Roy Hughes

A good, if power-deficient, bat, sure hands, foot speed, and baseball smarts propelled infielder Roy Hughes to a solid nine-season major league career, highlighted by an excellent turn at shortstop for the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series. Although an everyday player for only one campaign, Hughes nevertheless made over 750 game appearances and tied since-broken single-game records for putouts by a second baseman (11 in 1937) and fielding chances accepted at third (13 in 1944).1 Hughes also gathered considerable newsprint from off-field activities, including a scary household accident that reputedly cured a debilitated throwing arm, an acrimonious and nationally publicized child custody battle with his first wife, and representation of Philadelphia Phillies players during meetings called to deal with the challenges posed by the Mexican League.

After he hung up his spikes, Hughes founded a successful asphalt paving business. But he remained close to the game, coaching and sponsoring Little League teams, an endeavor initiated by a singular local court order. Once reengaged with baseball, Hughes remained active, in time accumulating recognition and awards that included enshrinement in the baseball hall of fame of his native Ohio. And for decades, Hughes was a source of commentary, insight, and anecdote for the sports press. Late in life, he even became a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, attending meetings and conventions and contributing to SABR publications until his passing in March 1995. A baseball-centric account of this full-to-overflowing life follows.

Roy John Hughes was born in Cincinnati on January 11, 1911, the youngest of seven children2 begat by John J. Hughes (1872-1945), a local grocer of Irish Catholic descent, and his wife Elizabeth (née Witschger, 1872-1944). Roy was educated in neighborhood parochial and public schools before matriculating to Woodward High School, a vocational training institution. He received his diploma in July 19283 and thereafter found employment as a printer’s apprentice.4 In November 1930 at age 19, Roy took a bride, marrying factory machine operator Adelaide Pape in a Catholic ceremony.5 In time, the couple had two daughters, Joy (Joyce, born 1932) and Patsy (Patricia, 1935), but their marriage ended bitterly in the mid-1940s.

The specifics of Roy Hughes’ entry into baseball are unknown, but he likely followed ballplaying older brothers Chip (Charles) and Earl onto city sandlots. Our subject’s name first appeared in newsprint when Hughes was still in high school, described as a “classy left fielder and .300 hitter” when he joined the Cincinnati amateur league champion Coca Cola Cubs.6 A right-handed batter and thrower, he quickly transitioned to shortstop and spent the ensuing summers playing with the Coca Colas and other fast amateur sides, often with Chip and/or Earl as teammates. In an October 1931 matchup of greater Cincinnati-area amateur league champions, the three Hughes brothers went a combined 9-for-14 for the Mount Washington Gun Club in a 14-0 trouncing of New Richmond.7 The following year, Roy’s .375 batting average and standout defensive play for the Rapid Electros attracted the attention of major league scouts.8 In early September, by then 21 years old, he signed with the Cleveland Indians.9

Fully grown at 5-foot-10½, 167 pounds, the handsome, dark-haired Hughes began his professional career with the Zanesville (Ohio) Greys, the Cleveland affiliate in the Class C Mid-Atlantic League. He immediately impressed with the bat. At season’s close, his .322 batting average (168-for-522, with 42 extra-base hits) was second-best on the club. But Hughes’ work at shortstop (.930 fielding percentage in 114 games) still needed refinement.

Promoted to the New Orlans Pelicans of the Class A Southern Association for the 1934 season, Hughes continued to hit, batting .300 for the (94-60, .630) SA champions. Perhaps more important, he upgraded his glove work (.971 in 137 games at shortstop) and was “considered one of the best defensive shortfielders in the minors” when the Indians purchased his contract as the campaign neared an end.10

In training camp, Hughes auditioned for a hard-hitting Cleveland club expected to contend for the American League pennant and again impressed. Particularly taken by the newcomer’s spring performance was Indians general manager Billy Evans. “To me the most pleasant surprise in camp is Roy Hughes,” Evans informed the press. “I had heard he was a vastly improved ball player but I didn’t expect to see the finished infielder that he seems to be. … I saw Hughes when he broke in with Zanesville … but I would say he has developed about 200 per cent since then.”11 Days later, the emergency appendectomy performed on incumbent shortstop Bill Knickerbocker thrust the rookie into the Indians’ Opening Day plans.

