boys of summer Harry Hooper

Harry Bartholomew Hooper (August 24, 1887 – December 18, 1974) was a Major League Baseball player in the early 20th century. Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He still holds many team records with the Boston Red Sox.

Hooper was born in Bell Station, California. A graduate in engineering at Saint Mary's College of California, he broke into the majors with the Red Sox in 1909. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in the 1921 season and finished his career in 1925.

Hooper was known as a top-calibre defensive right fielder and a solid leadoff hitter. Between 1910 and 1915, he teamed with Tris Speaker (CF) and Duffy Lewis (LF) to form one of the finest outfield trios in baseball history.

Over his career, Hooper scored 100 runs or higher three times; batted .300 or higher five times, and stole 20 or more bases nine times. He also finished in the top ten list in triples seven times and in home runs three times.

On May 30, 1913 Hooper became the first player to hit a home run to leadoff both games of a doubleheader, a mark only matched by Rickey Henderson 80 years later. Beside this, Hooper is the only person to be a part of four Red Sox World Series championships: in 1912, 1915, 1916 and 1918. On October 13, 1915, he became the first player to hit two home runs in a single World Series game (*). Hooper was also the captain of the Red Sox in 1919.

Hooper was a career .281 hitter with 75 home runs, 817 RBI, 1429 runs, 2466 hits, 389 doubles, 160 triples, and 375 stolen bases in 2309 games. He holds the Red Sox franchise records for most triples (130) and stolen bases (300). Harry Hooper was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. He died in Santa Cruz, California, at age of 87.

Batting Statistics
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1909 Boston 81 255 29 72 3 4 0 12 16 x .282
1910 Boston 155 584 81 156 9 10 2 27 62 x .267
1911 Boston 130 524 93 163 20 6 4 45 73 x .311
1912 Boston 147 590 98 143 20 12 2 53 66 x .242
1913 Boston 148 586 100 169 29 12 4 40 60 51 .288
1914 Boston 142 530 85 137 23 15 1 41 58 47 .258
1915 Boston 149 566 90 133 20 13 2 51 89 36 .235
1916 Boston 151 575 75 156 20 11 1 37 80 35 .271
1917 Boston 151 559 89 143 21 11 3 45 80 40 .256
1918 Boston 126 474 81 137 26 13 1 44 75 25 .289
1919 Boston 128 491 76 131 25 6 3 49 79 28 .267
1920 Boston 139 536 91 167 30 17 7 53 88 27 .312
1921 Chicago 108 419 74 137 26 5 8 58 55 21 .327
1922 Chicago 152 602 111 183 35 8 11 80 68 33 .304
1923 Chicago 145 576 87 166 32 4 10 65 68 22 .288
1924 Chicago 130 476 107 156 27 8 10 62 65 26 .328
1925 Chicago 127 442 62 117 23 5 6 55 54 21 .265

Career statistics
Batting average  .281
Hits  2466
Home Runs  75
Runs batted in  817

4-Time World Series Champion
(1912, 1915, 1916 & 1918)

4 seasons with a .300+ batting average

3 seasons with 100+ runs scored