Martin Francis Hogan (October 25, 1869 – August 15, 1923), nicknamed "the Indianapolis Ringer", was an English-born right fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1894) and St. Louis Browns (1894–1895). After leaving the National League, Hogan moved on to the minor league Indianapolis Hoosiers. Some sources suggest he set a national baserunning record in the 1890s.The Baltimore Sun Almanac for 1909 (Baltimore, Maryland: A. S. Abell Co., 1909), p. 200.The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1906 (New York: Press Publishing Co., 1905), p. 277.
When his playing career ended, he worked as a minor league baseball manager in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. As a manager, Hogan groomed several pitchers who excelled in the major leagues. He signed future stars Stan Coveleski and Sam Jones to their first professional contracts and helped launch the career of Roy Castleton, the first native of Utah to play in the major leagues.
In 1912, Hogan was among a select group of veteran managers invited to participate in the United States Baseball League, which was treated by the baseball establishment as an "outlaw league". For reasons that are unclear, he did not actually manage a franchise in the short-lived alternative league and resumed his career as a minor league manager. Hogan eventually settled in his adopted hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, where he died in 1923.
Early years Hogan was born to Patrick J. Hogan, Sr., and his wife, the former Margaret Gillen, in the industrial town of Wednesbury, Staffordshire (now West Midlands, England.) When he was still a child, his parents, both natives of Ireland, relocated the family from England to Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-production center near the Pennsylvania border. Although Hogan is routinely identified as Anglo-American (given his English birth), baseball historians Joel Zoss and John Bowman wrote that he probably regarded himself as an Irish American.Zoss and Bowman (2004), p. 120.
The Hogan family settled on Youngstown's near west side, in a working-class district known as Westlake's Crossing. In Youngstown, Hogan's father, Patrick J. Hogan, Sr., secured employment as a steelworker, while his older brother, Patrick J. Hogan, Jr., worked his way up to the position of "roller" at the Union Steel Company (later consolidated with U.S. Steel). Martin Hogan moved in the direction of an athletic career, gaining early recognition as a "foot racer". His interest in sports was evidently encouraged by his father, who closely followed his son's baseball career even in later life. Patrick J. Hogan, Sr.'s obituary described him as "a great baseball fan", who "was as quick to appreciate a clever 'steal' or a 'heady' play as any one of the younger generation".
While little is known about Martin Hogan's early years in Youngstown, there is evidence he was popular among local residents. His obituary referred to him as an individual "of pleasing personality" who "made many friends during his long residence in Youngstown". Another newspaper article described him as "a good fellow", and a third indicated he was well liked among players with whom he worked. At the same time, Hogan was reportedly quick to comment when he felt he was treated unfairly.
Playing career Before joining the major leagues, Hogan played for minor league baseball teams in the northeastern United States, including the Akron (Ohio) Summits and Scranton (Pennsylvania) Miners. He began his career as a major league player with the Cincinnati Reds, on August 4, 1894, but played only six games before switching to the St. Louis Browns (later known as the Cardinals). By this time, St. Louis had been eliminated from league championship contention, after being tied with Cleveland and Boston for first place in April.Spalding's Official Athletic Library Baseball Guide (New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1895), p. 114. Hogan participated in 29 games with St. Louis in the 1894 season. According to the 1895 edition of Spalding's Official Baseball Guide, he ranked tenth among league outfielders with a percentage of .941 for put-outs, assists, and errors.Spalding's Official Athletic Library Baseball Guide (New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1895), p. 99. Among his teammates, Hogan held the second highest percentage of stolen bases for games played. In March 1895, a reporter for Sporting Life praised the Browns' decision to retain Hogan in center field and emphasized the young outfielder's potential. "On the bases and in the field the lad is a wonder", the paper stated. "His only fault is weakness at the bat, but increasing confidence and familiarity with [National] League players will undoubtedly improve him in this respect". Despite Hogan's physical speed, however, his overall performance with the Browns proved uneven, and his two-season batting average was just .241. On May 17, 1895, the Youngstown Daily Vindicator reported that Hogan had been "farmed out" as a center fielder to the Indianapolis Hoosiers, a club connected to the well-organized Western League, the predecessor of the American League. The Vindicator added, "At any time by giving a proper notification the St. Louis team, of which club Hogan is a member, can again secure his services". Yet, for reasons that are unclear, Hogan never returned to the St. Louis Browns. He played his last game with the team on April 24, 1895, concluding a major-league career that comprised 40 games over two seasons.Thorn, Palmer, and Reuther (1989), p. 1187.