Roy Hughes made his major league debut on April 16, 1935, playing short and batting leadoff in the season starter against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman’s Park III. “Showing no excitement” on the occasion – “I reckon it’s just another ball game and I’ll get by all right,” Hughes said beforehand12 – he proved a catalyst for victory. The rookie notched a double and a single (plus drawing a walk) off the formidable Bobo Newsom, scored a run, and handled eight defensive chances flawlessly in the Indians’ 14-inning, 2-1 triumph.

Days later at Navin Field in Detroit, Hughes encored his maiden performance, playing errorless shortstop while scratching out an infield single and scoring the winning run in another overtime 2-1 Cleveland win. Two more Hughes base hits and a run scored, however, were not enough the next afternoon, as Detroit prevailed in 13-innings, 3-2.

In his first three major league games, Hughes posted eye-catching stats: a .313 BA (5-for-16, with two doubles, a walk, and two sacrifice bunts) with three runs scored on offense and errorless shortstop defense (23 chances over 41 innings played). He proved unable to maintain that pace but remained a lineup fixture until Knickerbocker returned to short on May 22.13 Thereafter, Hughes filled in as needed, including a nightmarish appearance at third base where his four errors cost the Indians the five unearned runs that spelled the difference in an 11-7 loss to Detroit on July 3.

Roy’s playing prospects were rejuvenated when coach Steve O’Neill supplanted Walter Johnson as Tribe manager in early August.14 O’Neill soon derricked second baseman Boze Berger, an underperforming Johnson favorite, and installed Hughes in his place. Roy responded with excellent defense (only three errors in 40 games) and rediscovered his hitting form. And before the season was out, he served as pivot man in an extraordinary event: a game-ending triple play.

In the opener of a September 7 doubleheader at Fenway Park, staff ace Mel Harder took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Five straight Boston singles left the Tribe clinging to a two-run margin with the bases loaded and no outs. Facing reliever Oral Hildebrand, future Hall of Famer Joe Cronin lined a vicious shot to the left side that leaping third baseman Odell (Bad News) Hale got his glove on. The ball then ricocheted off Hale’s head into the hands of shortstop Billy Knickerbocker without touching the ground (first out); Knickerbocker tossed the ball to second baseman Hughes, doubling the runner off second (second out); Hughes then fired to first to nab another off-base Bosox baserunner (third out). The end result: triple play, game over, Cleveland wins, 5-3.15

In 82 games overall, Hughes posted a solid .293 BA (78-for-266). Combined with his standout defensive play, he was thereafter touted as the club’s second baseman of the future by Cleveland sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick.16 Hughes’ only shortcoming was a “chronically ailing” throwing arm, the scribe added.17

Hughes’ 1936 performance vindicated Cobbledick’s advocacy. Appearing in 152 games at the keystone, he led American League second basemen in total chances (912) and putouts (421) and was runner-up in assists (466) and double plays turned (98). He also committed the most errors (25) but that was more a reflection of range, as his .973  fielding percentage was also the league’s second-best. Hughes was no slouch on offense either, shaking off a slow start to post a fine .295 BA, with a team-leading 20 stolen bases. Hughes credited his hitting surge to adopting the anchored back foot and open stance of slugging Indians first baseman Hal Trosky.18 Regrettably for Roy, the alterations did not produce Trosky-like long ball results, as Hughes had not yet hit a major league home run in more than 1,000 plate appearances.

Given Hughes’s batting average and defensive prowess, the lack of power may explain his reversion to utilityman status in 1937. With new arrival Lyn Lary monopolizing the shortstop position and hard-hitting Odell Hale installed at second, Roy opened the season at third base. His 3-for-4 day at the plate included two bunt singles – Hughes was a master bunter – to no avail in a 4-3 loss to Detroit. In late May, he finally hit a home run, an inside-the-park blast hit to deep center field in cavernous Cleveland Municipal Stadium off left-hander Jake Wade. But otherwise, Hughes – periodically absented from the lineup by food poisoning, a split finger, and knee trouble – struggled. He played shaky defense at third base and was thereafter benched. Once returned to second in August, however, Hughes regained fielding form, making but one error in over 200 total chances and tying an American League record with 11 putouts at the keystone in an 8-6 loss to Boston on August 4. He also registered four assists and went 2-for-5 with an RBI in that game. In 104 games played overall, Roy batted a decent .277. Superb play at second base (.995 fielding percentage) compensated for his less-than-sterling (.939) work at third for a disappointing fourth-place (83-71-2, .539) Cleveland club.

