes before the game took place and a voting revision that would stay in place for the next 23 years.
At that time, fans voted for the starting position players in each league. The Reds' fans went on a ballot box stuffing campaign leading to the Reds winning seven of the eight starting spots in the National League lineup.
Cincinnati had gotten off to a fine start in the '57 season and at the halfway mark trailed the first-place Cardinals by only a game and a half. It was a good start and several players, like Hoak, had definitely earned their All-Star selection, but not all seven.
Ford Frick, baseball's commissioner, removed two Reds' outfielders (Gus Bell and Wally Post) from the starting lineup and replaced them with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, who joined Stan Musial (the only non-Reds' player selected by the fans)
Johnny Temple, Roy McMillan and Hoak (one of the best infields in baseball), catcher Ed Bailey and Frank Robinson remained as starters for the NL.
Frick removed the possibility of anything like this happening in the future by taking the vote away from the fans, an action that held firm until 1970 when the fans received voting rights again.
Hoak's daughter, Kim, now lives in Clearfield, Pa., an 85-90 mile journey from Roulette.
In a recent conversation, Kim was very insightful about her dad.
"What often goes unnoticed is that he was a real student of the game. He actually changed two rules in baseball," his daughter explained.
"I don't think anybody knew the game better than he did. He really studied the game," said all-star shortstop and Pirates' teammate, Dick Groat.
FIFTH INNING- Rule 1- Hoak was on second base with a teammate on first. The batter hit a ground ball toward the shortstop, a probable double play ball. Hoak fielded the ball himself and flipped it to the shortstop derailing any chance for a double play.
He was called out for interference and the hitter was awarded a single. According to the rule at the time, a runner is out if a batted ball touches him in fair territory before it touches a fielder.
The league presidents quickly announced a rule change that declared BOTH the batter and runner out if the runner INTENTIONALLY interferes with a batted ball with no runners allowed to advance.
Without the new rule, it was advantageous for a runner to touch a batted ball if it took away the opposition's opportunity to execute a double play.
RULE 2-Today when a foul ball is hit, runners must return and touch their original base. The rule was established because of Don Hoak.
Hoak was the runner on first when a foul ball was hit. He nonchalantly wandered 89 feet until he was a foot away from second base.
The umpires ordered him back to first, but Hoak explained he was just taking his lead before the next pitch. He knew there was nothing stated in the M.L. rules that stated he had to return to first.
After a meeting of the umpires, the arbiters invoked the catch-all, "travesty of the game" decision. Later, the specific rule was written.
In both circumstances, Don wasn't trying to make a travesty or mockery of the game. He simply understood the rules that were written and the ones that were not. And, he had the backbone and the boldness to put them in play.
It reminds me of the old cartoon, probably a Bugs Bunny one, when a team brings an elephant in to pitch. The elephant puts the baseball in his trunk and fired blazing fastballs to his catcher as the opposing hitters swung and missed repeatedly.
The opposing manager comes out to challenge the legality of having an elephant playing the game of baseball. He's met by the umpire who tells the visibly upset manager, "There's nothing in the rule book that says an elephant can't pitch." And there wasn't.
Don hit .261 with the Reds in 1958 . Before the '59 season, he was part of a seven-man trade with the Pirates, leaving the Reds along with Harvey Haddix and Smoky Burgess.
Hoak at third base for the Pirates
During the '59 season, Hoak was directly involved in one of the greatest pitching performances of all-time.
SIXTH INNING- On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix had retired 36 Milwaukee Braves' hitter in a row. Twelve innings of perfect pitching, 36 up and 36 down.
Milwaukee's Felix Mantilla hit a routine ground ball to Hoak, whose low throw to first for an error allowed Mantilla to reach base in the 13th inning, the first Milwaukee runner. Hank Aaron followed with a single, the first hit of the game for the Braves and Joe Adcock ended the game with a three run homer. Except, it wasn't ruled a three run homer.
Adcock accidentally passed Aaron on the bases and his HR was reduced in the official scoring as a double. It still was a win for the Braves, but 1-0, not 3-0. They won the game, but Adcock lost a home run.
Kim Hoak fondly remembers growing up with a father who was a professional athlete.
"He was a good dad. We spent a lot of time with him in the off-season and during the season we'd talk on the phone a lot. My brother and I would fly, often by ourselves, from the airport in Bradford directly to Pittsburgh. We were just kids, but the flight attendants always took good care of us. It was a different world then.
Kim continued, "We'd have seats behind the dugout. Some of the kids were able to sit in the dugout during batting practice or well before game time, but girls weren't allowed. That irritated me."
Don had two activities that he loved-baseball and hunting. Born and raised in Potter County, it was almost a certainty that a young person would have an appreciation for the outdoors.
Kim recalls her dad working endlessly on his "turkey call", trying to perfect the exact sound needed.
