Franz Philip Hosp Jr. was born in Cincinnati in 1884 (some records, including cemetery documents and his grave say 1883). His father was a well-known landscape architect and horticulturist who moved the family to Riverside, California in 1888.
The elder Hosp was responsible for many projects in the Southwest and Southern California; he is probably most famous for his landscaping of Victoria Avenue in Riverside, which remains a tourist attraction and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and for planting the gardens at the El Tovar Hotel in Grand Canyon National Park.
The family also ran a successful nursery in Oceanside, California and Hosp worked with his father while playing baseball in the San Diego area.
Franz Hosp, 1909
In December 1906 he pitched for the San Diego Pickwicks (sponsored by San Diego’s Pickwick Theater) of the California Winter League. Hosp quickly caught the eye of West Coast professional teams; according to The Los Angeles Times he had a streak of thirty-one scoreless innings that winter and “fanned as many as eighteen men in a single game.”
The Los Angeles Herald said two teams, The Butte Miners and the Seattle Siwashes of the Northwestern League, had already “tried hard to secure his services,” when he pitched against the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in a February exhibition game in San Diego.
The Associated Press said the game
“(W)as the first time in which he allowed as many as seven hits, and after doing, he took a brace and fanned out an equal number of Los Angeles’ best artists, with the result being that the Angels’ manager (Henry ”Hen” Berry) lost no time in annexing Hosp to his own aggregation.”
Hosp said he chose to play with Los Angeles so he could continue working at the family business in Oceanside.
The pitcher was a popular member of the Angels. The Los Angeles Herald said:
“Pitcher Franz Hosp is not only one of the best twirlers in the coast league, but he is also one of the most genial boys who ever donned a baseball uniform. Hosp has forgotten more baseball, young as he is, than many of the swell headed players who roar at decisions have ever learned.”
The Times said of Hosp, who also played second base and shortstop:
“His work in the field and at the bat is equal to his performance in the box making him one of the best all-around men in the business.”
Hosp was 12-7 with a 2.73 ERA for the PCL champion Angels in 1907; he also played 13 games in the infield, hitting just .105.
Franz Hosp
The following season Hosp (22-14 2.02), William “Dolly” Gray (26-11, 2.12), and Walter “Judge” Nagle (24-10, 1.94) led the Angels to another league championship. On July 26 he had the most embarrassing moment of his career during a game with the San Francisco Seals. The San Francisco Chronicle said:
“Hosp of the Angels established a unique and startling record yesterday afternoon, one that bids to stand a long time in baseball circles. Not only did he literally pitch the game away, but in one inning—the fourth—he walked six men and hit two more, forcing in five runs across the plate without a hit by the Seals. Not a ball was hit out of the diamond.”
(Just more than a year later, August 28, 1909, Hosp’s former teammate Dolly Gray, now a 30-year-old rookie with the Washington Senators, set the major league record by walking eight Chicago White Sox batters in one inning).
Hosp was 16-14 in August of 1909 when he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds for 1910. Within a week he hurt his arm and did not pitch again for the remainder of the season.
By the spring of 1910 there were conflicting reports about the condition of Hosp’s arm.
The Times reported that according to Angels pitcher Andy Briswalter:
“Franz Hosp, whose clever pitching resulted in his purchase by the Cincinnati Reds, may never play ball again.”
The Herald said Hosp:
“(D)enied with considerable indignation the story purporting to be an interview with Andy Briswalter. According to this story, Hosp’s arm was said to be in such condition that he might never play ball again. While Hosp was overworked last season, when his sensational work with the Seraphs resulted in his being purchased by the Cincinnati Reds, he stated that he never felt better and that the rest of the past winter overcame any inconvenience or ill effects. Hosp says he hasn’t seen Briswalter in six months.”
Hosp joined the Reds in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was first tried in the outfield. The Cincinnati Enquirer said after his debut:
“(Ward) Miller and (George “Dode”) Paskert will have a dangerous rival for the right field job in the person of Franz Hosp, the recruit from the coast, who was signed as a pitcher but will try out as a fielder…He is a right-hand hitter, a good-sized, well-built fellow, and meets the ball square on the nose. He came to bat five times; made a double and two clean singles…He showed a lot of speed on the bases and appears to be a kid who will bear watching.”
When finally given a chance to pitch, against the Boston Red Sox on March 25, after two scoreless innings, he gave up four singles and doubles to Harry Lord and Tris Speaker, in the third, resulting in three runs and was lifted for a pinch hitter the following inning.
Hosp was also tried in the infield where he “has made a fine impression.” But it wasn’t enough to stick with the Reds.
The Herald reported in early May:
“Franz Hosp, one of the best pitchers who ever worked in the Coast League and who was released to Los Angeles by Cincinnati almost ten days ago because his pitching arm is kafluey for a time is warming up with the Angels every day and Hen Berry thinks he will get back into pitching form again soon. He is a crack infielder too, and a heavy sticker, so it is dollars to cents that he will not be idle long.”
Hosp made his mound debut for the Angels on May 20; he pitched a complete game, losing 5 to 3. The Herald said:
“Hosp showed excellent form for a pitcher who has been out of the game as long as he, and with a weak and sore arm, and he should be able get back to his best form with a little patience and careful slab work until his arm is ripe again.”
The paper was wrong, the extent of Hosp’s activity as a pitcher after that game was four innings in three games over the next year and a half.
Hosp was released by the Angels on June 15, along with Briswalter, who The Times claimed four months earlier had said Hosp’s arm was shot; Briswalter had not recovered from a hip injury sustained during the 1909 season, he developed Tuberculosis of the injured bone and died in 1912.
Andy Briswalter
Hosp continued to play for a decade.
Within weeks he was signed to play shortstop for the Vernon Tigers. He hit just .240 for the Tigers, but The (Portland) Oregonian called him “a nifty fielder.”
Hosp became the team’s regular shortstop, through their move to Venice, California. He hit .261 in 1911, and 1912, .255 in 1913, and then slipped to .208 in 1914. He was released before the 1915 season and played for the Wichita Witches in the Western League. He returned briefly to the PCL at the end of 1915, but was released by the Oakland Oaks prior to the 1916 season. He returned to the PCL in 1918, playing for four teams over the next three seasons, ending his career after 56 games with the Salt Lake City Gulls in 1920.
Hosp returned to Southern California where he played and managed for semi-pro and industrial league teams and lived in Los Angeles.
On June 30, 1928 he was killed in a car accident on Coast Highway (US 101) 16 miles north of Oceanside.
Tags: Andy Briswalter, Boston Red Sox, Butte Miners, Cincinnati Reds, Dode Paskert, Dolly Gray, Franz Hosp, Harry Lord, Hen Berry, Judge Nagle, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Seraphs, Oakland Oaks, Pacific Coast League, San Diego Pickwicks, San Francisco Seals, Seattle Siwashes, Tris Speaker, Venice Tigers, Vernon Tigers, Ward Miller, Washington Senators, Western League, Wichita Witches
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