1.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
2.
Baker Bowl
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Baker Bowl is the best-known popular name of a baseball park that formerly stood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Its formal name, painted on its wall, was National League Park. It was also known as Philadelphia Park or Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds / Park. It was on a city block bounded by N. Broad St. W. Huntingdon St. N. 15th St. and W. Lehigh Avenue, the ballpark was initially built in 1887. It was constructed by Phillies owners AJ Reach and John Rogers, the ballpark cost $80,000 and had a capacity of 12,500. At that time the media praised it as state-of-the-art, in that dead-ball era, the outfield was enclosed by a relatively low wall all around. Center field was close, with the railroad tracks running behind it. Later, the tracks were lowered and the field was extended over top of them, bleachers were built in left field, and over time various extensions were added to the originally low right field wall, resulting in the famous 60-foot fence. The ballparks second incarnation opened in 1895 and it was notable for having the first cantilevered upper deck in a sports stadium, and was the first ballpark to use steel and brick for the majority of its construction. By comparison, the Green Monster at Fenway Park is 37 feet high and 310 feet away, the Baker wall was a rather difficult task to surmount. The wall was an amalgam of different materials and it was originally a relatively normal-height masonry structure. When it became clear that it was too soft a home run touch, the barrier was extended upward using more masonry, wood, and a metal pipe-and-wire screen. The masonry in the part of the wall was extremely rough. The clubhouse was located above and behind the field wall. No batter ever hit a ball over the clubhouse, but Rogers Hornsby once hit a ball through a window, the ballpark, shoehorned as it was into the Philadelphia city grid, acquired a number of nicknames over the years. Baker Bowl is the name, and is nearly always referred to by that name in histories of the Phillies. The prosaic Philadelphia Baseball Grounds or Philadelphia Baseball Park was the often used by sportswriters prior to the Baker era
3.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
4.
Al Reach
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Born in London, Al Reach was a regular for the champion Eckford club of Brooklyn in the early 1860s before moving to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1865. When the National Association began, he helped win the first professional baseball pennant in 1871. Upon his retirement from playing in 1875, he helped found the Philadelphia Phillies franchise, Reach served as team president from 1883 to 1899. Later, similar to Al Spalding, Reach formed a sporting goods company, in fact, he sold his company to Spalding in 1889. Reach kept his interest in the Phillies franchise, selling out in 1899 to his longtime partner, Reach died at age 87 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and is interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference Al Reach at Find a Grave
5.
Jack Clements
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John J. Jack Clements was an American professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for 17 seasons, despite being left-handed, Clements caught 1,073 games, almost four times as many as any other left-handed player in major league history and was the last left-hander to catch on a regular basis. He is credited with being the first catcher to wear a chest protector, born in Philadelphia, Clements began his major league career in 1884 in the Union Association. He played as a catcher/outfielder for the Philadelphia Keystones until the team folded in August, Clements then went to the National League, signing with the Philadelphia Quakers to finish the year. Clements spent the next 13 seasons with the Quakers, and became the regular catcher in 1888. He also served as a player-manager during part of the 1890 season when manager Harry Wright suffered temporary blindness, during the 1890s, he established himself as one of the National Leagues top hitters, finishing among the top 4 in batting average on 3 occasions. Clements also hit for power, finishing second in the NL with 17 home runs in 1893, also in 1895, he finished with a.394 batting average, the highest single-season average by a catcher in major league history. After the 1897 season, Clements was traded to the St. Louis Browns and he played one season for the Browns, during which he became the first player to catch 1,000 games in his career. Before the 1899 season, Clements was assigned to the Cleveland Spiders, the move took place after Spiders owners Frank and Stanley Robison purchased the Browns and re-distributed players among the two franchises. Clements appeared in only 4 games for the Spiders before being released and he played his final Major League season in 1900, playing in 16 games for the Boston Beaneaters. At the time of his retirement, he held the single-season, both of his records were broken by Gabby Hartnett in the 1920s, the single-season record fell in 1925, while the career record fell in 1928. Clements is also the only 19th-century baseball player of prominence to retire with more runs than triples. He died of an illness in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1941 and he is buried at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. In his Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James ranked Clements as the 58th greatest catcher in baseball history, list of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference Jack Clements at Find a Grave
6.