"Whatever he did, not just baseball, he just kept going. He never quit. He wouldn't back down," Kim recalls with pride.
Don's daughter used the word "determination" as she spoke about her father- the same word my mother repeated about her teenage classmate back at Roulette High.
Cooling off in the dugout.If there was one year that highlighted Don Hoak's abilities and the importance of his leadership and how it impacted a baseball team, it was 1960.
Both teams had won the pennant comfortably, the Yankees by eight games and the Pirates by seven.
Pirate players- Gino Cimoli (upper left), Elroy Face (upper right) and seated, Don Hoak celebrate winning the National League pennant.Below: First pennant for the Bucs in 33 years.
This World Series featured seven past, present or future league MVPs. The Bucs had two, Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente and the Bronx Bombers had five; three-time winners Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Bobby Shantz and two-time winner, Roger Maris.
Sportswriters, radio announcers, former players, coaches and managers, a variety of fans, umpires, and baseball experts from all walks of life are often asked to name their top ten World Series matchups of all-time.
1975 Reds-Red Sox (Carlton Fisk HR in game 6), Twins vs. Braves in 1991, 2017 Astros vs. Dodgers, Senators and Giants, 1924 and Cardinals-Tigers in 1968 (Mickey Lolich) are often named.
There are few top ten lists that don't include the '60 Pittsburgh and New York showdown and not because there were seven close, hard-fought, come-from-behind games. There weren't.
SEVENTH INNING.- Team A scored 55 runs in the seven games, Team B scored 27. Team A got 91 hits, Team B had 60. Team A hit .338 overall with ten HRS, Team B, .256 overall with 4 HRs. Team A received two shutout performances by their top pitcher. Team B had none. Team A had the Series MVP. Team A won 3 games, outscoring their opponent by a combined 35 runs. Team B's three winning margins totaled 7 runs.
Don scoops up a first inning bunt by Yankees' Gil McDougald and throws him out in the first inning of WS action. Harvey Haddix is #31
Game 4 of the '60 series. The Pirates pull even, (two games apiece) with a 3-2 win over the Yankees in front of 67,000 fans at Yankee Stadium. Don went 1-4 and Vernon Law got the W with Elroy Face grabbing the save.
And Team B, the Pittsburgh Pirates, were crowned World Champions, winning the seventh game, 10-9 on light-hitting, Bill Mazeroski's ninth inning leadoff HR.
Bobby Richardson of the Yankees was named MVP, the first time a player from the losing team won the award. The votes were tallied before the top of the 8th inning of Game 7 when New York held the lead.
Dick Groat, the Bucs shortstop, was named the National League MVP with his .325 batting average and ability to deliver both offensively and defensively in key spots all year long.
Teammate and future superstar. Roberto Clemente, was disappointed and outspoken by his eighth place finish and justifiably. Clemente hit .314 with 16 HRs and played an outstanding right field displaying one of the top arms in baseball.
Clemente thought he should have finished higher in the voting and also believe that Don Hoak, who finished second in the MVP voting should have won the award.
Talking about Don's runner-up status in the MVP voting, the Pirates' World Championship and a possible big salary increase from his 1960 contract ($27,500).
Hoak, who was 32 in '60, hit .282, drove in 79 runs and played in every game.
"He was our big leader. I roomed with the guy for three years. He would do anything to back up a friend. He was outspoken and you had to like him for that, "said ace relief pitcher, Elroy Face.
The January 1959 trade that brought Hoak, Haddix and Burgess to the Pirates proved to be the best trade G.M. Joe L. Brown ever made.
Don held nothing back and gave his straight forward thoughts about the '60 New York club.
It was the first Pittsburgh WS win since 1925.
Don "Tiger" Hoak- "He just wouldn't let us give up. He'd ride guys to keep giving 100 percent. He'd keep us motivated," said pitcher Vernon Law.He did it with a brusque, aggressive manner that earned him the nickname, "Tiger" from broadcaster Bob Prince.
Don had a career-high .298 avg. during the '61 season and he also married singer/actress Jill Corey on December 27, 1961.
His hitting dropped 57 points in '62 (.241). After the season, he was traded for the fourth time, now playing for his new and fifth N.L. team, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hoak had a total of only six plate appearances with the Phillies and retired from playing. He scouted for the Phillies the last month of the season, a month that saw the Phillies blow a six and a half game lead and lose the pennant to the Cardinals.
"Well, what do you know and how do you do." Don's favorite saying when he came up with the tough plays.
Hoak worked as a broadcaster for the Pirates with Pittsburgh's legendary Bob Prince in '65 and '66, a first base coach for the Phillies in '67 and then returned to the Pirates to manage in their farm system. He managed Salem in the Carolina League to a 85-55 record and in '69 took AAA Columbus to a 74-66 mark.
