Hoover didn't last at Triple A and began a descent of the minor league chain. Double A in 1985 and Single A in 1986. After that, John began a slow climb back up the ladder. On February 16, 1988 Baltimore traded Hoover to Montreal. A season at Double A for the Expos preceded an April, 1989 release.
Texas signed signed Hoover as a free agent on May 3, 1989 and assigned him to Double A Tulsa. He spent the entire season there, serving mostly as a starter. His 3.38 ERA and 1.224 WHIP were decent but not enough to get a mid-season promotion.
1990 was the year of the move for Hoover. I'm not sure which order everything came in so I am starting off with Double A Tulsa. In four games, all starts, John pitched 23.2 innings. He put up an unsightly 4.56 ERA and a 1.690 WHIP to earn a 2-1 record. With Triple A Oklahoma City Hoover appeared in 24 games. He started ten of those contests and pitched a total of 87 innings. His ERA went the wrong way, to 6.00 but his WHIP was lower than with Tulsa, 1.575.
On May 23, 1990 John Hoover made his Major League debut with the Texas Rangers. He was the last member of the 1984 Olympic team to make the Majors (several never did). Unfortunately, things did not go smoothly. In two appearances out of the bullpen, John pitched 4.2 innings. His ERA tallied to an ugly 11.57 and his WHIP to 2.357. Those numbers earned him a return ticket to the minors.
Apparently Texas was not impressed with Hoover's post-debut performance in the minors. On July 21, 1990 they released him. The Expos picked him up on August 18, 1990 but he never saw any action with them and was granted free agency on October 15, 1990. Nobody signed him and that was the end of his pro career.
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