|
|
Sam Crawford (1880-1968) An outfielder for the early Tigers teams, Crawford patrolled the
outfield with teammate Ty Cobb for parts of 13 seasons, Crawford still holds the Major League records for triples in a career
(309) and hit more inside-the-park home runs in a season (12) and over a career (51) than anyone in the history of the game.
Crawford accumulated 2,961 hits and a lifetime batting average of .309. He was also the first person to lead both the
American and National Leagues in home runs (1901 and 1908). Crawford earned his nickname “Wahoo” because
his hometown was Wahoo, Nebraska.
|
|
|
Elmer Flick (1876-1971) Hall of Famer Flick was a .313
lifetime hitter, who batted over .300 eight times and led his league in RBI once (110 in 1900), stolen bases twice (1904 and
1906) and triples three times (1905-07). He was such a prolific hitter by the 1907 season that the Cleveland Naps turned
down a trade with the Detroit Tigers that would have exchanged Flick for a 21-year old centerfielder named Ty Cobb.
|
|
|
Rube Marquard (1886-1980) Marquard led the New York Giants to three straight pennants from
1911 through 1913, during which he won an amazing 73 games (24 in 1911, 26 in 1912 and 23 in 1913). Elected to the Hall
of Fame in 1971, Marquard’s .774 winning percentage (24 wins and just 7 losses) and 237 strikeouts were best in the
National League in 1911 and a record for lefty hurlers that stood for 50 years until Sandy Koufax topped him with 269 strikeouts
in 1961.
|
|
|
Zach Wheat (1888-1972) One of the best players in Dodgers history, Wheat ranks first
among all Dodgers (Brooklyn and Los Angeles) in career hits (2,804), singles (2,038), doubles (464), triples (171), times
on base (3,509) and games played (2,322). Wheat won the batting title in 1918 with a .335 average and finished his Hall
of Fame career with a lifetime .317 batting average. He also participated in two World Series (1916 and 1920) and was
once described as 165 pounds of scrap iron, rawhide and guts.
|
|
|
Jap Barbeau (1882-1969) Playing third base for the Pirates and Cardinals in the 1909
season, Barbeau finished in the top 10 in the National League in stolen bases (33), runs scored (83) and walks (65).
|
|
|
Al Bridwell (1884-1969) Playing for the 1908 New York Giants, Bridwell hit the apparent
game-winning single in the historic “Merkle’s Boner” game. Bridwell singled with runners on first
and third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Cubs–Giants game on September 23, 1908. But since Fred Merkle, who was on first base, never touched second, and Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers
eventually tagged second with what may (or may not) have been the ball, a force out was called and the game ended in a tie.
The Giants ultimately lost the pennant to the Cubs, who won their last World Series later that autumn.
|
|
|
Bill Carrigan (1883-1969) Carrigan was the starting catcher for the 1912 World Champion
Red Sox, and player/manager of the 1915 and 1916 World Champion Red Sox. Carrigan was later the Red Sox field manager
for a young Babe Ruth.
|
|
|
Larry Doyle (1886-1974) “Laughing Larry” Doyle finished in the top 10 in
the National League in batting average five times, including 1915, when he finished first with a .320 batting average.
Six times, Doyle finished in the top ten in home runs, and Doyle twice led the League in hits (in 1909 with 172 and 1915 with
189). Doyle was the second baseman for the 1911, 1912 and 1913 pennant-winning Giants.
|
|
|
Lou Fiene (1884-1964) Known as “Big Finn,” Fiene had a very short career
as a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, from 1906-1909. Having recorded just 26 games and 138.0 innings pitched over
his brief Major League career, Fiene was out of Major League Baseball before his 25th birthday. He played his final
game on August 15, 1909. Given the brevity of his career, it is surprising that the manufacturers
of T206 cards decided to include two poses of Fiene.
