Bob Hofman

Robert George Hofman, generally known as Bobby Hofman, was an infielder, catcher, and utility player whose entire Major League Baseball playing career was spent with the New York Giants. Born October 5, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri, he threw and batted right-handed and stood 5 feet 11 inches. His early career was interrupted by service in the United States Army during World War II, where he saw action in the European Theater. After a 19-game trial with the Giants in 1949, he returned to stay in 1952 and remained with the club through 1957. Managers Leo Durocher and Bill Rigney used him primarily as a utilityman and as a right-handed pinch hitter off the bench, and he was a member of the Giants' 1954 World Series championship roster. Over a seven-year career spanning 1949 and 1952 through 1957, he appeared in 341 games and batted .248 with 32 home runs and 101 RBIs. After his playing days he coached in the American League for 12 seasons between 1966 and 1978, working for the Athletics in Kansas City and Oakland, the Washington Senators, and the Cleveland Indians, and he was a coach on Oakland's 1974 championship team. He later served as director of scouting for the New York Yankees. He died April 5, 1994, in Chesterfield, Missouri, at age 68.