How do you find information about a man who played one big-league baseball game nearly 120 years ago, potentially under the wrong name?
Start by looking for his relatives, even if it means digging around in far-flung ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.
Chris Rainey, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), is a self-described baseball “nut†living in Oxford, Ohio. The lifelong Cleveland Indians fan is on a mission that he is determined to complete.
“My goal is to get a picture, baseball card or picture photo of everybody who’s ever played for the Cleveland Indians since 1901,†he said.
Rainey has all but four Indians players in his collection. He continues to be stumped by the curious case of Harry Hogan, who played one game — Aug. 13, 1901 — in the major leagues. Hogan went 0 for 4 with a strikeout in Cleveland’s win over the White Sox, was demoted, and never played in the bigs again.
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“He came one day, played the next and was gone the third day,†Rainey said.
The Indians’ record books list Hogan as hailing from Syracuse, New York. But Rainey believes Hogan could in fact be Malachi Silvanus Hogan of Marion, Ohio — a man whose daughter eventually moved to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.
There’s evidence to support Rainey’s hunch: A newspaper article from 1901 mentioned that “M.S. Hogan†from Marion was going to try out for the Indians. M.S. Hogan’s 1945 obituary said he was a baseball player at one point, while Harry Hogan’s 1934 obit had no mention of the sport.
“It really appears that the Hogan that played for Cleveland hadn’t come from Syracuse, New York, but had in fact come from Marion, Ohio,†Rainey said.
Chris Rainey has binders full of information about Cleveland Indians players. He remains stumped on the true identity of one of them, a player referred to as Harry Hogan.
Looking for proof that M.S. Hogan played for the Indians, Rainey tracked down the name of his daughter, Edna Hogan Ralston. Edna and her husband George moved from Cleveland to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in 1947.
George Ralston, an investment broker, died in 1962; Edna followed in 1985. Both are buried at Saint Philip’s in the Hills Church Cemetery in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.
“I’m hoping that there are some grandchildren still in the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ area,†Rainey said. “I’m curious if they know the story of him and can say, ‘Grandpa Malachi was a ballplayer and played for the Indians.’â€
Rainey plans to eventually write a biography on Hogan, one that will appear on the SABR website. He’s hopeful that someone from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ can confirm what he’s long suspected, and maybe more.
“It’d be fun to uncover the rest of this story,†Rainey said.
Baseball sleuth Chris Rainey
