 Image from Old Judge Cabinet card |
| ||||
| Chicago Position: c-of First game: May 20, 1888 Last game: October 5, 1888 # of games: 60 | The Chicago Tribune reported on May 17, 1888 that Hoover was released by Chicago (NL) and signed by the Maroons. Sold to Kansas City (AA) after the season ended. | ||||
| Davenport Position: c First game: August 30, 1888 Last game: August 30, 1888 # of games: 1 | Filled in for one game when Davenport needed a catcher. | ||||
The following spring, while training with the White Stockings, Hoover broke his finger in a game in New Orleans. While Chicago traveled on to St. Louis to play the Browns, Hoover went back to Hannibal to recover, returning to the club at the start of May. Chicago had catchers Tom Daly and Silver Flint returning from the 1887 team, so it is not clear if the injury cost Hoover a chance at playing with the White Stockings, or if he was already slotted as a reserve from the start (or if perhaps Anson figured out Hoover was trouble). On May 16 he was released to the Chicago Maroons of the Western Association. The Maroons were also owned by White Stockings owner Al Spalding. Hoover and pitcher Charlie Sprague (who appeared in one game with Chicago in 1887) were both transferred from the Whites Stockings to the Maroons at the end of spring training in what could be considered a demotion to the minor leagues. Neither made it back to the major league club. Hoover played with the Maroons the remainder of the season, appearing in 60 games (plus he played one game with Davenport, on August 30, 1888, when that club needed a catcher and the Maroons were passing through town). He hit around .250 with less power than he showed the previous season (only one home run, along with six doubles and two triples). As the Western Association season came to a close, the Maroons sold him to the Kansas City Cowboys in the American Association, for whom he debuted on October 9, 1888. He played in three games for the Cowboys, with 3 singles in 10 at bats.
Kansas City reserved Hoover for 1889 at the end of the season. The Kansas City Times wrote that "Hoover is a hard hitter, a clever base stealer, a first-class thrower to bases, and when not excited, an A No. 1 back stop." But they also noted that he "has but one fault, that of uncontrollable temper."
Hoover had a very rocky season with Kansas City in 1889. After an early season injury caused him to miss a few games, Hoover started catching regularly for the club in the second half of May. (Prior to that he played some third base and outfield when he wasn't catching.) He caught regularly for the club through most of May, but friction between Hoover and pitcher Park Swartzel led to a pseduo-supension. The Kansas City Star reported on June 7 that "Watkins [manager Bill Watkins] seems to have shelved [John] McCarty and Hoover." At the end of June, Hoover met with club President John Speas and manager Watkins.
"He met Manager Watkins and President Speas and used very insulting language to them on account of fines imposed on him for bad conduct during the recent trip. The result will probably be Hoover's release. He is a magnificent catcher when in condition, but his worst enemy is his ungovernable temper."He patched it up with management a few days later, because he started the game on July 1, catching McCarty, and he started the next two days as well. On July 3, Hoover was hitting .313, good for twelfth best in the American Association. On July 4 he was badly injured (a compound fracture of the third finger of his right hand). He missed two weeks, returning on July 18, and subsequently played in 33 straight games as Kansas City attempted to have him set a record for consecutive games caught. This attempt failed in Game 34 when he re-injured his finger. This was probably for the best for Kansas City, as the club was 12-21 during the streak, and there were continued reports of friction between Swartzel and Hoover. Hoover missed thirteen games (during which the club went 6-7) with the injury, returning on September 18. Ten days later his season was finished for good, this time because of his temper. On September 28, Hoover came drunk to the game against Kansas City, catching Swartzel.
"It is a well known fact that there is no love lost between Swartzel and the cranky catcher, and when Swartzel failed to put the ball just where Hoover wanted it he let it go by. Some of the boys on the bleachers made a few remarks and the catcher pulled off his gloves, threw down his chest protector and climbed over it to the seats."Hoover finished the inning at third base, and then was removed from the game and suspended for the remainder of the season. In 71 games with Kansas City in 1889, Hoover hit .248 with only eight extra base hits.
Despite all the trouble, Hoover was still retained by Kansas City for the 1890 season. However, instead of playing in the American Association, Kansas City jumped back to the Western Association in November 1889. As the season started, Hoover caught Frank Pears and Elmer Smith, but notably not Swartzel or Jim Conway, teammates from the previous season. While no trouble was reported in the Kansas City papers through the first two months of the season, Hoover was suspended indefinitely on June 4. "Hoover's capers have been a source of much trouble to the club ever since he has been a member of it, but not until this season has his dissipation had any apparent effect on his playing. This season he has not been catching up to his past form." The move came just a couple of days after Kansas City replaced manager Charlie Hackett with Jim Manning. Manning played with Hoover the previous season and likely was less inclined to tolerate his behavior than Hackett.
