Robert W. Hoats

Category
2010
About This Inductee

Robert Hoats was born in 1934 to parents Mildred and Clifford Hoats of Wilkes-Barre. Growing up with his 5 brothers, Hoats learned to be competitive early on. Playing as a shortstop, his baseball career took on early success as his team made it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA in 1943. Hoats excelled not only in one sport, but was to successfully combine sports careers lettering in baseball, football, track and basketball between 1951 and 1954. Between 1951 through 1954, Hoats played football for Elmer L. Meyers Junior/Senior High School as a running back. He capped his successful high school football career by playing in the UNICO game. Meyers successfully won the city championship in 1953. Focusing most of his sports energy on his baseball career, Hoats received trophies for three consecutive years for the most outstanding shortstop for Meyers High School. He capped his high school baseball career by being named the most valuable baseball player in Pennsylvania in 1954 and received the A.S. Beck trophy after being flown to New York to meet some of baseball’s finest including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Gil Hodges, as well as Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. After graduating from high school, Hoats was drafted by an independent professional baseball club in Big Springs, Texas, playing shortstop in that league for four years. The biggest blow of his professional baseball career came in 1957 when a slide into home plate resulted in a disastrous elbow injury that ended his professional career. After joining the Army in 1957, he played in the “Special Services” for two years before retiring from sports. In July of 1963, Robert married Vera Chervak and moved to Upper Askam, where he shifted his energy from sports to being a successful husband, father of two daughters, Myra Smith and Melanie Kremenic and grandfather of three, Eva, Marrisa and Michael Kremenic.