Ralph Hodgin

Ralph Hodgin
File:Ralph Hodgin 1949.jpg Hodgin in 1949.
Outfielder / Third baseman
Born: (1915-02-10)February 10, 1915 Greensboro, North Carolina
Died: Burlington, North Carolina
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 1939, for the Boston Bees
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 1948, for the Chicago White Sox
MLB statistics
Batting average	.285
Home runs	4
Runs batted in	188
Teams
Boston Bees (1939) Chicago White Sox (1943–1944, 1946–1948)

Elmer Ralph Hodgin (February 10, 1915 – October 4, 2011) was an outfielder/third baseman who played in Major League Baseball between 1939 and 1948. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Listed at 5' 10", 170 lb., Hodgin reached the majors in 1939 with the Boston Bees, spending part of the season with them before serving three years during World War II. After being discharged, he joined the Chicago White Sox in 1943 and hit a career-high .314 as a rookie. Great things were expected from him, but he never repeated the feat. Then, in 1947 he suffered a concussion after he was hit on the skull by a pitch from future Hall of Fame pitcher Hal Newhouser. After that he lost his aggressiveness at the plate, hitting .266 in 114 games for the Sox in 1948, his last major league season.

In a six-season career, Hodgin was a .285 hitter (481-for-1,689) with four home runs and 188 RBI in 530 games, including 198 runs, 79 doubles, 24 triples, and seven stolen bases. A hard-to-strike-out hitter, he posted a solid 1.54 BB/K (97-to-63). He died on October 4, 2011, in Burlington, North Carolina.

References

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• Baseball Library