Rank your top 19th Century Baseball Players

[molenick]

I am adding my pre-N172 list of ten players. It is a little less researched and I may have left off an obvious choice.

Barnes
Bond
Creighton
Cummings
Mathews
McBride
McVey
Pike
Spalding
Wright (George)

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by molenick

I am adding my pre-N172 list of ten players. It is a little less researched and I may have left off an obvious choice.

Barnes
Bond
Creighton
Cummings
Mathews
McBride
McVey
Pike
Spalding
Wright (George)

It's nice to see Creighton mentioned!

[Keith H. Thompson]

My thanks to Jay M and Ted Z for mentioning Sam Thompson whenever the stalwarts of the 19th century are discussed. Sam got a late start (age 25) before he played professionally, and his total stats (except for RBI and HR) do not stand out. The first Veterans Committee, charged in 1945 with selecting deserving 19th century players, passed him over.
yet, consider the following stats compiled by Roy Kerr, author of the book, "Big Sam Thompson, Baseball's Greatest Clutch Hitter."

1. He was the first man to gain the 200 hit plateau in a season (in only 127 games) and would twice repeat this feat.
2. His RBI per-game ratio, 0.093 is he highest of any man who ever played the game. (although he is a virtual tie with Greenberg and Gehrig)
3. His RBI+Runs Scored per-game ratio is by far the highest of any man who ever played the game.
4. Thompson's 126 career home runs rank second among hitters of his era, and many of his four baggers can vie with those hit by his contemporary, Dan Brouthers, for the title of the longest hit in the 19th century.
5. On the base paths ... he ran well and aggressively, averaging 25 steals per season from 1889 to 1895.
6. ... he compiled the highest fielding average of any outfielder who played 1000 games and whose career concluded before the 20th century.
7. His 283 outfield assists rank twelfth all time, and among all outfielders who played more than 1000 games, his assist-per-game ratio (1/4.9 games) is the highest in history.
8. Thompson, in 1895 either became the first of four men to record three outfielder-to-catcher assists in a game, or the only man ever to record four in a game.

I am a mathematical statistician by profession and understand that statistics can be cherry-picked to deceive and confuse, but ...

[Keith H. Thompson]

My thanks to Jay M and Ted Z for mentioning Sam Thompson whenever the stalwarts of the 19th century are discussed. Sam got a late start (age 25) before he played professionally, and his total stats (except for RBI and HR) do not stand out. The first Veterans Committee, charged in 1945 with selecting deserving 19th century players, passed him over.
yet, consider the following stats compiled by Roy Kerr, author of the book, "Big Sam Thompson, Baseball's Greatest Clutch Hitter."

1. He was the first man to gain the 200 hit plateau in a season (in only 127 games) and would twice repeat this feat.
2. His RBI per-game ratio, 0.093 is he highest of any man who ever played the game. (although he is a virtual tie with Greenberg and Gehrig)
3. His RBI+Runs Scored per-game ratio is by far the highest of any man who ever played the game.
4. Thompson's 126 career home runs rank second among hitters of his era, and many of his four baggers can vie with those hit by his contemporary, Dan Brouthers, for the title of the longest hit in the 19th century.
5. On the base paths ... he ran well and aggressively, averaging 25 steals per season from 1889 to 1895.
6. ... he compiled the highest fielding average of any outfielder who played 1000 games and whose career concluded before the 20th century.
7. His 283 outfield assists rank twelfth all time, and among all outfielders who played more than 1000 games, his assist-per-game ratio (1/4.9 games) is the highest in history.
8. Thompson, in 1895 either became the first of four men to record three outfielder-to-catcher assists in a game, or the only man ever to record four in a game.

I am a mathematical statistician by profession and understand that statistics can be cherry-picked to deceive and confuse, but ...

[oldjudge]

Great summary, Keith. Sam is one of the most underrated players in history.

[PhillyFan1883]

1. Big Ed Delahanty
2. Buck Ewing
3. Roger Connor
4. Sam Thompson
5. Billy Hamilton

UN- honorable mention Cap Anson.
Honorable mention George Wright.

BTW if Ed Delahanty is not on your list go look at his stat line and do some research of his dominance at the plate.

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july...home-run-game/

[Keith H. Thompson]

The previous poster is correct in his reference to Ed Delahanty. The student of 19th century stars is referred to the book -- "July 2, 1903" by Mike Sowell for a superb account of the game, both anecdotal and factual. And to return to the thread's purpose I would rank both Delahanty and Brouthers ahead of Thompson. The Philadelphia outfield of 1894, Delahanty in left, Hamilton in center and Thompson in right is often mentioned in baseball lore as having the highest consensus batting average in history.
Mike Sowell is quoted with reference to Thompson

1. Sam Thompson, a menacing sight at six-foot-two and two hundred pounds ... gunned down runners from right field with the game's most powerful throwing arm.
2. He (Delahanty) called his his powerful throwing arm his "whip" and guarded it carefully, lobbing the ball back to the infield except when it was necessary to cut down a runner or hold a man on base. At such times, he would fire the ball with amazing accuracy and with a speed unmatched by any other outfielder except his teammate, Big Sam Thompson.

[nat]

He doesn't actually make a top 5-10 list, but I'd like John McGraw to get a some attention. Little Napoleon was actually one hell of a ball player. 334 career batting average, 466 career on base percentage. Not much power, but excellent at setting the table. Sort of the 19th century Wade Boggs.

[familytoad]

Sam is one of my favorites too...it doesn't hurt that I have just a half dozen 19th Century HOFers in my collection and he's one of them.

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Great summary, Keith. Sam is one of the most underrated players in history.