Larry Shepard was fired by the Bucs with one week remaining in the '69 season. Alex Grammas was the interim manager for the final week of the season.
EIGHTH INNING- Don, after two successful minor league seasons managing, thought he was not only a contender, but probably a favorite to win the major league job.
Kim Hoak recalls, "He absolutely thought he would get the manager's job. There was no question in his mind. He was dumbstruck."
Danny Murtaugh, who managed the World Championship team in '61, returned from the front office to resume the managerial position on October 9th.
NINTH INNING- Only a couple of hours after receiving the news about Murtaugh's hiring, Hoak witnessed his brother-in-law's car being stolen from the Hoak residence.
Don jumped in his own car and gave chase. Minutes later as he was still in pursuit of the car thief. he suffered a massive coronary and died within minutes.
Pitcher Vernon Law, an ordained deacon in the Mormon church said, "Our lifestyles were not the same, but we had a good relationship. I had a lot of respect for Don and I know he did for me too. Sometimes we have a problem with judging people by their outward appearance. He was pretty tough and a tremendous competitor, but he was above all a very likeable person.
"He had a temper, but it was a viewpoint of temper versus determination. Could he get pissed off? Yes. He threw some helmets and was fined, but I don't think he really lost control of his temper," his daughter Kim said.
Don died at the age of 41. His ashes were placed in Forbes Field. There is a headstone in Fishing Creek Cemetery, a few miles from Roulette. It reads Don Hoak, 1928-1969. Below that are two crossed baseball bats.
Jill Corey passed away in June, 2021.
Don played 11 seasons in the big leagues, 1.263 games. He compiled a .265 BA and totaled 1,144 hits in his career. He cracked 89 home runs and stole 64 bases.
He made his MLB debut on April 18, 1954 and his last big league appearance was May 12, 1964. He was named to the National League All-Star Team in 1957 and was a two-time World Champion (1955 and 1960)
EXTRA INNINGS- Don played winter ball in Cuba during the early 50's. One of the first pitchers he faced was a promising lefthander named Fidel Castro, then a law student at the University of Havana. A 1964 "Sports Magazine" article titled, "The Day I Batted Against Castro," said Hoak confirmed that the future dictator had promise-"with a little work on his control."
There's a moment in the film, "City Slickers" when Helen Slater becomes so frustrated with the characters played by Billy Crystal and Bruno Kirby and their animated discussion about baseball, she screams, "I like baseball. I just don't memorize who played third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960!
They both responded at the same time, "Don Hoak"
Taking our final thoughts back to Potter County, McKean County and the Pennsylvania Counties that border them. Crossing the New York State line in to Cattaraugus and Allegheny County and nearby towns, adding to the before-mentioned locations.
Through the years there have been at least several dozen area athletes who competed, coached or had significant roles in the highest level of professional sports.
Using years of service, individual awards and/or outstanding statistics, winning championships and having a recognizable impact in their sport as a criteria, there are a handful of people who stand in this grouping.
Chuck Daly, Kane HS and Bloomsburg College. First coaching position was at Punxsutawney HS. Chuck coached basketball for 44 years. Participated in three Final Fours as an assistant coach at Duke. Coached the Detroit Pistons in the NBA from 1983-1992, winning NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. He coached the "Dream Team" to a gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics in '92. Daly won 638 games as an NBA coach and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Stew Barber, Bradford HS, Penn State University. Stew was an offensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills from 1961-1969. He was a college All-American and a 5-time AFL All-Star. Barber was a member of the Bills' teams that won AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965. He missed only one game in his professional career and in 1970, he was named to the second team AFL All-time Team.
Marv Hubbard, Randolph HS (N.Y.) and Colgate University. Hubbard played for the Oakland Raiders from 1968-1976. He finished his football career with the Detroit Lions in 1977. He ran for 4,544 yards in his career, averaging 4.8 yards per carry-still one of the top marks in pro football history. He was a three-time NFL Pro Bowl Player and played in three straight AFC Championship games from '73-'75. He received a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Raiders in 1976 (Super Bowl XI).
Dan Conners, St. Marys HS and the U. of Miami (Fl.). Conners led his HS team to undefeated seasons in '57 and '58. He played for the Oakland Raiders from 1964-1974 and was a three-time AFL All-Star ('67-'69), an AFL Champion in 1967 and was named to the AFL All-time second team. In his 11 year pro football career, the Raiders won seven division titles and compiled a record of 105-38-11. The linebacker played in 141 games with Oakland with 15 interceptions, returning three for touchdowns and 16 fumble recoveries, returning two for touchdowns.
The fifth man on this list is Roulette's Don Hoak.
Some extra clips of Don Hoak's guest night in Port Allegany
Lew Burdette of the Braves throws a spitter says straight talker Hoak.
Below- thoughts about Little League baseball (early 60's)
