Eli Hodkey was a professional baseball player born in 1917, whose career spanned a brief period during the 1946 Major League Baseball season. He played as a position player for the duration of his major league tenure, which lasted from September 12 to September 28, 1946. Despite his limited exposure at the highest level of the sport, appearing in only 2 games, Hodkey is a notable figure in the post-World War II era of baseball, a time when the game was beginning to experience significant changes both on and off the field.
During his short stint in the majors, Hodkey faced challenges that many players of his time encountered, particularly with the transition back to civilian life for many veterans returning from war. However, his career statistics reflect the difficulties of breaking into a competitive league, as he finished his time in the majors without recording a hit, run, or RBI, resulting in a batting average of 0.0. Though his playing career did not yield the numbers typically associated with lasting baseball legacies, Hodkey remains a part of the rich tapestry of baseball history, representing the many players whose dreams of a long career were curtailed by various circumstances.
