[2] Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 1973 MLB draft, Hobson made his major league debut in 1975.

Hobson hit 28 home runs with 93 RBIs in 1979, but a year later, an injury to his right elbow landed him on the disabled list for major parts of that season and the next.

In an eight-year MLB career, Hobson had a .248 batting average with 98 home runs and 397 RBI in 738 games.

[8] Hobson next managed in Boston's minor league system, leading the Double-A New Britain Red Sox in 1989 and 1990.

[9] After losing the Governors' Cup to the Columbus Clippers, he was hired to manage the parent club in MLB.

[8] In May 1996, while managing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, then a Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, Hobson was arrested for possession of cocaine—he was placed on leave, and subsequently fired in August.

On November 19, 2007, Hobson was named the first-ever manager of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

The 2023 season saw Hobson become the first-ever manager in modern (1993-present) independent baseball to win 1,500 games.

[15] He pleaded innocent, and in December 1996 was placed in a diversion program for first-time offenders after acknowledging past use of the drug.

He played in Minor League Baseball for Toronto and San Francisco Giants organizations as a first baseman, reaching the Double-A level.

He most recently played in 2022 for the independent American Association Chicago Dogs managed by Butch Hobson.