Upon being suspended, Hoover returned to Lincoln. In August, the Des Moines club in the Western Association was transferred to Lincoln, and on August 14, Hoover was formally released by Kansas City so he could sign with Lincoln. He played with Lincoln through the end of the season, although he continued to get into trouble in town. During his time in Lincoln, he was arrested twice for assult, paying fines both times. He then managed to stay out of trouble until February 1891, when he was signed by Sacramento of the California League for the coming season. He celebrated by going out and getting drunk and wound up in jail again. He was released the following day, paid his fine, and caught a train for California.
The 1891 season marked a change in the career of Charlie Hoover. While he was still considered an outstanding catcher, his career was effectively over. He lasted just a few months in California before Sacramento released him on May 13 amidst reports Hoover had a shoulder problem. He didn't play professionally again until 1892, when he had a chance to sign with Omaha. He wanted more money than they offered and declined the opportunity. He wound up playing in the Montana State League, first for Philipsburg, and then Bozeman. He remained in Butte, Montana until February 1893 when "the town became so hot for him that he shook the dust off his feet and returned to his Hannibal, Mo, home."
Hoover got his last chance to play in the majors in 1893 when Charlie Comiskey brought him to Cincinnati as a possible backup for Farmer Vaughn. A couple of weeks into the season, before Hoover appeared in a game, he got into a fight while drunk at a pool hall in Cincinnati, and he was subsequently released. There were reports that he signed with Macon in the Southern League, and then later St. Joseph in the Western Association, but there are no records he played for either club, nor any other that season. In 1894, he played for three clubs in the Southern Association (Macon, Charleston and Savannah). In 1895, at the age of 29, he played for the Jacksonville (Illinois) Jax in the Western Association. He lost his temper at the crowd during a game on July 26 and was released shortly thereafter.
In 1896, he managed a club in Bushnell, Illinois, in his last year in professional baseball. Every time there was a Charlie Hoover sighting, there was a comment about his temper or his drinking "In condition and at himself, Hoover is one of the best catchers in the country. He is also a timely hitter and a heady ball player, and it has been his bad habits alone that kept him out of the fastest company in the business." This was the perfect encapsulation of his career.
In October 1898, Hoover finally met the fate he had avoided for many years - actual jail time. He and a partner were arrested in Hannibal for forging a check. He was sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. Missouri Governor Alexander Dockery pardoned him in May of 1902. In June, it was reported that he had signed with Memphis of the Southern League, yet one more chance, but he never played for the club. He played for an independent club in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1903. Two years later, he died in Shreveport, on February 27, 1905, and was burried in a grave with only his initials: C.E. Hoover. That was the sad end of Charles E. Hoover, baseball player and drunk.
| Date | Pos | AB | R | BH | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | PO | A | E | BB | HPB | K |
| 5-20-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-27-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| 5-30-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| 6-2-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 6-3-1888 | cf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 6-4-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 6-5-1888 | rf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 6-7-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 6-8-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 6-9-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 6-12-1888 | c | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 6-13-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 6-14-1888 | cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||
| 6-19-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 6-26-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 6-30-1888 | c | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-5-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 7-10-1888 | c | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-13-1888 | c | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 7-14-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 7-15-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 7-16-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 7-17-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-18-1888 | c | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-20-1888 | rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-21-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||||||
| 7-23-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-24-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 7-25-1888 | c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||||
| 7-27-1888 | c | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 7-29-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 7-30-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 8-1-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 8-2-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 8-3-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 8-5-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 8-7-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 8-8-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| 8-9-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 8-12-1888 | c | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 8-13-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||||||
| 8-14-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| 8-18-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| 8-23-1888 | c | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 8-29-1888 | c | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 45 Games | 160 | 24 | 45 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 218 | 63 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 10 | |
Batting stats for Davenport
| Date | Pos | AB | R | BH | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | PO | A | E | BB | HPB | K |
| 8-30-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 Games | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Batting stats for Chicago
| Date | Pos | AB | R | BH | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | PO | A | E | BB | HPB | K |
| 9-1-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 9-2-1888 | c & rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 9-4-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 9-6-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 9-7-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 9-10-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 9-10-1888 | c & rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 9-13-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 9-15-1888 | 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 9-17-1888 | c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 9-22-1888 | 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 9-23-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 9-23-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 10-4-1888 | 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 10-5-1888 | c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 15 Games | 44 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |