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Ben Hogan

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Ben Miles Hogan, born July 12th, 1900 in West Plains, MO,1 was a minor league baseball executive who played a prominent role in reviving the Little Rock Travelers in 1960. He was also president of the Travelers from 1960-1962.

Biography

Hogan grew up in West Plains, MO and later attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO and graduated in 1921 with an engineering degree.2 Afterward, he moved to Little Rock, AR and began working in the construction industry. He was successful, and became prominent in Little Rock business affairs.

In 1960, after a year without professional baseball in Little Rock, Hogan and group of local businessmen led a public stock drive to raise money to purchase the New Orleans Southern Association franchise. The campaign was successful, and The Arkansas Travelers, Inc. was incorporated. Hogan was elected president of the new club, and was subsequently voted "Little Rock Man of the Year.."3 He remained president through the 1961 season, though the Southern Association folded shortly afterward and as a result, the Travelers did not play in 1962. When the club joined the International League in 1963, Hogan was replaced as president by Harold May.

Less than a year later, Hogan died of a heart attack near Little Rock on January 7th, 1964.4 He was buried in Roselawn Cemetery in North Little Rock.5 6

4 The Sporting News, 1/25/1964
5 Arkansas Gazette, 1/9/1964. Confirmed by the cemetery.
6 Hogan's FindaGrave.com page incorrectly give's his burial place as Edgewood Cemetery in North Little Rock, AR.