An Incredible Ride

In 2001, Stosh Hoover’s father bought tickets to game seven of the World Series. Hoover ’09, born and raised in Phoenix, got to witness his Diamondbacks beat the Yankees at Chase Field. Twenty-two years later, Hoover, now the director of Minor League Operations for the Texas Rangers, got to lift the Commissioner’s Trophy at the same ballpark where he first fell in love with baseball.

“Baseball has given me everything,” Hoover reflects. “It’s allowed me to travel the world. It brought me to Texas for college. It introduced me to my best friends in the world from Trinity, whom I still talk to every single day. It’s given me an incredible career now.”

Hoover knew he wanted to move out of Arizona for college, but Trinity was not on his radar until his senior year of high school when Tim Scannell, head baseball coach, saw him at a tournament and invited him to campus for a weekend. Trinity checked all of the boxes he was looking for from a smaller liberal arts school.

“I’m competitive, so there was an opportunity to play quicker at Trinity than there would have been at some other schools that were Division I. But it was really about how comfortable I felt during that weekend visiting Trinity thanks to Tim and the players,” Hoover remembers. “Applying to Trinity was the best decision I ever made.”

Hoover started at Trinity in Fall 2004 and left his mark in Trinity Baseball history against Millsaps College in Danville, Kentucky, on April 27, 2008, in what has been dubbed the Trinity Miracle, Part Two. Trinity was down 5-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Tigers scored two runs but still trailed 5-4, down to their final strike with two outs and two men on. After losing his bat on a foul tip, Hoover sent the next pitch screaming into the outfield to score both runners on a walk-off double and win the SCAC Championship.

As Hoover realized he was going to get a chance to bat, he flashed back to his first season at Trinity when the Tigers lost in a tournament playoff game. He looked at the seniors on that team whom he had become close with and got emotional because their college baseball careers were finished.

“As I stepped up to bat, I remember telling myself, ‘I’m not gonna let this be the moment that my brothers’ careers end. The weight of the moment must have got to me because I’ve never thrown my bat before that. I looked over to the dugout after that, saw the guys who were graduating, and heard Coach Scannell saying, ‘Pound the rock.’ When the pitcher threw me a sixth-breaking ball in a row, I let it rip, and the celebration was on. Sharing that moment with my teammates, my brothers, was the single best moment I had at Trinity,” Hoover says.

“Stosh Hoover is one of the all-time Trinity Baseball greats,” Scannell says. “He was one of those exceptionally hard workers, and we pushed him very hard while he was with us. He never made excuses or backed down, so it’s no wonder that Stosh has gone on to do great things. In all my years at Trinity, he still has the most memorable hit during my time as head coach.”

Stosh Hoover ’09 had a prolific Trinity Baseball career as the team’s shortstop.

Due to an injury that caused him to miss the entire season his senior year, Hoover accepted a redshirt to play one more year. He graduated in 2009, double majoring in Spanish and business administration with a dual concentration in accounting and finance. To this day, Hoover is grateful for the life lessons Trinity Baseball taught him, especially how to deal with failure.

“I started as a first-year and lost my spot. I started as a sophomore and ended up losing my spot because I didn’t play well enough to maintain it. But Tim believed in me and kept pushing me, and the players were just amazing to be around with how supportive they were and how much we pushed each other. I learned I am capable of more than I even thought I could be,” Hoover says.

After spending the summer of 2009 working with the U.S. Military All-Stars as an executive assistant, Hoover returned to San Antonio and waited tables to save up money to attend Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings. Resume in hand, Hoover flew to Indianapolis and ended up receiving a video internship offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the minor league level. At the same time, he received an offer to play professionally in France.

“I hadn’t really kicked that competitive bug. There was still a part of me that wanted to play. It wasn’t something that was going to get me into affiliated baseball here in the United States, but it was an opportunity for me to travel the world,” Hoover says.

Along with his Trinity teammate Jordan Pennington ’09, Hoover trained all fall and then left for Montpellier, France, at the end of March, spending the whole year playing in the professional league.

“We didn’t make a lot of money, but we got to travel around Europe and see so many places that I never would have seen. I still have friends on that team who I have visited multiple times since,” Hoover says.

Hoover’s time in Europe ended with a heartbreaking semifinal loss. He knew he could not afford to attend MLB’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, so he sent letters and emails to every organization. A fellow Trinity Tiger, John Lombardo ’96, who currently works with the Pittsburgh Pirates, had previously worked for the Texas Rangers and put Hoover in touch with their front office baseball operations internship interview panel. Hoover has been with the Rangers ever since.

Hoover began working for the Texas Rangers in 2011 when the team made its second World Series appearance in franchise history.

“2011 was a tough year losing in the World Series to the Cardinals, but I got a taste of the playoffs and was fortunate to get hired full time,” Hoover says. “I spent three years living in the Dominican Republic at the Rangers’ Dominican Academy, and I still travel there four to five times a year. I credit the Spanish education I have from Trinity with being a massive part of my career with the Texas Rangers.”

Hoover’s work in the Dominican Republic led to more opportunities with the Rangers’ minor league affiliates in Arizona. He was promoted to director of Arizona Operations before quickly being promoted to his current role as director of Minor League Operations.

“We individualize everything in the minor leagues. Everything is designed to teach these young players, some of them as young as 16 or 17 from Latin America, how to be young adults, how to be good sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers in the future while also being tremendous competitors and living out the Texas Rangers organizational values both on and off the field. We’re putting everything we have into every single one of our players for as long as we have them,” Hoover explains.

Along the way, Hoover has connected with several players as they embarked on their challenging yet rewarding journey to the major leagues. Because he is heavily involved with contracts and roster movements, Hoover is usually present to witness the special moment when a player learns they are advancing to the next level.

“It’s the best feeling,” Hoover says. “I was with Leody Taveras the day he signed his contract in the Dominican Republic in 2015. I can remember having conversations with him and his family on day one about him helping us win a World Series one day. When we won in Arizona on November 1 this year, I found him on the field after the game and gave him a big hug.”

Hoover has had the unwavering support of his family as he has made a career for himself in the demanding world of professional baseball.

As Hoover reflects on the 2023 season, he can’t help but feel like it was a truly magical experience.

“I have to pinch myself. The whole ride has been incredible. We were all super confident going into the year and knew we would be competitive, but I don’t think any of us expected that this would be the year we won the World Series,” Hoover confesses. “I felt so good for all of the people in this organization who are still here, who were around in 2011 when we lost it and went through the rough years in between. It was priceless to be a part of this and share the first championship in Rangers’ history with them and the city.”

While Hoover admits sports is not an easy industry to work in, he believes it is one of the most fun, rewarding careers out there.

“You have to be truly passionate about it. Trinity taught me to be a lifelong learner, and you always need to be looking for growth and finding ways to learn more, to educate yourself, to talk to people inside and outside the game, and be a sponge as you immerse yourself,” Hoover advises. “The sports industry demands a lot, but it’s incredibly fulfilling.”