[1] Although his playing career was shortened by injuries, Hoiles was considered one of the best all-around catchers in Major League Baseball, performing well both offensively and defensively.

[4] He played in the Tigers' minor league system until 1988, when he was traded with Cesar Mejia and Robinson Garces to the Baltimore Orioles for Fred Lynn.

[10] Cito Gaston, the American League manager for the 1993 All-Star Game held in Baltimore, received criticism for naming Oakland catcher Terry Steinbach as a reserve player instead of hometown favorite Hoiles.

[12][13] By early 1996, Hoiles' offensive production had diminished to the point to where the Orioles tried to drop him from the team by exposing him through waivers, but he managed a comeback.

[15] Hoiles' feat was rare, in that he hit his home run on a full count with two outs, only the second time in major league history this has ever been recorded (the first was by Alan Trammell in 1988[16]).

[1][19] The Orioles went on to defeat the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the playoffs, before losing to the eventual world champion New York Yankees in the 1996 American League Championship Series.

[22][23] The Orioles defeated the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the playoffs, before losing to the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 American League Championship Series.

[24][25] On August 14, 1998, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Hoiles became the ninth player and the first catcher in major league history to hit two grand slams in one game.

[41] In April 2010, along with Adam Gladstone, Hoiles began his professional radio career as co-host of "Bird Talk," a daily baseball show heard on Baltimore's Fox 1370.