Bob Allen (shortstop)
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Robert Gilman Allen was an American shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Beaneaters and the Cincinnati Reds, as well as a manager for two brief stints with the Phillies and Reds. He was born in Marion, Ohio, and as a youth, Allen made his NL debut in 1890 with the Phillies, and in his day was considered a power hitter, hitting a career high eight home runs in 1893. When Allens contract was up, he took a hiatus from baseball. His playing time diminished and he walked away from baseball again after the 1897 season, in 1900, he was hired as manager of the Reds, occasionally inserting himself into the game as a shortstop. He finished 62–77 and in seventh place and he was fired after one season at the helm. He died in Little Rock, Arkansas at age 75, list of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
7.
Harry Wright
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William Henry Harry Wright was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseballs first fully professional team and it was there where he is credited with introducing innovations such as backing up infield plays from the outfield and shifting defensive alignments based on hitters tendencies. For his contributions as a manager and developer of the game, Wright was also the first to make baseball into a business by paying his players up to seven times the pay of the average working man. Born in Sheffield, England, he was the eldest of five children of professional cricketer Samuel Wright and his wife, Annie Tone Wright. His family emigrated to the U. S. when he was three years old, and his father found work as a bowler, coach, and groundskeeper at the St Georges Cricket Club in New York. Harry dropped out of school at age 14 to work for a jewelry manufacturer, both Harry and George, twelve years younger, assisted their father, effectively apprenticing as cricket club pros. Harry played against the first English cricket team to tour overseas in 1859, both brothers played baseball for some of the leading clubs during the amateur era of the National Association of Base Ball Players. Harry was already twenty-two when the baseball fraternity convened for the first time in 1857 and he did not play in a game with the Knickerbockers until July 8,1858, playing the outfield against Excelsior of Brooklyn. The Knickerbockers lost the game, 31–13, in 1863, the Knickerbocker club all but withdrew from official competition, and Wright joined Gotham of New York, primarily playing shortstop. Here, he joined his brother George, who had become a member of the team the previous year, during the winter of 1864/65, the Wrights played the curious game of ice base ball. Wright left New York on March 8,1865, bound for Cincinnati, by now, Wright was 31, probably past his athletic prime. Cincinnati fielded a regional club in 1867. With Wright working as the pitcher, and still a superior player at that level. For 1868 he added four players from the East and one from the crosstown Buckeye club, the easterners, at least, must have been compensated by club members if not by the club. When the NABBP permitted professionalism for 1869, Harry augmented his 1868 imports with five new men, no one but Harry Wright himself remained from 1867, one local man and one other westerner joined seven easterners on the famous First Nine. The most important of the new men was brother George, probably the best player in the game for a few years, George at shortstop remained a cornerstone of Harrys teams for ten seasons. The Red Stockings toured the continent undefeated in 1869 and may have been the strongest team in 1870, as it turned out, the Association also passed from the scene. In 1869 Wright became the first to make mention of the Seventh-inning stretch in a game he watched
8.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
9.
Sumner Bowman
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Sumner Sallade Bowman was an American professional baseball player in the early 1890s, who pitched for three teams during his two-year Major League Baseball career. In 1890 he played for the Philadelphia Phillies and later for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, in 1891 he played for the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association. His career statistics include a record of 4–10, an earned run average of 5.22. Bowman died in his hometown of Millersburg, Pennsylvania at the age of 86, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
10.
Duke Esper
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Duke Esper was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1890–1898. He would play for the Philadelphia Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators and he gave up Roger Connors 100th home run, the second player to do so after Harry Stovey. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
11.
