Richard Carleton "Dick" Hoblitzell (October 26, 1888 – November 14, 1962) played

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the major leagues from 1908 to 1918. He played for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Nicknamed "Doc" by his teammates, Hoblitzell's baseball career was cut short with his

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

induction into the US Army as a dentist in 1918.

Early life

Born in

Waverly, West Virginia Waverly (also known as Bull Creek and Union School District) is a census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Wood County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 395. It lies along the Ohio River on West Virgin ...

, Hoblitzell excelled in football at

Parkersburg High School Parkersburg High School (PHS) is a secondary school located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States, that serves grades nine through twelve and is part of the Wood County School District. As of the 2018-2019 West Virginia Secondary School ...

Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia, Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Little Kanawha River, Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and ...

; he was the team's halfback and kicker. He played minor-league baseball at the age of 16, taking an assumed name so that he would not lose his collegiate eligibility. He played football at

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

and the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. He played football in the days preceding professional football, so he decided to pursue a career in baseball. He later became the first Pitt alumnus to enter major-league baseball.

Baseball career

Hoblitzell signed with the

in 1908, playing with the team through 1914 and studying dentistry in the offseasons. He was the National League at-bats leader in 1910 and 1911 and Cincinnati's Most Valuable Player in 1911. In the middle of the 1914 season, he was waived by the Reds and claimed by the Boston Red Sox. With Boston, Hoblitzell won two consecutive World Series (1915 and 1916). Hoblitzell was often assigned to room with

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

when the team traveled, as the team's management hoped that Hoblitzell would be a good influence on the rowdy superstar. Hoblitzell's baseball career was interrupted by his induction into the U.S. Army Dental Corps in 1918, and he never returned to the major leagues. He finished his career with 1,318 games played, 1,310 hits, 27 home runs, 593 RBIs and a .278 batting average.

Later life

After his military service, Hoblitzell was a manager in minor-league baseball. In 1929 and 1930, he spent two years managing the Charlotte team in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. Though he liked Charlotte, he ended up managing a minor-league team in Charleston in 1931. Hoblitzell had distant relatives in Charleston, including future politician John D. Hoblitzell Jr., and he fell in love with the state of West Virginia. After that season, Hoblitzell moved to a 540-acre farm in

Wood County, West Virginia Wood County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 84,296, making it West Virginia's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Parkersburg. The county was formed in 1798 from the western ...

. He began umpiring minor-league baseball in the 1930s, assigned to the Class AAA

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. Hoblitzell became the county commissioner for Wood County in 1942, and he served for six years. In 1952, he began a four-year stint as the county sheriff. He also worked in real estate. At various times, Hoblitzell also coached baseball at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and worked in newspaper and radio. Though Hoblitzell did not open a dental practice, he performed some dental work for friends at his home. He died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

in 1962.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoblitzell, Dick 1888 births 1962 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Baseball players from West Virginia Cincinnati Reds players Boston Red Sox players University of Pittsburgh alumni People from Wood County, West Virginia United States Army personnel of World War I Minor league baseball managers Lancaster Red Roses players Wheeling Stogies players Akron Buckeyes players Reading Aces players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Bridgeport Bears (baseball) players Reading Keystones players Charleston Senators players