Marty Hogan (racquetball)

Last updated

Marty Hogan (born January 22, 1958, in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former American racquetball player who won more than 100 international or national titles and six U.S. national championships during his 14-year career. Hogan was ranked either number one or number two in the world from 1976 to 1990. [1]

Contents

Early years

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was taught to play racquetball by his mother, Goldie. He graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in 1976. [2] In 1975, Hogan won the United States Racquetball Association Junior Racquetball Championship. While still a teenager, Hogan relocated to San Diego, California, in order to pursue professional racquetball. He eventually attended San Diego State University.

Hogan is credited with revolutionizing the game of racquetball, with a serve that drove the ball as fast as 142 miles per hour. [1] This speed measurement is a reference to the ball speed after hitting the front wall and then bouncing as it returned. He won the U.S. indoor professional racquetball national championship on five consecutive occasions, between 1978 and 1982, and won again in 1986. In 1979, Hogan also won the national outdoor (three-wall) championships. [1]

Professional career and retirement

Hogan turned professional and won his first professional racquetball title in Burlington, Vermont, in 1975 defeating Steve Keeley in the finals. He went on to become the first millionaire in the history of racquetball. Hogan was so dominant that he lost only four matches in three years during his prime. He lost only one match in 1977, two matches in 1978, and one match in 1979. Hogan's greatest season was 1979; not only did he win the Pro Racquetball Nationals, but he also won the Outdoor Racquetball Nationals and the Paddleball Nationals.

Hogan is the only player in the history of the sport to win all three titles in one year. He also won a second Paddleball National Championship in 1987. [1] Hogan captured his final national racquetball championship in 1989, retiring the following year.

He returned briefly and won his last professional racquetball title in 1991, 16 years after he won his first professional tournament. After retiring from the professional game, Hogan competed in a handful of national amateur events. He won three USRA National Doubles Championships, 1994 25+ with Jeff Conine, 1996 35+ with Steve Trent and 2001 40+ with Dave Peck. Hogan won the US Open 35+ Singles Championship in 1996.

Honors and later career

Hogan was named the Professional Racquetball Player of the Year eight times, in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1989. Ranked as the number one racquetball player of all time by National Racquetball Magazine, [1] In 1991 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. [3] Hogan was inducted into the USA Racquetball of Fame in 1997. Marty Hogan was inducted into the World Outdoor Racquetball Hall of Fame in 2016.

In 2002, Hogan founded The Legends Racquetball Tour. He won the most victories of any participant in the Legends Tour, winning 14 events. Hogan won the Legends Racquetball Nationals 35+ in 2002 and 2003. Moreover, he won the Legends 45+ National Championship in 2005, and the 2004 US Open Legends Racquetball Championship. In addition, he teamed with Cliff Swain to win the Legends National Doubles Championships in 2004 and 2005. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racquetball</span> Racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court

Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports, such as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash, no tin to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds. Racquetball is played between various players on a team who try to bounce the ball with the racquet onto the ground so it hits the wall, so that an opposing team’s player cannot bounce it back to the wall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Okker</span> Dutch tennis player (born 1944)

Thomas Samuel Okker is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980. He won the 1973 French Open Doubles, the 1976 US Open Doubles, and two gold medals at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was ranked among the world's top-ten singles players for seven consecutive years, 1968–74, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1974. He also was ranked world No. 1 in doubles in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Fleming (tennis)</span> American tennis player

Peter Blair Fleming is an American former professional tennis player. In his doubles partnership with John McEnroe, he won 52 titles, of which seven were at Grand Slams. As a singles player, he peaked at world No. 8, winning three titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Melville</span> Australian tennis player

Kerry Melville Reid is a former professional tennis player from Australia. During her 17-year career, Reid won one Grand Slam singles title and 26 other singles titles and was the runner-up in 40 singles tournaments. Reid was included in the year-end world top-ten rankings for 12 consecutive years (1968–1979). She won at least one tournament annually from 1966 through 1979, except for 1975. Her career-high ranking was world No. 5 in 1971, behind Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong, and Rosie Casals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ladue Horton Watkins High School</span> Comprehensive public high school in Ladue, Missouri, United States

Ladue Horton Watkins High School is a public high school in Ladue, Missouri, United States, that is administered by the Ladue School District. Its namesake, Horton Watkins, was vice president of the International Shoe Company and died in 1949. The family of Horton Watkins donated the 28-acre (11 ha) tract of land on South Warson Road to the school for the high school site as a memorial.

Victor Amaya is a retired tennis player from the U.S.

Harold Solomon is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the course of his career, he won 22 singles titles.