Kid Gleason
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William Jethro Kid Gleason was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Gleason managed the Chicago White Sox from 1919 through 1923 and his first season as a major league manager was notable for his teams appearance in the World Series and the ensuing Black Sox Scandal, but Gleason was not involved in the scandal. After leaving the White Sox, Gleason was on the staff for the Philadelphia Athletics until 1931. Gleason was born in Camden, New Jersey and he acquired the nickname Kid early in life, not only because of his short stature but also because of his energetic, youthful nature. Gleason played two seasons in the leagues of northern Pennsylvania. In 1886 at Williamsport of the Pennsylvania State League, he batted.355, Gleason debuted as a pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies on April 20,1888. He enjoyed several seasons, especially 1890, before becoming a second baseman. He was the second baseman for the old Baltimore Orioles in 1895. Gleason compiled a.261 career batting average before retiring after the 1912 season, with his two at-bats in one game in 1912, he became a member of the small group of men,29 to date, who have played major league baseball in four decades. Gleason returned to the leagues in 1912 as a coach. In his first season, the won the pennant but lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. The ensuing scandal resulted in lifetime bans from baseball for six White Sox players, Gleason, however, was not involved in the gambling, and some sources note that he was among those who alerted White Sox owner Charles Comiskey of the fix. Although he felt betrayed and disappointed by his 1919 team, he continued to manage the White Sox until 1923, after leaving in 1923, Kid Gleason went on to coach under manager Connie Mack with the Philadelphia Athletics until retiring after the 1931 season. Gleason won two World Series championships with the Athletics, in 1929 and 1930, Gleason died of a heart ailment in 1933, at the age of 66, in Philadelphia, his funeral was well attended, a testament to his popularity. He is buried in Philadelphias Northwood Cemetery, Gleason has been referenced in pop culture in several books, and is a prominent supporting character in Ring Lardners 1916 novel You Know Me Al. He is portrayed by actor John Mahoney in the 1988 film Eight Men Out, based on Eliot Asinofs book of the same name
12.
Phenomenal Smith
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John Francis Phenomenal Smith, born as John Francis Gammon, was an American professional baseball player and player-manager from 1884 to 1905. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a pitcher, in his eight seasons in the major leagues, Smith appeared as a pitcher in 140 games and compiled a 54-74 win-loss record with a 3.89 earned run average and 519 strikeouts. He saw his most extensive playing time with the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association, Smith later served as a player-manager in the minor leagues from the early 1890s through 1905. He was credited with discovering Christy Mathewson in 1899 and developing him into a pitcher during the 1900 season. Smith was born in Manayunk, now a neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia, Smith began his professional baseball career at age 18 playing for the Baltimore club in the National Association in 1883. In 1884, he played one game as pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and he compiled an 0-2 win-loss records and a 6.35 earned run average in his first season in the major leagues. Smith spent most of the 1885 and 1886 seasons playing with the Newark Little Giants of the Eastern League and he appeared in 20 games as a pitcher for Newark in 1885 and struck out 214 batters. As of 1921, the pitchers to have attained an average of 10 strikeouts per game were Smith, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee John Clarkson. He reportedly received the nickname Phenomenal after pitching a no-hitter against Baltimore on October 3,1885, only two batters reached base, one on an error and one on a base on balls, and Smith picked off both runners at first base. In 1886, Smith appeared in 33 games as a pitcher for Newark, in his five major league games during the 1885 and 1886 seasons, Smith compiled a 1-3 record with a 5.11 ERA. In his first and only game for Brooklyn, on June 17,1885, Smiths teammates were reported to have intentionally committed 14 errors to punish Smith for his perceived brash, all 18 were initially scored as unearned‚ but record books indicate that 11 of the runs were earned. He reportedly claimed that he was so good that he did not need his teammates to win, the intentional misplays of his teammates caused club President Lynch to fine the guilty players $500 each‚ but he instead released Smith to ensure team harmony. Smith saw his most extensive playing time in the leagues with the Baltimore Orioles during the 1887 and 1888 seasons. In 1887, Smith appeared in 58 games as a pitcher for Baltimore and he threw 54 complete games and pitched 491-1/3 innings, compiling a record of 25-30 with a 3.79 ERA and 206 strikeouts. The next year, he appeared in 35 games as a pitcher,32 as a starter and he compiled a record of 14-19 with a 3.61 ERA. In early October 1888, the Philadelphia Athletics purchased Smith from the Baltimore Orioles for $1000 or $1500 and he pitched three games for the Athletics at the end of the 1888 season, compiling a 2-1 record and a 2.86 ERA. In the first half of the 1889 season, he went 2-3 with a 4.40 ERA for the Athletics, in early June 1889, Smith was released by the Athletics. He finished the 1889 season playing for Hartford in the Atlantic Association, Smith played in the National League in 1890 for the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Alleghenys
13.
