William Buck Hooker
 

Buck Hooker's T209-2 card was posted on the BST last week, and the posting encouraged me to look at the cards of one of my favorite players.

William Edward "Buck" Hooker had one of the great surnames in the deadball era. He had a cup-of-coffee with the Reds as a pitcher in late 1902-early 1903, but spent most of his time playing and coaching in the Southern minor leagues.

Buck appears on four cards, and I thought you all might enjoy viewing the T209-2, T206, T210-2 and E222 versions of one of baseball's unheralded hookers!

Enjoy,
Mike

He's alright, but I'm more of a

One of my favorite e-bay notifications. :) I had to print screen that one, made me laugh. Imagine what my wife would think?

I go there, too, Glenn!

Cheers,
Mike

Interesting Mike. What year do you think the unique photo of that group was taken? Hooker look noticeably older in it.

As the seller of the Hooker on the BST, here is a scan of my example if anyone is interested!

Attachment 275401

Attachment 275402

Peter--

I've also remarked that he looks much older in his T209 card. That photo was taken in 1910 and probably by a local photographer either in Danville, or a nearby studio. The other three are from the same photo most likely taken in 1909.

I think, too, that since the T206, T210 and E222 are lithographs and don't show the details of his face, the litho presents a softer and younger looking subject. Hence, he doesn't look quite as old as his 29 years. The real photograph used for his T209 card shows more of his facial details, and that may be the reason he appears older. His image has not been softened by the litho process. BTW, he died in 1929 at 49.

Cheers, Mike

Isn't his name Bock? Or have they been calling him the wrong name all these years? This is a serious question, no joking.

It is actually Edward. Edward "Bock" Hooker. You are right.

Quick question. If you are selling a crusty beat up hooker, does that make you a....nah.

Tom C

Per this web site, his name is William Edward Hooker - if this is correct, I assume Bock/Buck are his nicknames: http://t206society.com/product/bock-...rown-old-mill/

I stand corrected, it is William Edward Hooker. There seems to be debate between "Buck" and " Bock."

Yes, his given name is William Edward Hooker. According to Baseball.com and SABR, his nickname was Buck, although I have seen Bock used as his nickname. As Val posted from the T206Society website, he is identified as Bock, although Buck is used in his bio.

The Bock reference could be due to a spelling error when he was playing, a not uncommon mistake in the minor leagues during the Deadball era since copy-editing was not an exact science in 1909-1910. The classic misspelled name is Jacksonville's Juan Viola, a Cuban, who appears as Violat on his T206 card.

BTW, Val, that is one sweet E222 of Hooker!

Cheers, Mike

Buck Hooker
 

Buck Hooker is one of my favorites, too.

The early baseball reference books (even The Baseball Encyclopedia by Macmillan, 1969, I think) had his biographical info all messed up. If I'm not mistaken (and I don't have the book handy right now), they listed him with a "Birth Name" of Cyrus Hoch, and a death date in 1911. Cy Hoch was a pitcher with Buffalo in 1900 (American League) and 1901-02 (Eastern League), and I think someone confused their records along the way. I see that Baseball-Reference now lists the Buffalo pitcher as Ernest J. "Cy" Hooker. Don't know where that came from, and it looks like there's a bit more work to be done.

Anyway, about 1974-75, I located Buck's sister, Florence Hooker Ashby, in Richmond, VA and she filled me in with the bio info that we now show,

William Edward Hooker
b. August 28, 1880 Richmond, VA
d. July 2, 1929 Richmond, VA
buried: Riverside Cemetery - Richmond, VA

She called him "Buck," and I'm fairly certain that was the only nickname he used. I've never seen "Bock" in any contemporary story about him - in fact, the first time I ever saw him referred to as "Bock" was on the label of a graded T206 card. And since that was before there was any attempt to assign first names to the tobacco card players, I think the reference books picked up "Bock" from that graded card.

I think the minor league affiliates shown for Buck in B-R.com is pretty complete, except that nothing is shown for him in 1914. I'm fairly certain that he played in the Virginia Mountain League (either Staunton or Clifton Forge, I think) - but no statistics are (yet) available for that League).

I've also seen several articles mentioning that he was hired as baseball coach at Virginia Tech (my alma mater) in 1913, even though he's not listed in the VT Baseball Media Guide. But, he could have coached the college team in the spring, then joined Johnson City for the last part of the season (he was only in 70 games).

I'll try to attach photos of a couple other Buck Hooker items - hope they come through. The Old Mill cabinet isn't mine (just happens to share a scan with another card, from an auction catalog), but the signed 1903 Reds pay voucher (dated two days after his last Major League game) IS from my collection.

Tom,

This is wonderful information about Buck Hooker--thank you for sharing it! It must have been a treat to talk with his sister.

I would love to add his Old Mill cabinet card to my little collection, but we all know the scarcity of those cards. However, the check with Buck's signature on one of his Reds paychecks is fabulous. Great stuff!

Many, many thanks,
Mike

Great info!

Great thread with some really nice cards. Here is my worn out old Hooker.

Hehe, the sort of hooker at the national who can expect to be sold.

True story: at the first Chicago National I attended, I went to the N54 event. A few of us shared a cab back to the hotel and the cabbie kept trying to get us to go to strip bars and engage him to find us other 'adult amusements'. After several polite refusals he finally got frustrated and asked "what kind of convention is this, anyway?" I replied "Bible."

Fantastic cards guys! Definitely one of my favorite players and a Richmonder his whole life. Maybe I should make the short trek to his burial site and pay some respects.

Nice display of Hookers, Mike!!