ABSTRACT
Hooper was a great star of the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox, from 1909-25. Playing with Babe Ruth in Boston, he convinced the Boston management to shift Ruth from a pitcher to an outfielder and everyday player. An extraordinary defensive player, he was more "Everyman" than "Superman" but highly respected for his baseball skills and leadership qualities. Hooper's story emerges from the history of California and West Coast baseball. We can trace it back to townball, which was an urban and a rural antecedent of baseball that was first played, in an organized way, in New York, Boston, and other East Coast cities. When the Pacific Coast League (PCL) was featured as an exhibit a few years ago at the Oakland Museum, it ran for two and a half years. It is instructive to examine some of the West Coast ballparks and players from this era. It illustrates the environment from which someone like Harry Hooper emerged.