Harry Decker
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Earle Harry Decker was a Major League Baseball catcher. Walker was born on September 3,1864 in Lockport, Illinois and he played four seasons in Major League Baseball, with the Indianapolis Hoosiers, Kansas City Cowboys, Detroit Wolverines, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. Deckers primary position was catcher, but he played outfield, first base, second base, third base. SABR says Decker is credited by many as the inventor of the catchers mitt and he also served time in San Quentin Penitentiary, California before receding into the mists of history. As is the case with approximately 200 other 19th century ballplayers, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
14.
Al Myers
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James Albert Myers, was a Major League Baseball second baseman from 1884-1891. Known as Cod Myers, he owned the Health Office Saloon and built an apartment house in Terre Haute and his daughter, Ernestine Myers, pursued a successful career in professional dance. Myers played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Quakers/Phillies, Kansas City Cowboys, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
15.
Eddie Burke (baseball)
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Edward D. Burke, was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played all or part of eight seasons, from 1890 until 1897, during that time, he played for five teams, the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburg Alleghenys, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants. In 1890, Burke was traded in midseason along with pitcher Bill Day for Billy Sunday and this is the only recorded time the famed evangelist was traded during his baseball career. List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Eddie Burke at Find a Grave
16.
Bill Gray (baseball)
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William Tolan Bill Gray, also spelled Bill Grey, was an American third baseman and utility player in Major League Baseball between 1890 and 1898. He played two each with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds, and was the starter at third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates during his final season in the major leagues. He was officially listed as standing 5 feet 11 inches and weighing 175 pounds, william Gray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 5,1871. Gray began his career at age 19 as a utility player for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League and he appeared in 34 games in 1890—his first season with the team—amassing a.242 batting average in his debut season, the same as his career average. During the year, he scored 20 runs and batted in 21, at the plate, he hit eight doubles and four triples, and stole five bases during the year. Grays batting declined during the 1891 season, as he amassed no extra-base hits and he scored eleven runs, batted in seven, and stole three bases, he also walked three times. His 81 plate appearances,73 times at bat, and 23 games played were all second-best among Philadelphias bench. Defensively, he appeared in games at five positions, catcher was his most utilized role and he made nine errors behind the plate and caught 26% of potential baserunners stealing. He played for the Grays from April 30 through June 18, between the two teams, Gray collected 15 doubles,3 triples, and 1 home run, the first of his minor league career. He batted.251 and slugged.336 while stealing 16 bases, Gray played with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1894, but no information about that years team is available other than their roster. He led Cincinnatis bench players in doubles and runs batted in and he batted.304, the highest average of his professional career, and hit his only home run in the majors during that season as well. The 1896 season was productive for Gray, as he batted only.207 in 46 games and ranking last among Cincinnatis bench players in batting average, hits, doubles. It was also the year of Grays career in which he appeared at all four infield positions, in total. Most of his games were played at second base and catcher, in 1897, Gray played a second stint with the Hoosiers, now known as the Indians, of the Western League. It was his most productive season as a player, at age 26, he played in 125 games for the Hoosiers, batting.347 and he hit 19 home runs to lead the Hoosiers, adding 26 doubles,11 triples, and 13 stolen bases. He also led Indianapolis with 21 sacrifice hits, after the season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates with four other players in a deal that included Pink Hawley. After trading for Gray, the Pirates made him their starter at third base for the 1898 season, in 585 plate appearances—third-most on the team—Gray led the Pirates in doubles and batted in 67 runs, second to Jack McCarthy. He notched 121 hits in 528 at bats, taking 28 walks, in the field, however, he committed 59 errors in 486 chances
17.