In February 1938, Hughes was jettisoned by the Indians, sent to the St. Louis Browns in a transaction that netted Cleveland catcher Rollie Hemsley.19 Unhappily for Roy, Browns skipper Gabby Street preferred another new arrival, slick fielding Don Heffner, at second base. Hughes did not draw a starting assignment until the season was 19 games old and eventually appeared in only 21 contests at his best position. With a handful of starts at shortstop and third base, plus pinch-hitting appearances thrown in, Hughes’ name eventually made 58 Browns box scores that season. He .281 season batting average matched the club norm and included a major league career-high two homers in only 96 at-bats. But his future in St. Louis did not appear promising.

The 1939 season began with Hughes back on the sidelines as the Browns tried future television soap opera star Johnny Berardino at second.20 By mid-June, Hughes had appeared in only 17 games, mostly as an unsuccessful pinch-hitter. He and his .087 batting average (2-for-23) were then dispatched to the New York Yankees in return for outfield prospect Joe Gallagher.21 Hughes never donned pinstripes, being shuttled immediately to the Newark Bears, the Yankees’ powerhouse farm club in the Class AA International League.22 There, he quickly recovered his batting eye, hitting a scintillating .374 in 29 games with the Bears.

By mid-July, Hughes was back in the majors, acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies in a swap for pitcher Al Hollingsworth.23 His high-minors hitting revival, however, did not accompany Roy. In 65 games for the Phils, he batted a meek .228 (54-for-237), with little power (only seven extra-base hits). But his second base defense was still reliable (.984), and Hughes was still ostensibly included in Philadelphia’s plans for the coming season.

But in reality, he was not. After appearing in a single 1940 game, Hughes was sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers.24 But like the Yankees the year before, the Dodgers had no intention of keeping the infielder for themselves. Rather, he was intended for their International League farm club, the Montreal Royals. And there, catastrophe struck Roy Hughes. Trying to break up a double play during a late-May game against Rochester, he collided with Red Wings shortstop Creepy Crespi and suffered a dislocated shoulder. Despite medical treatment, the shoulder failed to knit properly, preventing Hughes from throwing overhand. As a result, he did not play again that season.25 Worse yet, Hughes’ condition was unimproved as winter approached. Then fate in the form of a household mishap intervened.

As Hughes originally told it,26 he was making repairs to the roof of the family home in Cincinnati and had placed a needed can of tar on a shelf near the furnace to warm up. Later when he opened the furnace room door, the tar can exploded, badly scalding Hughes’ back and shoulder.27 But the incident miraculously effected a cure upon his ailing right arm. “That explosion blew me right back into shape,” Roy later explained. “The doctor who examined me told me that the heat of the explosion sealed those damaged muscles and welded them together again.”28

With his throwing arm restored, Hughes initiated a comeback with an outstanding season for Montreal in 1941. In 137 games, he batted .302, with 35 extra-base hits and a pro career-best 71 RBIs. That showing prompted the Chicago Cubs to purchase Hughes’ contract. But once again, his new ball club intended Hughes for a minor league subsidiary, in this instance the Los Angeles Angels of the Class AA Pacific Coast League.29 Ultimately, the relocation to the West Coast yielded mixed results for Hughes, proving a boon to his comeback effort but occasioning domestic turmoil that led to the dissolution of his marriage.

On the baseball front, Hughes’ bat and arm held up well over the extended PCL schedule. A participant in the midseason league all-star game, Roy ultimately batted .298, with 40 extra-base hits and 21 stolen bases while posting a .967 fielding percentage in 163 games at second base for Los Angeles. And Hughes’ chances for a major league return were enhanced by a weighty collateral factor, the country’s entry into World War II the previous December. As a 31-year-old man with a spouse and two young children to support, Hughes was not a likely target for the military conscription that soon depleted ball club rosters.30

On the surface, Hughes’ domestic situation also appeared stable. His wife and two girls had joined Roy in Los Angeles, and a smiling Adelaide Hughes and the children were among the Angels’ family members captured in a ballpark photo published in early June.31 But as later revealed in court documents, Roy and Adelaide separated upon their return to Cincinnati in October 1942.32 The following August, Adelaide filed a petition for separate maintenance, a precursor to divorce proceedings, alleging that her good-looking husband had “lavished affection and earnings on many other women.”33 She also sought custody of the children. Two months later, Adelaide swore out a warrant for Hughes’ arrest on grounds of non-support.34 (It was never executed.)