At Indianapolis, Hogan led at the bat, and contemporary sources indicate his performance improved. "Marty Hogan, who is playing temporarily in middle field for the Indianapolis team of the western league...is covering himself in glory with his superb playing", the Vindicator reported on June 4, 1895. "The Indianapolis Sentinel of May 31st says: Hogan made a great record at the bat yesterday morning", the newspaper added. "One of the drives was for a home run and three of the hits were bunts". In addition, the article credited Hogan with four runs, five base hits, and two put outs in a late morning game against a rival team from St. Paul, Minnesota. The Vindicator went on to quote the Indianapolis Journal as follows: "Among the features of the forenoon game was Hogan's batting. He got five hits, one a home run, and his bunting was even cleverer than usual, and that is saying a great deal". The article concluded, "If he keeps up this gait, it will not be long before [St. Louis Browns owner Chris] Von der Ahe reclaims his pet".
Hogan's obituary stated that, at some point in his playing career, he set a record for baserunning. Several sources trace this record to a field day event held in Indianapolis in 1895, when he reportedly rounded the bases in 13.2 seconds. The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1906, for instance, reported that Hogan "lowered the base-running record" in 1895, noting that "[t]he distance around the bases is 120 yards". In January 1906, Sporting Life reported that Hogan had "taken steps to have the base running record awarded to him". The report added, "Under proper conditions [Hogan] turned the route in 13 1–5 seconds at Indianapolis in 1895". Some observers questioned the veracity of the record, however. In 1907, for instance, Washington Post sports columnist J. Ed Grillo conceded that "Hogan was a great sprinter" but described his unofficial record as "out of reason". Grillo, who argued that "the fastest runners in baseball failed to come anywhere near the mark", lent his support to an official record of 14.1 that had been set more recently by Eastern League player Wally Clement. An article published in the Washington Herald days earlier also raised questions about Hogan's baserunning record. In this case, however, the writer claimed that the most "authentic" record had been set by Harry Berthrong in the 1860s. The article stated that, while Hogan was "said to have beaten Berthrong's base-circling record of 13 2–5 seconds by a fifth of a second", this alleged feat was not "performed under official sanction". One year earlier, in 1906, Berthrong, himself, weighed in on the debate. According to an article that appeared in Sporting Life in March of that year, Berthrong disputed Hogan's claim. "My time...around the bases was made in Washington, D.C., in July 1868, after the old Nationals of Washington, D.C., had played a game with the Pastimes of Baltimore, Md.", Berthrong was quoted as saying in an interview. "Three stop watches were held over me, the slowest giving me 14 1/4". The retired player added: "I am skeptical about this man Hogan doing the bases in 13 1-5: nobody but an Arthur Duffey could possibly do it, and I doubt if he could". For reasons that are unclear, the article indicated that Hogan claimed to round the bases in 1889, six earlier than other reports. (A similar description of Hogan's claim appeared elsewhere in the same edition of Sporting Life; a brief news item suggested he claimed to set the record "in Indianapolis in the 80's".) Baseball historian Jon Daly traced Hogan's contested record to 1898; he speculated that Ben Morgan, an official of the National Association, "disputed that claim when doing a study of field day records". The most widely accepted national baserunning record was set by Evar Swanson, who rounded the bases in 13.4 seconds in 1929. Despite questions surrounding Hogan's baserunning record, he became popularly known as the "Indianapolis Ringer". Newspaper reports suggest he defended his position as baserunning champion of the Western League in various pre-game competitions. On August 2, 1895, the Vindicator noted that the outfielder had "a rival for the base running honors in the western league in George Nichol of the Milwaukees who, it is claimed, can get down to first quicker than Hogan". The article added, "A race between the two is talked of". Then, on August 17, 1895, the Vindicator reported that Hogan had defeated Detroit outfielder Frank Tower in a baserunning contest. "The Hoosiers have in Mart Hogan a pretty good extra card", the article added. "Indianapolis goes around the land, and their sprinting outfielder meets all comers in foot races before the game. He has not yet been defeated". Several days earlier, the same newspaper quoted a journalist from Sporting Life, who reportedly commented: "Mart Hogan, the Indianapolis outfielder, is showing such astonishing speed that he will probably be taken to England next year for the Sheffield Handicap".