Billy Hamilton (baseball, born 1866)
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William Robert Sliding Billy Hamilton was a 19th-century Major League Baseball player who holds a number of baseball records. He played for the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Beaneaters between 1888 and 1901 and he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1961. As of 2016, he is third on the all-time list of stolen bases leaders. Hamilton was born on February 16,1866 in Newark, New Jersey and his parents, Samuel and Mary Hamilton, had immigrated to New Jersey from Ireland. Biographer Roy Kerr writes that evidence suggests that Hamilton was descended from the Ulster Scots people, when Hamilton was a small child, his family moved to Clinton, Massachusetts. He worked in a Clinton cotton mill as a young teenager, Hamilton broke into the major leagues in the American Association with the Kansas City Cowboys in 1888. He established himself as a star the following season by batting.301 with 144 runs and 111 stolen bases, in 1890, the Cowboys, who were ceasing operations, sold Hamilton to the Philadelphia Phillies. The next year he led the NL in batting average, runs scored, for a third consecutive season, Hamilton led the NL in stolen bases. In 1892, Hamilton hit both a leadoff and game-ending home run in the same game, only Vic Power, Darin Erstad, Reed Johnson and Ian Kinsler have accomplished the same feat. He hit.380 in 1893, which led the major leagues, Philadelphia outfielders Hamilton, Sam Thompson, Ed Delahanty and Tuck Turner all hit over.400 in 1894. Hamilton also set the record for most stolen bases in one game and he set the record for most consecutive games scoring one or more runs, with 35 runs in 24 games in July–August 1894. Hamilton led the league in steals for a time in 1895. In 1896, Hamilton moved to Boston, for whom he played his six seasons. Although his numbers declined, Hamilton still scored over 100 runs in all, Hamilton retired after the 1901 season. Over his career he compiled 912 stolen bases, a.344 batting average and 1690 runs in 1591 games, he is one of only three players to average more than one run per game played. His.455 career on-base percentage ranks fourth all-time behind Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and John McGraw and he is the Philadelphia Phillies career leader in batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases. He holds Phillies single-season records for on-base percentage, runs, stolen bases and times on base, though stolen bases were credited differently during Hamiltons career than they are in modern times, he was very proud of his stolen base marks. In 1937, Hamilton lambasted the Sporting News in a letter he wrote to them, stating, I was, I stole over 100 bases on many years and if they ever re-count the record I will get my just reward
18.