The presumed embarrassment of public revelation of his domestic troubles had no visible effect on Hughes’ play in 1943, although hospitalization for appendicitis observation and some minor injuries limited him to 121 games for the pennant-winning (110-45, .720) Angels. Hughes’ performance at the plate (.323 BA) and at second base (.988 fielding percentage) was outstanding. Sportswriter John B. Old opined that “Hughes was unquestionably the best second baseman in the league.”35 San Francisco Seals pilot Lefty O’Doul was even more effusive, declaring “Hughes is the most valuable player in the league this season.”36

Hughes’ performance did not go unnoticed in Chicago, either, and before the PCL schedule was completed the Cubs reclaimed the veteran infielder for their 1944 campaign.37 A good showing at spring camp assured Hughes a spot on the club roster, but three days before the regular season started, Roy’s domestic situation was back in the news. A court in Cincinnati granted estranged wife Adelaide a divorce and permanent custody of the two children.38 On an undiscovered date sometime thereafter, Hughes remarried, taking Los Angeleno Jessie Osborn as his second wife and establishing residence in Hollywood.39

As in the season before, Hughes’ performance on the ball field was unaffected by unwanted attention to his personal life. After a four-year absence, he returned to the majors with solid defensive play at shortstop (.973 fielding percentage in 52 games) and third base (.951 in 66 games) for the Cubs. At the latter position, Roy tied a big league record by accepting 13 chances (seven putouts/six assists) in a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh on August 29. He also helped out with the bat (.287 BA with 23 extra-base hits) while stealing a team-best 16 bases. In addition to his play, Hughes’ baseball acumen was also appreciated by Cubs manager Charlie Grimm. “Roy is one of the smartest players in the league,” said Jolly Cholly. “He is always thinking ahead and is the best steadier of pitchers on the team.”40

The 1945 season placed Hughes at the high point of his ballplaying career. Assuming the role of infield handyman, he saw action in only 69 contests overall. But in early September, Hughes replaced Lennie Merullo as the everyday shortstop as the Cubs neared the National League pennant. And he remained in the starting lineup as Chicago squared off against the Detroit Tigers in the Fall Classic. During batting practice before Game Five, however, Roy was struck in the ankle by a foul ball hit by Rudy York and rendered unable to play. With the ensuing defeat placing the Cubs on the brink of elimination, Hughes returned to action and sparked Chicago to a 12-inning, 8-7 reprieve in Game Six, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and handling seven chances cleanly at short.

Game Seven was another matter. With his side facing a 9-3 deficit, Hughes led off the ninth inning with a single to center off future Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser; 39 years passed before another Chicago Cub registered a postseason base hit. Three quick outs later, the Tigers were baseball’s champions. Hughes, however, had been valiant in defeat, posting a .294 batting average (5-for-17), plus drawing four walks, and handling 30 chances without a miscue in six games at shortstop.

If the 1945 season was the most rewarding one for Hughes, the following year was likely the worst. Although he had provided useful service to a pennant-winning club, the imminent return of military veterans to the Cubs made Hughes expendable. In January 1946, he was relinquished to the Philadelphia Phillies for the $7,500 waiver fee.41 As he had the year before in Chicago, Hughes subsequently assumed the role of infield fill-in for the Phillies.

That August, his new teammates selected the veteran, by then 35 years old, as their player representative in meetings called by club owners to respond to the threat posed by the would-be third major circuit – the Mexican League. Hughes was not without some sympathy for the likes of Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen and others who had abandoned the National League for more lucrative contracts with the rebel circuit. Nonetheless, he announced his club’s “unanimous support” for the five-year ban imposed on Owen and the other Mexican League jumpers. “We believe it would be unfair to the players who remained loyal to American baseball to have Owen come back and be allowed to play,” said Hughes.42 Owen “wanted the big Mexican money offered. … As far as we’re concerned he can take the Mexican money and stay there.”43

Before the month was out, Hughes found himself the target of censure, charged with child kidnapping by ex-wife Adelaide. The gravamen of the complaint accused Roy and new wife Jessie of willful failure to return daughters Joy and Patsy to their mother after she had allowed the girls to accompany the Hugheses on a late summer road trip.44 In defense, the accused asserted that the children did not have to be returned until the start of the school year in early September.45 Roy also petitioned the Cincinnati family court for revision of the divorce decree and placement of the children in his custody, as he claimed were his children’s wishes.46 The matter was thereafter thrashed out in bitterly contested court proceedings that drew nationwide press coverage.47

