Who are your top 5 players who are not in the MLB HOF who played in the 19th century?

[BobbyStrawberry]

Great names listed so far. I'll put in a vote for Charlie Buffinton–perhaps not a HOF career, but he was pretty great for a stretch. King Kelly praised him as "a young fellow who pitches a pretty stiff game of ball". His 1884 stat line is ridiculous! 48-16, 2.15 ERA, 587 IP (!), 417 K (6th most all time).

[Shoeless Moe]

Moses Fleetwood Walker.......


.....and put his plaque right next to Cap Anson.

[Rad_Hazard]

Buffinton! Yes.

Moses Fleetwood Walker, without question. And I agree, just above Cap Anson's would be perfect.

[nat]

I'm going to second the nominations of Creighton and Barnes. They're not in because neither meets the Hall's played-in-10-seasons requirement. But Creighton was the first big baseball star, and Barnes was the first big star of professional ball. (Or at least professional league ball.)

[G1911]

The 10 year requirement seems particularly unfair to Creighton, as he was dead before any league counted as a major league even existed. As baseballs first star and the man largely responsible for turning the game from one of offense versus defense into one primarily of batter versus pitcher, he seems like a no brainer. I get that inducting long dead and forgotten guys that don’t serve a modern purpose doesn’t make the hall money and draws crowds, but I’d like to see them honor these two pioneers eventually.

[clydepepper]

Lipman Pike and Tommy Bond

[phillyfan24]

Not going to post stats etc. But growing up in the 70's and 80's this guy was without a doubt one of the Superstars that anyone from that time period would think he's a no-brainer (stats aren't off the charts but he was HUGE). Steve Garvey! Now I'm a Phillies guy, couldn't stand the Dodgers. Whoops.....wrong century, apologies.

[CooperstownExpert]

Great lists, everyone. I really like it where baseball autographs and baseball history intersect. Sorry I'm so late to the thread.

A few years ago I launched a baseball history website that's built around autographs. Below are signatures of Harry Stovey and Gus Weyhing. Stovey's page can be accessed here; Weyhing's here.

Bill Dahlen has a page. So does Jack Glasscock. I almost forgot Ross Barnes and Tommy Bond.

The 19th century stuff is all so fascinating. This is really a neat thread. It's tough to find a place to share the interest of 1800s baseball. Glad to join you in this...