Charles Hodes (1848 – February 14, 1875) was an American professional baseball player who played as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

in the National Association for three seasons from 1871 to 1874. A Brooklyn native, Hodes played one season each for the Chicago White Stockings, Troy Haymakers, and

Brooklyn Atlantics The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn ("Atlantic" or the "Brooklyn Atlantics") was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty. The team was also the first baseball club to visit the White House in 1865 at the invitation of President A ...

. He had a career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

of .231 in 63 total games before dying from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

in 1875.

Early life

Hodes was born to German immigrants in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in 1848, though the exact date of his birth is unknown. His family lived in Manhattan until about 1853, when they moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

. There, Hodes would eventually play

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

with multiple amateur teams.

Amateur career

In 1868, Hodes joined the hometown

Brooklyn Eckfords Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs c ...

, playing for them in 1869 as well. He moved on to the Chicago White Stockings in 1870 and remained with the team the following season when they became a charter member of the National Association (NA), the first professional baseball league.

Chicago White Stockings (1871)

Hodes's first NA game with Chicago came on May 8, against the

Cleveland Forest Citys The Forest Citys were a short lived professional baseball team based in Cleveland in the early 1870s. The actual name of the team, as shown in standings, was Forest City, not "Cleveland". The name "Forest Citys" was used in the same generic styl ...

at the

Union Base-Ball Grounds Union Base-Ball Grounds was a baseball park located in Chicago. The park was "very visibly downtown", its small block bounded on the west by Michigan Avenue, on the north by Randolph Street, and on the east by railroad tracks and the lake shore, ...

in Chicago. Playing

for the team, he had two

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

, two

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, and two

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI) in Chicago's 14–12 victory. Though Hodes was Chicago's main catcher during the season,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Jimmy Wood also used him as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

, and

. The White Stockings' season was interrupted on October 8, when the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

consumed their ballpark, uniforms, and equipment. Other teams loaned them supplies to finish the year, and they played the rest of their regularly scheduled games on the road. Despite these challenges, the White Stockings remained in contention for the league title until the final day of the season (October 30), when they faced the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

in a game that would determine the champion. Catching that day, Hode was hitless in three

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s as Philadelphia won 4–1. In 28 games in 1871, Hodes batted .277 with 32 runs scored, 36 hits, two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s (the only ones of his career), and 25 RBI.

Troy Haymakers (1872)

The White Stockings suspended operations after the 1871 season, but Wood was hired to manage the Troy Haymakers for 1872. He brought several of his Chicago players along, including

George Zettlein George Zettlein (July 12, 1844 – May 22, 1905) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played six seasons in Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1876 for the Chicago White Stockings, Troy Haymakers, Brooklyn Eckfords, Philadelphia Whi ...

Bub McAtee Michael James "Bub" McAtee (March, 1845 – October 18, 1876) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who played two seasons in the NAPBBP. He played one season for the Chicago White Stockings (1871) and one for the Troy Haymake ...

, and Hodes. The catcher only appeared in 13 of the team's 25 games, but he continued to demonstrate his versatility by playing third base, shortstop, and outfield. However, Troy's season ended early on July 23, when the team's owners revealed that they would not be able to pay the players. In 13 games, Hodes batted .242 with 17 runs scored, 15 hits, and 10 RBI.

Brooklyn Atlantics (1874)

Six of Troy's former players joined the

for the rest of the 1872 season, but Hodes was not signed by the team. He returned to Brooklyn and played semipro baseball until 1874, when he joined the NA's

. This time, he was used primarily as an outfielder, though he also played the positions of catcher, second base, and first base. However, Hodes battled fatigue throughout the year, which affected his performance on the field. On July 13, he was hitless in five at bats in a 6–4 victory over the

Hartford Dark Blues The Hartfords (more commonly called the Hartford Dark Blues because of their uniform color) were a 19th-century baseball team. The team was based in Hartford, Connecticut. History In 1874, baseball in Hartford, CT was being played in a fever p ...

at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds. After that game, manager Bob Ferguson decided his player needed rest and gave him the remainder of the season off. Though Hodes did not play any more games in 1874, he did

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

four contests, the last of these coming on October 3 when the Atlantics played the Baltimore Canaries. In 21 games, he batted .148 with eight runs scored, 12 hits, and seven RBI. His three-season totals in the NA included a .231 batting average, 57 runs scored, 63 hits, and 42 RBI in 62 games.

Illness and death

Hodes's fatigue would only get worse over the offseason, as he was diagnosed with

in mid-October. Ferguson held an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

at the

Union Grounds Union Grounds was a baseball park located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. The grounds opened in 1862, its inaugural match being played on May 15. It was the first baseball park enclosed entirely by a fence, thereby allowing p ...

in Brooklyn on November 12 to raise funds for the player's recovery, and a benefit "hop" was held for him later that day, though the ''Brooklyn Eagle'' reported that the latter "was not so successful as might have been desired." Ferguson and Hodes's teammates also went to his house several times to encourage the ailing ballplayer. However, Hodes died of the disease on February 14, 1875. He is interred at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodes, Charlie Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball center fielders Brooklyn Eckfords (NABBP) players Chicago White Stockings (NABBP) players Chicago White Stockings players Troy Haymakers players Brooklyn Atlantics players Baseball players from New York (state) 19th-century baseball players 1848 births 1875 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state) American people of German descent