In relatively short order, the criminal complaints filed against Roy and Jessie were dismissed.48 But when the feuding parents were unable to agree on a custody arrangement, the girls were declared wards of the court and temporarily placed in a boarding school located by Catholic Charities.49 Sometime later, the children were likely re-entrusted to their mother.50 By then, Hughes had completed an unrewarding season with the Phillies, batting a mild .236 in 89 games for a non-competitive fifth-place finisher.

Philadelphia re-signed Hughes for the 1947 season, but a new calamity awaited on the automobile trip to spring camp in Lakeland, Florida. A rollover accident caused by a tire blowout left Roy (sprained back) and Jessie (twisted ankle) with only minor injuries, but their car was totaled. And only days after he finally reached camp, Hughes was handed his unconditional release.51

Although he played another five seasons of professional baseball, the major league career of Roy Hughes was over. In 763 games spread over nine American League-National League seasons, Hughes posted a respectable .273 batting average, but with lackluster power numbers: 137 extra-base hits, .340 slugging percentage, and only five home runs in 2,877 plate appearances. Defensive versatility, rather, had been his forte. Hughes was an excellent glove man at second base (.980 fielding percentage) and a competent defender at shortstop (.950) and third (.948). He had also been a positive presence in the clubhouse, an affable man respected and liked by teammates, club management, the sporting press, and baseball fans.

At age 36, Hughes was no longer a major league prospect, but he continued playing with the Oakland Oaks (Pacific Coast League, 1947); Rosedale (California) Plumbers (semipro, 1948); Minneapolis Millers (American Association, 1949); and the Columbus (Ohio) Red Birds (American Association, 1950). He concluded his diamond career as player-manager of the fourth-place (71-68, .511) Lakeland (Florida) Pilots of the Class B Florida International League (1951). Lakeland was also the scene of the dissolution of Hughes’ second marriage, as he and Jessie divorced in early 1952.52

Hughes began his post-ballplaying life with a third marriage, wedding fellow Ohioan Clotilde Witschger. The following year, the couple welcomed son Gary Phillip, later a White House official in the Reagan and Bush I administrations and Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Around the time of their son’s birth, the Hugheses relocated to Dayton, Ohio, where Roy founded R.J. Hughes Company, a successful asphalt paving business. Thereafter, a 1958 payment wrangle with a company customer brought the busy Hughes back to active involvement with the game.

In late September, a Washington (Ohio) Conty constable came to the Hughes home to collect a disputed $100 court judgment that a customer had obtained against the business, only to be ushered off the property at the point of Roy’s shotgun. A charge of “abusing and resisting an officer” was thereafter lodged against Hughes.53 But rather than expose the defendant to the fine and/or county jail time that conviction entailed, Municipal Court Judge Robert J. Withrow Jr. suspended sentence on the condition that Hughes assist a local Little League.54 The following summer saw Roy back on the diamond and enjoying it. “I like teaching the youngsters,” he informed an inquiring reporter. “It seems as if the kids belong out there – learning sportsmanship and learning to be competitive.”55 In addition to coaching duties, Hughes later took to sponsoring local Little League teams.

In the decades that followed, Roy Hughes became a reliable resource for sportswriters seeking an insiders’ take on the major league player pension scheme; the game as played in the mid- to late 1930s; the pennant-winning 1945 Chicago Cubs; and various baseball personalities.56 Honors including the Wally Post Good Guy Award57 and induction into the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame also came Hughes’ way.58 Following an April 1985 appearance on a player panel at a regional meeting in Philadelphia, Roy became a SABR member, regularly attending the national convention.59 He also contributed remembrances to the Baseball Research Journal.60

In July 1988, the death of wife Clotilde brought a 36-year union to a close. The following year, Roy suffered a major stroke. In time, he recovered sufficiently to make trips to Barbados to visit his son – but suffered a heart attack during his final visit and was still in treatment when he passed away at a health care center in Asheville, North Carolina, on March 5, 1995.61 Roy John Hughes was 84. Following a Requiem Mass said at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Dayton, the deceased was interred in Guardian Angel Cemetery, Cincinnati. Survivors included daughters Joyce Vidal-Williams and Patricia Clarke, son G. Philip Hughes, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Acknowledgments

The writer is indebted to G. Phillip Hughes for feedback and clarification on matters relating to his father and family.