|
|
|
Dick Hoblitzell (1888-1962) First baseman Hoblitzell played for the Cincinnati Reds from
1908 until July 16, 1914, when he was selected off waivers by the Boston Red Sox, where he played until
the 1918 season. A participant on the Red Sox’ 1915 and 1916 World Series Champion teams, Hoblitzell batted .273
over 10 World Series games, including .313 in the 1915 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. His best season
was 1911, when he hit .289 with 11 home runs and 91 RBI.
|
|
|
Davy Jones (1880-1972) Jones played alongside future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Sam
Crawford in Detroit’s outfield during the first decade of the 20th Century. He batted .353 in
the Tigers’ losing effort during the 1907 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Jones also played for the Tigers’
pennant winning teams in 1908 and 1909. After his playing career, Jones became one of the most successful pharmacists
in Detroit.
|
|
|
Otto Knabe (1884-1961) Franz Otto Knabe, nicknamed “Dutch,” had a distinguished
career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Terrapins (Federal League), and Chicago Cubs from 1905
through 1916. Primarily a second baseman throughout his career, Knabe led the League in sacrifice hits in 1907, 1908,
1910 and 1913. Knabe was also a player/manager for the Terrapins.
|
|
|
Tommy Leach (1877-1969) Leach batted second and played centerfield for the 1909 World
Series champion Pirates, hitting .360 over the seven-game series against Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers. He also played
in the first World Series ever against the Boston Red Sox in 1903. In 1902, Leach led the National League in home runs
with six.
|
|
|
Lefty Leifield (1883-1970) A 20-game winner in 1907, Leifield started (and lost) Game 4
of the 1909 World Series for the Pirates against the Tigers. His 2.47 career ERA ranks 36th all-time.
|
|
|
| Livingston, right, with Marquard |
|
Paddy Livingston (1880-1977)
The last surviving member of the 1901 American League, Livingston played in parts of seven Major League season, with the Naps,
Reds, Athletics and Cardinals, scattering his appearances from 1901 to 1917. Livingston compiled an unremarkable .209 lifetime batting average and was 97 years old when he died in Cleveland, Ohio in 1977.
|
|
|
George McBride (1880-1973) McBride played an excellent shortstop in the Major Leagues over
a span of 20 years from 1901 to 1920, primarily for Walter Johnson’s Washington Senators.
|
|
|
John “Chief” Meyers (1880-1971) Meyers was a catcher for four pennant winners
– the 1911, 1912 and 1913 New York Giants and the 1916 Brooklyn Robins (later Dodgers). He caught Hall of Famers
Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquard and finished in the top ten in the National League in batting average and on-base percentage
in 1911, 1912 and 1913.
|
|
|
Fred Parent (1875-1972) Parent hit .290, with 3 triples and 4 RBI in the Boston Red Sox
victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first ever World Series in 1903. Parent also finished in the American League’s
top ten in batting average in 1903 and 1904.
|
|
|
Fred Snodgrass (1887-1974) A teammate of Christy Mathewson and player for John McGraw, Snodgrass
played in three consecutive World Series for the Giants from 1911 to 1913. Although he came up with the Giants as a
20 year old catcher in 1908, Snodgrass was primarily a centerfielder and is best known for his error in the 10th inning of
the deciding game of the 1912 World Series, a game which was ultimately won by the Boston Red Sox. Known as “Snodgrass’
Muff,” the play only resulted in the tying run reaching second base. Later that inning, Mathewson, Fred Merkle
and Chief Meyers collaborated on a dropped infield fly and ultimately the winning run scored. Sadly, Snodgrass’
obituary in the New York Times headlined “Fred Snodgrass, 86, Dead; Ball Player Muffed 1912 Fly,” well over 50
years after the fact.
|
|
|
Jack Warhop (1884-1960) Warhop pitched for the New York Highlanders, later the Yankees,
from 1908-1915. In 1914, Warhop finished 10th in the American League in ERA at 2.37 – a year in which Warhop finished
with an 8-15 won-loss record.
|