Billy Sunday
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Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some years at the Iowa Soldiers Orphans Home before working at odd jobs and playing for local running and baseball teams. His speed and agility provided him the opportunity to play baseball in the leagues for eight years, where he was an average hitter. Converting to evangelical Christianity in the 1880s, Sunday left baseball for the Christian ministry, Sunday held widely reported campaigns in Americas largest cities, and he attracted the largest crowds of any evangelist before the advent of electronic sound systems. He also made a deal of money and was welcomed into the homes of the wealthy. Sunday was a supporter of Prohibition, and his preaching likely played a significant role in the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919. Despite questions about his income, no scandal ever touched Sunday and he was sincerely devoted to his wife, who also managed his campaigns, but his three sons disappointed him. His audiences grew smaller during the 1920s as Sunday grew older, religious revivals became less popular, nevertheless, Sunday continued to preach and remained a stalwart defender of conservative Christianity until his death. Billy Sunday was born near Ames, Iowa and his father was the son of German immigrants named Sonntag, who anglicized their name to Sunday when they settled in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. William Sunday was a bricklayer who worked his way to Iowa, where he married Mary Jane Corey, daughter of Squire Martin Corey, a farmer, miller, blacksmith. William Sunday enlisted in the Iowa Twenty-Third Volunteer Infantry on August 14,1862 and he died four months later of pneumonia at an army camp in Patterson, Missouri, five weeks after the birth of his youngest son, William Ashley. Mary Jane Sunday and her children moved in with her parents for a few years, Mary Jane Sunday later remarried, but her second husband soon deserted the family. At the orphanage, Sunday gained orderly habits, a decent primary education, by fourteen, Sunday was shifting for himself. In Nevada, Iowa, he worked for Colonel John Scott, the Scotts provided Sunday a good home and the opportunity to attend Nevada High School. Although Sunday never received a school diploma, by 1880 he was better educated than many of his contemporaries. In 1880, Sunday relocated to Marshalltown, Iowa, where, because of his athleticism, in Marshalltown, Sunday worked at odd jobs, competed in fire brigade tournaments, and played for the town baseball team. In 1882, with Sunday in left field, the Marshalltown team defeated the state champion Des Moines team 13–4, in 1883, on Ansons recommendation, A. G. Spalding, president of the Chicago White Stockings, signed Sunday to the defending National League champions. Sunday struck out four times in his first game, and there were seven more strikeouts, during his first four seasons with Chicago, he was a part-time player, taking Mike King Kellys place in right field when Kelly served as catcher. Sundays speed was his greatest asset, and he displayed it on the basepaths, in 1885, the White Stockings arranged a race between Sunday and Arlie Latham, the fastest runner in the American Association
19.
Sam Thompson
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Samuel Luther Big Sam Thompson was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At 6 feet,2 inches, the Indiana native was one of the players of his day and was known for his prominent handlebar mustache. He played as a fielder in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Wolverines, Philadelphia Phillies. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, Thompson had a.331 career batting average and was one of the most prolific run producers in baseball history. His career run batted in to games played ratio of.923 remains the highest in league history. In 1895, Thompson averaged 1.44 RBIs per game, Thompson still holds the major league record for most RBIs in a single month with 61 in August 1894 while playing for the Phillies. Manager Bill Watkins in 1922 called Thompson the greatest natural hitter of all time, defensively, Thompson was known to have one of the strongest arms of any outfielder in the early decades of the game. He still ranks among the major league leaders with 61 double plays from the outfield and 283 outfield assists. Thompson also had good speed on the paths and, in 1889. Thompson was born in Danville, Indiana, in 1860 and he was the fifth of eleven children born to Jesse and Rebecca Thompson. He was educated at the Danville Graded School, after reaching adulthood, Thompson became employed as a carpenter in Danville. He and five of his brothers played on a local baseball team known as the Danville Browns. In July 1884, Thompson began his baseball career at age 24, playing for the Evansville, Indiana. A scout for Evansville travelled to Danville and was referred to Big Sam, Thompson was initially reluctant to give up his carpentry career and travel 150 miles to Evansville, but he ultimately agreed to give it a try. Unfortunately, the league folded in early August 1884, after five games. In five games at Evansville, Thompson compiled a.391 batting average, Thompson signed with the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the newly formed Western League in 1885. He compiled a.321 average in 30 games with the Hoosiers and he was approached by a Union Association team and offered more money, but in a show of steadfastness to his word, Thompson refused the offer and remained with Indianapolis at a pay of $100 per month. The Hoosiers were the dominant team in the Western League, compiling an.880 winning percentage, Thompson later told the colorful story of his acquisition by Detroit