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Photo credit: Roy Hughes, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Sources

Sources for the biographical info provided above include the Roy Hughes file with player questionnaire completed by Hughes himself maintained at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; US Census and other government records accessed via Ancestry .com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Statistics have been taken from Baseball-Reference and/or Retrosheet.

Notes

1 See “Hughes Tied Two Major Records,” Oakland Post Enquirer, July 12, 1947: 4.

2 The older Hughes children were Elsa (born 1897), John (1899), Hilda (1901), Emma (1905), Charles (1907), and Earl (1909).

3 Hughes was named among those awarded diplomas in “Commencement,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 29, 1928: 14, and “Vocational Students to Receive Diplomas,” Cincinnati Post, July 28, 1928: 2.

4 The 1930 US Census records Hughes’ occupation as “painter.”

5 Per State of Ohio marriage records accessed via Ancestry.com. See also, “Marriages,” Cincinnati Post, November 27, 1930: 13.

6 “Stith Returns to B Class,” Cincinnati Post, March 10, 1927: 16.

7 Per the box score published in “Mounts Romp,” Cincinnati Enquirer, October 26, 1931: 13.

8 See “Hughes to Aid Rapids,” Cincinnati Post, September 17, 1932: 7. See also, “Rapid Hurler,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 8, 1932: 8.

9 “Hughes Goes to Indians,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 7, 1932: 18; “Cutting It Short,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 7, 1932: 12.

10 “Indians Purchase 3 New Players,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 2, 1934: 20. See also, “Tribe Purchases Three Players, Recalls Four,” Milwaukee Sentinel, September 2, 1934: 9; “Cleveland Ball Club Buys Three Pelicans,” Saginaw (Michigan) Sunday News, September 2, 1934: 8.

11 “Hughes Shows 200 Per Cent Improvement,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 13, 1935: 17.

12 “Tribe’s Young Keystone Combination Hold Debut Just Another Ball Game,” Cleveland Press, April 16, 1935: 16.

13 See “Knick Slated to Take Job,” Cleveland Press, May 22, 1935: 20: “Knickerbocker would replace Roy Hughes, scrappy rookie, whose play has been one of the features of the Tribe’s early games.” Over Cleveland’s first 25 contests, Hughes batted (28-for-109) .257 while committing eight errors at shortstop.

14 A newspaper ad placed by Hughes expressed “my support and best wishes for your success” to incoming skipper O’Neill. See “Good Luck, ‘Steve,’” Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 7, 1935: 15.

15 See United Press game account published in “Queer Triple Play in Cleveland Game One for the Books,” Springfield (Missouri) Sunday News and Leader, September 8, 1935: 10, and elsewhere.

16 Gordon Cobbledick, “Hughes Is Good Bet to Be Tribe Regular,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 27, 1935: 13: “Hughes was a good shortstop when a shortstop was desperately needed, and he was an even better second baseman when the need for a good second baseman was acute. … Hughes was a lifesaver. Without him the Tribe would have been sunk. He deserves as much credit as any individual for the fact that the Indians finished in third place.”

17 Same as above.

18 See Franklin Lewis, “Hughes Changes Batting Style, ‘Sets ‘Em Talking,’” Cleveland Press, July 23, 1936: 24.

19 As reported in “Indians Trade Three Players for Hemsley,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 11, 1938: 1; “Browns Trade Hemsley, Obtain Sullivan and Hughes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 11, 1938: 22; and elsewhere. In addition to Hughes, catcher Billy Sullivan, pitcher Ed Cole, and an undisclosed amount of cash were exchanged for Hemsley.

20 Decades later as John Beradino, the Browns new second sacker portrayed Dr. Steve Hardy, a central character in the long-running ABC afternoon soap General Hospital.

21 As reported in “Yanks Send Joe Gallagher to Browns for Roy Hughes and Bundle of Cash,” Cincinnati Post, June 14, 1939: 12; Hy Turkin, “Browns Purchase Yankees’ Gallagher,” New York Daily News, June 24, 1939: 248; and elsewhere. The Yankees also received cash variously estimated between $15,000 and $25,000 in return for Gallagher.