Sudsy Monchik, is an American racquetball player. As a five-time Pro World Champion, Monchik is one of the top 3 players in the history of the sport. Monchik was known for his power and speed, as well as his shot-making ability, especially his backhand, which many believe is the best in the game. Sudsy revolutionized the sport with his electric personality combined with his tremendous shot power from both his backhand and forehand along with his jaw dropping shot making ability. Sudsy only competed professionally for 7 seasons. Due to a back condition identified as Spondylolisthesis and broken foot known as a Jones Fracture which needed surgery, he had to retire early. There are many that believe if he had been healthy he would have shattered all the records. Sudsy only played 7 healthy seasons on the professional tour and finished the season as the #1 player in the world an astonishing 5 times. Sudsy is the true ambassador to Racquetball worldwide. Sudsy made another outstanding comeback with a win in the 2018 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships with partner Rocky Carson. Sudsy will now represent Team USA in San Jose, Costa Rica for the World Championships in August 2018. Sudsy's wife, Veronica Sotomayor is the most decorated racquetball player in the history of her home country of Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Roth</span> American professional ten-pin bowler (1951–2021)

Mark Stephen Roth was an American professional bowler. He won 34 PBA Tour titles in his career, and is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame. Roth was most dominant from 1975 through 1987, a stretch in which he made 107 televised finals appearances, captured 33 titles, and won four PBA Player of the Year awards. He is also known for having been the first professional bowler to convert a 7–10 split on national television.

Steve "Lightning" Krulevitz is an American-Israeli former professional tennis player, and current coach. Playing for UCLA, he was an All-American. He won gold medals for the United States in singles and doubles at the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He played # 1 for the Israel Davis Cup team from 1978–80. His highest world singles ranking was No. 70. He was in the bottom of the top 100 on the men’s tour from 1974 to 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Pasarell</span> Puerto Rican tennis player and promoter (born 1944)

Charles Manuel Pasarell Jr. is a Puerto Rican former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells tournament. He has also commented for the Tennis Channel and with Arthur Ashe and Sheridan Snyder formed the U.S. National Junior Tennis League. He was ten times ranked in the top ten of the U.S. and No. 1 in 1967 and world No. 11 in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Swain</span> American racquetball player

Cliff Swain is a professional racquetball player and coach from Boston, Massachusetts. Known for his dominant drive serve and on-court intensity, Swain finished as the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) six times -- in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2002. He won US Open Championships in 1997 and 2001, and was inducted into the USA Racquetball Hall of Fame in 2003. A legendary figure in racquetball for over 3 decades, Swain still plays professionally and is quickly becoming a sought-after professional coach as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Kinard</span> American badminton player (born 1950)

Chris Kinard is an American badminton player who was considered the top U.S. singles player in the 1970s, having been the U.S. # 1 ranked men's singles player for 7 of the decade's 10 years. He is married to former badminton player Utami Kinard.

Chris Dunk is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

Charles Edgar Brumfield is an American attorney and former professional racquetball player as well as a noted paddleball player. For much of his professional racquetball career, Brumfield was the marquis player for Leach Industries, the leading manufacturer of racquetball rackets at the time. Leach produced several Brumfield signature rackets including the "Graphite Brumfield". For a brief time, Brumfield had his own sports brand label, which marketed rackets and sports apparel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four wall paddleball</span>

Four wall paddleball, or paddleball, is a popular court sport in the Upper Midwest of the United States, on the West Coast of the U.S. and in the Memphis, Tennessee area. It is played with a paddle and small rubber ball on a standard handball or racquetball court, with similar rules to those sports.

Bud Muehleisen is a dentist in San Diego, California, and a racquetball and paddleball player. A left-handed player, "Dr. Bud" Muehleisen was the first person inducted into the Racquetball Hall of Fame, and is considered the best racquetball player and the best paddleball player of the 1960s era, and one of the best finesse players in the history of either game. The description of his career at the Racquetball Hall of Fame reads:

'Dr. Bud' Muehleisen has sometimes been called the most influential man in racquetball. He began playing paddleball in 1962, won four national titles, then took up paddle rackets in 1969, edging out Brumfield to win one of the first national championships in the sport that would become racquetball. Bud served on the IRA board of directors for seven years as the first Rules Committee chairman and was instrumental in the formation of the game's first rules. He won an unprecedented 41 national titles, was a coach and teacher, a regular contributor of instructional material to early magazines and worked with most of the major equipment manufacturers in developing racquets, balls and other products.

Steven Bo Keeley is an American adventurer, naturalist, holistic healer, veterinarian, professional athlete, commodity market consultant, garage publisher, and executive tour guide, who in 2000 left civilization for a desert burrow in southern California, then, in 2009, became a world-traveling expatriate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dane Elkins</span> American professional racquetball player

Dane Elkins is a professional racquetball player. He holds 23 major national junior racquetball championships. He is also the 2017 National Paddleball Association-(NPA) Junior's 18-and-under National Champion. Elkins holds a black belt in taekwondo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Ceresia</span> Canadian athlete

Mike Ceresia is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Sarnia, Ontario. He was a member of five Canadian teams that won gold at the Racquetball World Championships, which is the most gold medals won by a Canadian at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships. He also won 10 Canadian Championships.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marty Hogan Biography". Jewishsports.net. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  2. ↑ Ladue Horton Watkins High School website, "Distinguished Alumni". Accessed 08 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home
  4. ↑ "USA Racquetball Hall of Fame". Hofmag.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.