Chester Cornelius "Red" Hoff (May 8, 1891 – September 17, 1998) was an American left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Biography

Early life

Chester ("Chet" or "Red") Hoff was born in Ossining, New York, the fifth child (and fourth son) of Walter, a railroad worker, and Harriet Hoff.

Baseball career

Hoff made his major league debut on September 6, 1911. Pitching against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in his second appearance on September 18 at the wood-grandstand Hilltop Park in

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for Fort Washington (Manhattan), Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the Bennett Park (Ne ...

on the site now occupied by Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, he struck out

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

. In later years, Hoff recalled this as the highlight of his career. Hoff played in a total of 12 games during the 1911, 1912 and 1913 seasons with the New York Highlanders/Yankees, and he pitched in 11 games with the 1915 St. Louis Browns with a 2-2 record and a 1.24 ERA. Hoff went on to play for a minor league baseball team in Rochester in 1914 and with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

in 1915.

Oldest National or American Leaguer

Although he only appeared in 23 games, Hoff is best remembered for being the oldest living ex-major leaguer at the time of his death in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

, at the age of 107. This record was later surpassed by former

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

pitcher Silas Simmons. Hoff died of complications resulting from a fall. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving person to have played in Major League Baseball during the

dead-ball era In major league baseball, the dead-ball era refers to a period from about 1900 to 1920 in which run scoring was low and home runs were rare in comparison to the years that followed. In 1908, the major league batting average dropped to .239, and ...

, the historically low-scoring period from 1901 to 1920.

Later life

After his professional baseball career ended, he returned to Ossining and pitched semipro baseball on Sundays for 10 years, facing some top Negro league teams as well as inmates at the

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...

state prison in games inside the penitentiary walls. He worked as a map cutter for Rand McNally in Ossining before retiring to Florida in the 1950s. Upon his death in 1998, Hoff was survived by two daughters; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. He was predeceased by his wife, Eva, who died in 1934 at age 42.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoff, Red 1891 births 1998 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers New York Highlanders players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Lawrence Barristers players Rochester Hustlers players Salt Lake City Bees players Little Rock Travelers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players American men centenarians Accidental deaths in Florida Accidental deaths from falls People from Ossining, New York Baseball players from Westchester County, New York