22 See “Roy Hughes Peddled to Yanks Farm Club,” Greensboro (North Carolina) Daily News, June 18, 1939: 15; “Roy Hughes Released by Yanks to Newark,” Milwaukee Journal, June 18, 1939: 28.

23 See “Phillies Part with Southpaw for Roy Hughes,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Times, July 14, 1939: 24; “Phillies Swap Hollingsworth for Roy Hughes,” Atlanta Journal, July 13, 1939: 17.

24 As reported in “Phillies Sell Hughes,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 29, 1940: 12; “Dodgers Buy Hughes,” Chattanooga (Tennessee) Sunday Times, April 28, 1940: 18; and elsewhere.

25 Hughes’ misfortunes were recounted in Harold McNamara, “Between the Lines,” Montreal Gazette, August 22, 1940: 15.

26 Years later, Hughes revised the incident, removing it to “a winter place in some woods out west” where he “slipped and the whole can of the [tar] stuff poured across my chest and shoulder.” See Halsey Hall, “It’s a Fact,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, April 21, 1949: 24.

27 As reported in “Roy Hughes Badly Burned,” Montreal Daily Star, December 2, 1940: 22; “Hughes Badly Burned in Explosion at Home,” Canton (Ohio) Repository, December 1, 1940: 33; and elsewhere.

28 Joe Reichler, “Roy Hughes Is Literally Blown Back into Baseball,” Roanoke (Virginia) Times, July 28, 1944: 15.

29 As reported in “Roy Hughes Goes to Angels Club,” Columbus (Nebraska) Daily Telegram, November 11, 1941: 16; “Roy Hughes Sold to Los Angeles,” Montreal Gazette, November 11, 1941: 16; and elsewhere.

30 In May 1943, a local sportswriter asserted that Hughes “was just re-classified 1-A.” See Rube Samuelsen, “Sports Volleys,” Pasadena (California) Post, May 25, 1943: 10. Although Hughes would soon become involved in divorce proceedings, the chances of a father supporting two young children being drafted remained negligible whatever his official classification.

31 See “Come On Angels!” Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1942: 27. Weeks later, the newspaper ran a photo of Joy and Patsy Hughes sitting in the stands with actress Lupe Velez. “Feminine Fans,” Los Angeles Times, July 22, 1942: 27.

32 A separation agreement reportedly signed on November 23, 1942, obligated Hughes to provide $17.50 child support payments every two weeks to Adelaide. See “Ballplayer’s Wife Sues,” Cincinnati Enquirer, December 10, 1943: 28.

33 Per “Roy Hughes Sued for Separate Maintenance,” Long Beach (California) Sun, August 10, 1943: 8; “Mrs. Hughes Asks Support,” Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1943: 25; “Roy Hughes’ Wife Sues for Divorce,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 10, 1943: 15.

34 As reported in “Former Indian Player in Non-Support Case,” Detroit News, October 16, 1943: 13; “Roy Hughes Cited for Nonsupport,” Dayton (Ohio) Herald, October 15, 1943: 22; and elsewhere.

35 John B. Old, “Angels Given Refills on Hill,” The Sporting News, October 7, 1943: 6.

36 Russ Newland: “‘If We Had Hughes, It’d Be Different’: O’Doul,” Pasadena (California) Star-News, August 31, 1943: 13.

37 The sale of Hughes to Chicago for an undisclosed sum was reported in “Three Los Angeles Players Go to Cubs,” Houston Chronicle, September 30, 1943: 19; “Cubs Buy Phipps, Lynn and Hughes from L.A.,” Sacramento Bee, September 30, 1943: 26; “Cubs Buy Roy Hughes and Pair of Pitchers,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily Republican, September 30, 1943: 4; and elsewhere.

38 See “Roy Hughes Divorced,” Camden (New Jersey) Courier-Post, April 15, 1944: 16; “County and Federal Courts: Divorce and Alimony Won by Ballplayer’s Wife,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 15, 1944: 10; “Wife Given Divorce from Hughes,” Washington (DC) Times, April 15, 1944: 23.

39 Roy Hughes’ TSN player contract card states that he and Jessie Osborn were married on March 20, 1942, but that wedding date is patently erroneous as Roy remained officially married to first wife Adelaide until their divorce decree was entered in April 1944.

40 Reichler, above.

41 As reported in “Cubs Release Hughes to Philadelphia,” Chicago Times, January 22, 1946: 31; Stan Baumgartner, “Phils Buy Roy Hughes from Cubs,” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 22, 1946: 21; and elsewhere.

