Ed Delahanty....2-part, Tues Nite Trivia Quiz....and, show us your Delahanty stuff

[tedzan]

Ed Delahanty....1903. My favorite 19th Century ballplayer, along with King Kelly.




1....If you subtract the 3 formative, free-swinging years of Big Ed's 16-year career, then do the math, you will be surprised to discover
the magnitude of his statistics in the following 13 years. And how they compare with the greats.

2....The "accidental death" of this great 19th Century Baseball player remains one of the most fascinating mysteries in Baseball history.
His youngest brother, Frank, traveled from Syracuse to Niagara Falls in July 1903 to identify his body. I do not think the ACTUAL cause
of Big Ed's death will ever be known ?

Let's hear your thinking on this particular subjects ? ?



Frank
.



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Would his BA have been higher than Cobb?

[FrankWakefield]

I first thought 'free-swinging' would have referred to the strike out peaks of 60, 50, and 36 in a season....

But I think it refers to his first 3 seasons.

Absent those... he would have hit .300 or higher every season, and have a lifetime batting average pretty close to Rogers Hornsby's. Both would be about the best right handed hitters for average, lifetime.

The Sowell book about his death, is about so much more about the formative years of what we consider baseball... the leagues, the contracts, and all.
Sowell, July 2, 1903. It should be required reading here.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

I first thought 'free-swinging' would have referred to the strike out peaks of 60, 50, and 36 in a season....

But I think it refers to his first 3 seasons.

Absent those... he would have hit .300 or higher every season, and have a lifetime batting average pretty close to Rogers Hornsby's. Both would be about the best right handed hitters for average, lifetime.

The Sowell book about his death, is about so much more about the formative years of what we consider baseball... the leagues, the contracts, and all.
Sowell, July 2, 1903. It should be required reading here.

Hi Frank,
You are on the right track. Two years into his career, Big Ed had matured and started using his mind more so than his brawn. He was mainly a pull-hitter; however, when the opportunity
arose, he would often slice the ball to the opposite field for a Hit. A practice that I wished Ted Williams would have done, which would have resulted in Ted achieving a .400 career BA.

Calculating Big Ed's BA for his best 13 years results within a Point (or two) of equaling Cobb's .366 BA.

I did the math in a hurry....so, I will go and double-check my numbers.

Thanks for suggesting the Sowell book....I will chek-it-out.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[tedzan]

I will award the Trivia King trophy to Frank W.

Frank W's response is just shy of the answer I was expecting. Once Ed Delahanty combined his mind with his physical skills to play the game, he was a
tremendous ballplayer.

For Big Ed's best 13 seasons of his 16-year career his Batting Average was .364 (only 2-points shy of Ty Cobb's .366 BA). And both of them batted 400+
three times.


The Brothers Delahanty......


Tom….1894, 1896-1897





Joe…… 1907-1909




Jim…… 1901-1902, 1904-1912, 1914-1915
x
.




Frank…... 1905-1908, 1914-1915
.



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Did I not mention Cobb specifically? LOL

[bxb]

A great card, and a great book:



https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1643931459



https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1643931517

[lumberjack]

You can Google "Canadian Railway Cases Volume 3 Page 311 Google Books"
(J Delahanty v. Michigan Central).

This is the Appeals Court ruling from 6/29/05.

Delahanty's widow and child were awarded $5000. The court said Delahanty was in no condition to have been removed from the train.

[Bpm0014]

Any way you can post better scans? I would love to read the docs but can hardly make things out in your pics. Thanks

If anyone wants to send me their email address I’ll be happy to send them. They’re as clear as day haha

[WillowGrove]

Great thread - Ted, thanks for starting it. He's my favorite 19th century HOFer.

I'd like to show cabinet photos of a few family members including one of Big Ed in uniform.

You'll see on the backs the family are identified. Tom, Bridget Delahanty - the matriarch, Kate, their sister and Big Ed. (ETA: I see the back of Tom is tough to see - but it is labeled Tom Delahanty)

What's cool to me is that the address on the back of Ed's cabinet says 'Return to W.J Delahanty 3001 Payne Ave." If you see the info I attach from a 1924 directory of Cleveland - you'll see that address listed next to Joseph who owned the family saloon on that site with brother Tom. So I would say all these were owned by the family who were from Cleveland. Hope you like.

[triwak]

^^^ Amazing stuff, Peter!!

[Rhotchkiss]

I just finished the court docs - what a great read!! He went down Niagara Falls!! I wonder if they ever later interviewed the railway man who fought with Delahanty on the Bridge. I wonder how baseball would have been changed had Ed made it to NY and played for Mack

[h2oya311]

Here's Bid Ed, c1888.

Interestingly, this image is the same that was used on the Type 1 W600 posted by Chris. For some reason, I always associate Carl Horner with the photographs used in the W600 "set". I guess this is one of the exceptions...