A Few BIOS of Stars of Yesteryear in Baseball
These stars of the 19th century of baseball are almost forgotten. But not quite as
I have selected a dozen to highlight that were on top of their game. In fact, many of these are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In no particular order:
John Clarkson – He was born on July 1, 1861 as one of five sons of a jeweler in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had two brothers, Walter Clarkson and Dad Clarkson that also played in the major leagues.
Clarkson compiled a career 328–178 record, placing him twelfth on the MLB list of all-time wins. Clarkson pitched over 600 innings in a season twice and won a career-high 53 games in 1885. In MLB history, only Charles Radbourne has won more games in a single season (59 in 1884). In just five seasons from 1885 to 1889, Clarkson won 209 games.
Clarkson had a wide variety of curve balls and was considered to be a calculating, scientific pitcher who carefully analyzed every hitter’s weaknesses. Hall of Fame hitter Sam Thompson said of Clarkson: “I faced him in scores of games and I can truthfully say that never in all that time did I get a pitch that came where I expected it or in the way in which I guessed it was coming.”
At the time Clarkson retired from the game, he was the winningest pitcher in National League history.
Aside from being a great pitcher, Clarkson was also a fair hitter. His 24 career home runs ranks 7th on the List of Major League Baseball all-time leaders in home runs by pitchers. He also had 232 career RBIs and 254 runs scored.
Total Baseball ranked Clarkson as the fourth best pitcher of all time behind Hall of Famers Cy Young, Christy Mathewson and Lefty Grove. He was selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 by the Veterans Committee.
Sam Thompson– He was born on March 6, 1860 in Danville, Indiana. He was the fifth of eleven children in the family and he grew up in the town he was born in. After graduating from high school, Sam became a carpenter. He was a big and strong guy that played a bit of local baseball. People were in awe of his size and strength.
A scout came to see “Big Sam’ on a referral. Even though, Sam was working on a roof and not playing baseball, he was offered a contract. He wasn’t sure he wanted to give up a steady job, Thompson went to a scouting camp and was persuaded to play baseball.
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 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.
MLB statistics
Batting average .331
Home runs 126
Runs batted in 1,308
He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Wolverines (1885–1888), Philadelphia Phillies (1889–1898) and Detroit Tigers (1906). 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 (RBI) to games played ratio of .923 (1,305 RBIs in 1,410 games) remains the highest in major league history. In 1895, Thompson averaged 1.44 RBIs per game, and his 166 RBIs in 1887 (in only 127 games) remained the major league record until 1921 when Babe Ruth collected 168 (albeit in 152 games). 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.”
In 1974, he was selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Deacon McGuire–
James Thomas “Deacon” McGuire was born in Youngstown, Ohio on November 18, 1863 and died at Duck Lake on October 31, 1936 at the age of 72. Deacon was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach whose career spanned the years 1883 to 1915. He played 26 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a catcher, for 11 different major league clubs. His longest stretches were with the Washington Statesmen/Senators (901 games, 1892–99), Brooklyn Superbas (202 games, 1899–1901) and New York Highlanders (225 games, 1904–07). He played on Brooklyn teams that won National League pennants in 1899 and 1900.
McGuire was the most durable catcher of his era, setting major league catching records for most career games caught (1,612), putouts (6,856), assists (1,860), double plays turned (143), runners caught stealing (1,459), and stolen bases allowed (2,529). His assist, caught stealing, and stolen bases allowed totals ue record 133 games and compiled a .336 batting average with 10 home runs, 97 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.
McGuire was also the manager of the Washington Senators (1898), Boston Red Sox (1907–08) and Cleveland Indians (1909–11). He compiled a 210–287 (.423) as a major league manager.
Chub Collins– Born as Charles Augustus “Chub” Collins on October 12, 1857 in Cnada. He died on May 20, 1914 was a Canadian professional baseball player and politician. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1885 as a second baseman and shortstop for the Buffalo Bisons, Indianapolis Hoosiers, and Detroit Wolverines. He later served as the mayor of Dundas, Ontario, from 1901 to 1902.
Collins compiled a .182 batting average and .901 fielding percentage in his major league career. In its obituary of Collins, Sporting Life wrote: “Charles ‘Chub’ Collins was a brainy ball player, a mediocre hitter, and one of the fastest base runners in America.”
Collins also played and managed in baseball’s minor leagues from 1885 to 1890 and 1896 to 1900, including stints with the International League and Canadian League teams in Hamilton, Ontario (1885-1887, 1897-1900), Rochester, New York (1888-1889), and Galt, Ontario (1896). He stole 45 bases in 1886, 85 bases in 1888, and 81 bases in 1889. His 1898 Hamilton team won the league championship “with one of the strongest minor league aggregations ever seen In Hamilton.” He also served as an umpire in the Western Association in 1891.
MORE COMING SOON!