42 “Mexicans Are Flooding Players with Offers, Augie Galan, Dodger Outfielder, Declares,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 11, 1946: 26; “Mexicans Resume Baseball War with Majors,” Norfolk Virginian Pilot, August 11, 1946: 41.

43 “Phillies Favor Barring Owen,” unidentified August 10, 1946, UPI news item contained in Hughes file at the Giamatti Research Center.

44 As reported in “Philadelphia Player Charged with Kidnapping Two Children by Divorced Cincinnati Wife,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 30, 1946: 1; “Cincinnati Wife Charges Phils’ Infielder Is Kidnaper,” Cincinnati Post, August 30, 1946: 8; “Infielder Accused,” Springfield (Ohio) News-Star, August 30, 1946: 18; and elsewhere.

45 See “Hughes to Return to Face Charges,” Post, August 31, 1946: 2; “Philadelphia Player Charged,” above.

46 The assertion that the girls wanted to live with their father was buttressed by a courthouse corridor photograph that showed a smiling Joyce and Patty snuggled close to Roy, published in the New Orleans Item, September 4, 1946: 12.

47 See e.g., “Phil Outfielder, Wife Held on Kidnaping Charges,” Long Beach (California) Independent, September 4, 1946: 8; “Continue Kidnaping Charge,” New York Daily News, September 4, 1946: 61; “Roy Hughes Denies Kidnaping Charge,” San Antonio Light, August 31, 1946: 4

48 See “Phillies’ Hughes Free of Kidnaping Charge,” Canton Repository, October 1, 1946: 18; “Hughes, Wife Freed of Kidnap Charges,” Cincinnati Enquirer, October 1, 1946: 18.

49 Per “Custody Assumed by Court in Case of Hughes Children as Parents Fail to Agree,” Cincinnati Enquirer, October 2, 1946: 20; “Hughes’ Children Made Wards,” Cincinnati Post, October 1, 1946: 10; “Hughes Children Placed in School by Cincy Judge,” Zanesville (Ohio) Times-Recorder, September 6, 1946: 13.

50 A few years later, however, teenagers Joyce and Patricia were living in Los Angeles with Roy and Jessie Hughes, per the 1950 US Census.

51 As subsequently recounted in Ray Schwartz, “Sports Ray,” Oakland Post Enquirer, July 11, 1947: 22.

52 Per State of Florida marriage records accessed via Ancestry.com.

53 Per “Shotgun Greets Constable,” Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, September 25, 1958: 31. See also, “Abuse Suspect Pleads Innocent,” Dayton Daily News, September 26, 1958: 8.

54 See “Ex-Ballplayer to Work Out Fine Helping Sandlot Kids,” Dayton Daily News, October 3, 19581.

55 John Gooch, “Little Leaguers Get Expert Help,” Dayton Daily News, July 3, 1959: 4.

56 See e.g., Bucky Albers, “On Another Series Note,” Dayton Daily News, September 30, 1984: 30; Dick Reynolds, “Last Series Hit, Last Series Out: 2 ‘Last-ing’ Memories of an Ex-Cub,” Richmond (Indiana) Palladium-Item, September 22, 1984: A3; Bucky Albers, “Mr. Cub No. 1: Daytonian Remembers ‘Jolly Cholly,’” Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, November 19, 1983: 3; Si Burick, “Dayton Businessman Hughes Nurtured Baseball Pension Plan,” Dayton Daily News, January 11, 1979: 9.

57 Ritter Collett, “When It Comes to Baseball, Roy Hughes Is a Good Guy,” Dayton Journal Herald, October 31, 1985: 14.

58 Ritter Collett, “Enshrinement Worthy: Hughes, 5 Others to Join Ohio Hall of Fame,” Dayton Daily News, August 22, 1991: 10.

59 Per email of Jessica Smyth, SABR Membership Services Manager, to the writer, November 6, 2025.

60 Roy Hughes, “The Roy Hughes Grab Bag,” Baseball Research Journal, 1991, 86-90.

61 Per “Roy Hughes,” Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times, March 7, 1995: 18. A hometown obituary placed the Hughes death at the Asheville home of daughter Joyce. See “Ex-Ballplayer, Dayton Resident Roy Hughes Dies,” Dayton Daily News, March 6, 199512.