Harry Hooper

Hooper was a pitcher when he signed with the Oakland Commuters in 1907 to begin his minor league career, but he converted to a position player role.[10] In 41 games with Oakland, he hit for a .301 batting average in 156 at bats. He spent the next year with the Sacramento Senators, hitting .344 in 77 games.[11] His contract with Sacramento also provided him with work as a railroad surveyor when he was not playing baseball.[8] Hooper did not know it at first, but his manager in Sacramento, Charles Graham, was a scout for the Boston Red Sox. Graham helped to arrange a meeting between Hooper and Red Sox owner John I. Taylor. Hooper was signed to a $2,800 contract with Boston.[12]

1912 baseball card of Hooper

Breaking into the majors with the Red Sox in 1909, Hooper played in 81 games and hit .282.[13] Between 1910 and 1915, he teamed with Tris Speaker (CF) and Duffy Lewis (LF) to form the Golden Outfield, one of the finest outfield trios in baseball history.[14] Religious differences may have been the biggest challenge for the Golden Outfield. At the time, a common Protestant sentiment was that Catholics would move to their communities and change the established culture. Speaker, who was a Protestant, once went a year without speaking to Hooper or Lewis, who were both Catholic.[15]

Though Hooper was a hard competitor on the field, he became known for his likable personality and sense of humor, which contrasted with Speaker's tough exterior.[16] Hooper became a favorite with the fans and he established a reputation as a clutch player.[17] He became known as a top-caliber defensive right fielder and a solid leadoff hitter. He invented a maneuver known as the "rump-slide" for catching shallow fly balls.[18]

In 1910 Hooper played 155 games and hit .267 in a league-leading 688 plate appearances, marking the first of 11 consecutive seasons where he had at least 564 plate appearances. He led all AL outfielders with 30 assists that season, but he also committed a league-high 18 errors. In 130 games the next year, Hooper hit .311;[13] the outfield trio of Hooper, Lewis and Speaker hit .315 combined.[19]

Hooper's batting average dropped to .242 in 1912.[13] Boston won the 1912 World Series, during which Hooper made a catch that The Pittsburgh Press referred to as one of the finest plays in baseball history. The paper noted that Hooper "does not seek the limelight. He is reserved and bashful, and every action of his upon the baseball field plainly shows these qualities."[20] On May 30, 1913, Hooper became the first player to hit a home run to lead off both games of a doubleheader, a mark only matched by Rickey Henderson, Brady Anderson, and Ronald Acuna, Jr. over 80 years later.[21] In 1914, he recorded 230 putouts in right field, which was the first of several seasons in which he finished in the top three in that category among right fielders.[13]

On October 13, 1915, in Game 5 of the 1915 World Series, he became the second player to hit two home runs in a single World Series game. Duffy contributed a third home run as the Red Sox won another world championship four games to one.[22] Hooper was also the captain of the Red Sox in 1919.[23] Hooper became known for talking Boston manager Ed Barrow into converting Babe Ruth from a pitcher to an outfielder.[24]

Before the 1921 season, the media questioned whether Hooper would re-sign with the Red Sox for the coming season, saying that Hooper may have been disappointed not to be given an opportunity at manager.[25] Since 1919, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee had been getting rid of expensive veteran players in what has been called a "fire-sale".[26] Hooper was traded to the Chicago White Sox in March 1921 in exchange for Shano Collins and Nemo Leibold.[27] Newspaper accounts said that Hooper had not been warned about the trade, that he would demand a higher salary from the White Sox and that he was prepared not to play unless the team met his demands.[28]

Hooper had some of his best offensive production with the White Sox. He hit over .300 in three out of the five seasons he spent with the team and he hit a career-high 11 home runs and 80 runs batted in during the 1922 season. In 1922 and again in 1924, Hooper was involved in eight double plays, which led the league for outfielders in both of those seasons.[13] In 1925, Hooper asked for his release from Chicago so that he could pursue a position as a manager.[29]

Hooper was a career .281 hitter with 75 home runs, 817 RBI, 1429 runs, 2466 hits, 389 doubles, 160 triples, 375 stolen bases and 1136 bases on balls in 2309 games.[30] Defensively, Hooper finished his career with a .966 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions.[13] He holds the Red Sox franchise records for most triples (130) and stolen bases (300), as well as Fenway Park records for triples (63) and stolen bases (107).[13] Hooper is only one of two players (Heinie Wagner being the other) to be a part of four Red Sox World Series championships.[7] He hit better than .300 five times in his career and compiled a .293 batting average (27-for-92) in four World Series appearances.[13]