Returning to Alma Matter to Discuss Baseball Career, a Former Tide and MLB Star
TUSCALOOSA, AL — This spring will be the first time in over half a century that former Crimson Tide two-sport star and Major League Baseball big leaguer Butch Hobson will not be involved in at least some capacity with the game he loves so much
In September of last year, Patch revealed that Hobson, who was 72 years old at the time and managing the independent Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball, had achieved his 2,200th career professional coaching victory this week while also tending to his ailing father and recuperating from a difficult knee surgery.
In fact, Hobson is the most successful manager in the modern period of independent baseball thanks to his 2,289 career coaching victories in the professional ranks, more than 1,500 of which came in independent ball. Hobson was formerly a third baseman with the Boston Red Sox.
Hobson won’t be in the dugout this season, though, as he spoke to longtime friend Dick Mahoney’s class at the University of Alabama on Wednesday for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). He said that after contract talks with the Chicago Dogs ended in failure, the team’s owner texted him to let him know he wouldn’t be staying as manager.
Hobson finished his time in Chicago with a 303-254 record, including the organization’s first-ever appearance in the Wolff Cup Finals.
“I take a lot of pride in my reputation in the game and this year, when I was negotiating my contract, the very next day, I got a text from my owner telling me they didn’t think I should come back because of my poor reputation and poor leadership and that killed me,” he told the class, sharing a sentiment he had previously expressed to me.
But as the room got still and a few faces drooped, he threw up both hands and jokingly comforted those seated, saying “It’s okay!”
“I’m over it now and it forced me to step back,” Hobson said, “but I know my reputation in this game is good.
Talking about this latest leg of his baseball trip, Hobson’s voice still carries the painful sting of such a letdown despite the smiles. Nevertheless, he didn’t hesitate to express his belief in a greater, more cosmic cause for his (presumably brief) dismissal from the major leagues.
His father, Clell Hobson, was well-known in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding west Alabama region as a cherished high school football coach and community leader. The Tuscaloosa Patch has written extensively on his life and legacy.
Bart Starr was his backup at Alabama after the two were high school opponents and the two combined for record-breaking performance in the 1953 Orange Bowl by passing for over 300 yards in the 61-6 win over Syracuse.
It’s a margin of victory that stood as a bowl record until the 2008 GMAC Bowl.
The elder Hobson is the oldest living University of Alabama quarterback, other than the equally legendary Marie “Tot” Fikes (Carastro) — a woman slightly older than Clell who starred in intramural football in the 1940s at The Capstone.
Clell Hobson insists to this day she was a good enough quarterback to play in pads.
The last living quarterback to have not played for the legendary Bear Bryant, Clell Hobson is 93 and in failing health. He resides at Marengo Nursing Home in Demopolis, where his son has also called home during the off-season.
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