Paul Hoover (baseball)

{{Short description|American baseball player and coach (born 1976)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| image = Paul Hoover.jpg

| width = 300

| caption = Hoover with the Florida Marlins

| name = Paul Hoover

| team = Kansas City Royals

| number = 26

| position = Catcher / Coach

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|4|14}}

| birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

| debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = September 8

| debutyear = 2001

| debutteam = Tampa Bay Devil Rays

| finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = September 29

| finalyear = 2010

| finalteam = Philadelphia Phillies

| statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Batting average

| stat1value = .250

| stat2label = Home runs

| stat2value = 0

| stat3label = Runs batted in

| stat3value = 8

| teams =

As Player

Tampa Bay Devil Rays ({{mlby|2001}}–{{mlby|2002}})
Florida Marlins ({{mlby|2006}}–{{mlby|2008}})
Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|2009}}–{{mlby|2010}})

As Coach

Tampa Bay Rays ({{mlby|2019}}–{{mlby|2022}})
Kansas City Royals ({{mlby|2023}}–present)}}

Paul Chester Hoover (born April 14, 1976) is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the bench coach for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hoover played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Florida Marlins, and the Philadelphia Phillies. He was listed as standing {{convert|6|ft|1|in|m}} tall, and weighing {{convert|220|lb|kg}}.

Professional career

=Tampa Bay Devil Rays=

In 1994 Hoover was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 64th round of the MLB draft, however he did not sign. Hoover was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 23rd round (714th overall) of the 1997 MLB draft, with whom he signed on June 6, 1997. Hoover made his MLB debut on September 8, 2001, as a pinch hitter for Tampa Bay in a game against the Oakland Athletics; he singled to left field in his first MLB plate appearance.{{cite web |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B09230TOR2001.htm |title=Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1, Toronto Blue Jays 0 |date=September 23, 2001 |website=Retrosheet}} Hoover appeared in three games with Tampa Bay during 2001, and in five games during 2002.

=Florida Marlins=

Hoover next played in the major leagues in 2006, with the Florida Marlins. From 2006 through 2008, he appeared in a total of 20 games for the Marlins. On September 29, 2007, Hoover broke up a potential no-hitter in the eighth inning with an infield single to spoil a bid by John Maine of the New York Mets.

=Philadelphia Phillies=

On January 7, 2009, Hoover signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Philadelphia Phillies.{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/07/sports/BBN-Phillies-Giles.php |title=Hoover signs with Phils |accessdate=January 7, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |date=January 7, 2009 |work=iht.com}} He appeared in a total of 12 major league games with the Phillies during 2009–2010. On October 4, 2009, Hoover hit a walk-off RBI single on the final day of the regular season against the Florida Marlins to give the Phillies a 7–6 victory. He was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on October 28, 2010.

=Boston Red Sox=

In February 2011, Hoover signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox,[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110202&content_id=16557170&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos&partnerId=rss_bos Red Sox sign four free agents to Minors deals] MLB.com, February 2, 2011 however he did not play for their organization during the 2011 regular season.

Hoover currently holds the MLB record for most seasons by a non-pitcher with 25 or fewer plate appearances, with six. He shares the record for the most seasons as a rookie, with seven seasons.{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/9926.html |title=Most Seasons (Non-P) PA <= 25 |publisher=baseball-reference.com |date=February 12, 2011 |first=Steve |last=Lombardi}}

Post-playing career

In 2012, the Tampa Bay Rays hired Hoover as manager for the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Rays.{{cite web | url = http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120105&content_id=26264948&vkey=pr_tb&c_id=tb | title = Rays name minor league coaching staffs for 2012 | work = Tampa Bay Rays official website | date = January 5, 2012 | accessdate = January 16, 2012 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120121211908/http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120105&content_id=26264948&vkey=pr_tb&c_id=tb | archivedate = January 21, 2012 }} The team finished with a 28–32 record. In 2013, Hoover became a roving catching coordinator for Tampa Bay.{{cite web |url=http://www.playballohio.com/instructors/paul-hoover |title=Paul Hoover |website=playballohio.com |accessdate=September 28, 2017}} In December 2018, Hoover was named the field coordinator for the Rays, replacing Rocco Baldelli, who became manager of the Minnesota Twins.{{cite web |title=Rays make it official, add Paul Hoover to coaching staff |url=https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/12/04/rays-make-it-official-add-paul-hoover-to-coaching-staff/ |website=Tampa Bay Times |accessdate=December 5, 2018}}

On November 13, 2022, the Kansas City Royals hired Hoover as their bench coach for the 2023 season.{{Cite web|title=Royals add Hoover to Quatraro's staff as bench coach|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/royals-hire-paul-hoover-as-bench-coach|access-date=July 14, 2023|website=mlb.com|language=en}}

Personal life

Both of Hoover's parents are deaf; he learned American Sign Language at a young age.{{cite web |url=https://deafnn.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/catching-up-with-paul-hoover-c-miami-herald/ |title=Catching up with Paul Hoover, C |newspaper=Miami Herald |via=Deaf News Network |date=March 19, 2007 |accessdate=September 28, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYIAep7nCLE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/FYIAep7nCLE |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Boston Red Sox Catcher Paul Hoover's Parents are deaf. He loves ASL |website=YouTube |date=March 24, 2011 |accessdate=September 28, 2017}}{{cbignore}}

References

External links

{{Baseballstats |mlb=150137 |espn=6816 |br=h/hoovepa01 |fangraphs=1212 |brm=hoover001pau}}, or [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/Phoovp001.htm Retrosheet]

Category:1976 births

Category:Living people

Category:Albuquerque Isotopes players

Category:21st-century American sportsmen

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada

Category:American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic

Category:Azucareros del Este players

Category:Baseball coaches from Ohio

Category:Baseball players from Columbus, Ohio

Category:Charleston RiverDogs players

Category:Durham Bulls players

Category:Edmonton Trappers players