- Ed Delahanty
Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#dcdcdc
bgcolor2=#dcdcdc
textcolor1=black
textcolor2=black
name=Ed Delahanty
position=Left Fielder
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate= October 30, 1867
city-state|Cleveland|Ohio
deathdate= death date and age|1903|7|2|1867|10|30
city-state|Niagara Falls|Ontario
debutdate= May 22
debutyear= 1888
debutteam= Philadelphia Quakers
finaldate=June 25
finalyear=1903
finalteam=Washington Senators
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.346
stat2label=HR
stat2value=101
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=1464
teams=
*Philadelphia Quakers/Phillies (1888-1889), (1891-1901)
*Cleveland Infants (1890)
*Washington Senators (1902-1903)
highlights=
* Career batting average: .346 (5th all-time)
* Led the league in batting average: 1899 (.410), 1902 (.376)
* Led the league in home runs: 1893 (19) & 1896 (13)
* Led the league in RBIs: 1893 (146), 1896 (126), 1899 (137)
* Led the league in stolen bases: 1898 (56)
hofdate=by|1945
hofmethod=Veteran's CommitteeEdward James Delahanty (October 30, 1867 – July 2, 1903), nicknamed "Big Ed", was a Hall of Fame
Major League Baseball player from 1888 to 1903 for thePhiladelphia Quakers ,Cleveland Infants andWashington Senators , and was known as one of the early great power hitters in the game.Early Life
A
Cleveland, Ohio native nicknamed "Big Ed," Delahanty was an outfielder and powerful right-handed batter in the 1890s. Crazy Schmit, who pitched for the Giants and Orioles, said of him, "When you pitch to (Ed) Delahanty, you just want to shut your eyes, say a prayer and chuck the ball. The Lord only knows what'll happen after that." (quoted in "Autumn Glory" by Louis P. Masur) Ed Delahanty was also the most prominent member of the largest group of siblings ever to play in the major leagues: brothers Frank, Jim, Joe and Tom also spent time in the majors.He attended Cleveland's
Central High School and went on to college atSt. Joseph's . Delahanty signed on to first play professional baseball with Mansfield of the Ohio State league in 1887. [ George B. Kirsch Othello Harris Claire Elaine Nolte (2000) "Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States", Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0688112730 [http://books.google.com/books?id=xdV_JV1fbZMC&pg=PA129&dq=ed+delahanty&sig=ACfU3U2FGb1cdmIBHipe1gEvuRvmEM6Skg Excerpt, pg. 129] ] Delahanty also played minor league ball in Wheeling, West Virginia before the Phillies obtained him as a replacement for Charlie Ferguson. Ferguson had died early in 1888 from typhoid fever and Ed was originally brought in to fill in for him at second base. [ David M. Jordan (2002) "Occasional Glory: The History of the Philadelphia Phillies", McFarland, ISBN 0786412607 [http://books.google.com/books?id=3QB66gphVloC&printsec=frontcover&dq=philadelphia+phillies&lr=&sig=ACfU3U0mq-q9urJmQIbWc91UsNe9FZpVqA#PPA11,M1 Excerpt, pg. 11] ]Major Leagues
Ed Delahanty began his career on May 22, 1888, with the
Philadelphia Phillies in theNational League , playing 74 games that season with an uncharacteristically low .228 average, 1 HR, and 31 RBIs. The next year, in 56 games, he raised his average to .293. In 1890 he jumped to the Player's League, but returned to the Phillies the next year when that league folded. After a healthy .306, 6 HR, 91 RBI season in 1892, Delahanty blossomed in 1893 with .368, 19 HRs and 146 RBIs, narrowly missing the Triple Crown (teammates Billy Hamilton andSam Thompson led the league in batting with .380 and .370 respectively).Between 1894 and 1896 Delahanty compiled astonishing batting marks: .407, 4 HR, 131 RBI; .404, 11 HR, 106 RBI; .397, 13 HR, 126 RBI. In 1894 despite his high average of .407, the batting title went to
Hugh Duffy with a Major League record-setting .440. The 1894Phillies outfield featuring Delahanty was probably the most amazing collection of hitters assembled, with all four players averaging over .400. That season, Delahanty hit .407, Sam Thompson batted .407, Billy Hamilton .404 and spare outfielder Tuck Turner finished second to Hugh Duffy in hitting at .416. Delahanty won his first batting title in 1899 with a .410 batting average, adding nine homers and 137 RBIs and becoming the first in Major League history to hit at least .400 three times during their career.On July 13, 1896, Delahanty hit four home runs in a game, being only the second player to do so (
Bobby Lowe was the first in 1894), the only player ever to do so with four inside-the-park homers, and the first one to do so in a losing effort. (The Phillies lost the game, 9-8.)Bob Horner , in by|1986, is the only other MLB player to have hit four home runs in a losing effort. Later, in 1899, Delahanty hit four doubles in the same game. He remains the only man with a four-homer game to his credit to also have a game in which he hit four doubles. The same year Delahanty collected hits in 10 consecutive at bats, and in the 1890 and '94 seasons, he tallied six-hit games. After switching to the newAmerican League in 1902, playing for the Washington Senators, Delahanty won his second batting title with a .376 mark. To date, he is the only man to win a batting title in both major leagues.In his 16 seasons with Philadelphia, Cleveland and Washington, Delahanty batted .346, with 101 HRs and 1464 RBIs, 522 doubles, 185 triples and 455
stolen base s. He also led the league in slugging average and runs batted in three times each, and batted over .400 three times. In the years since,Rogers Hornsby has been the only 3-time .400-hitter in the National League (1922, 1924-25). His lifetime batting average of .346 ranks fifth all-time behindTy Cobb , .366,Rogers Hornsby , .359, Joe Jackson, .356. andLefty O'Doul , .349.While with the Phillies, Delahanty played under legendary manager
Harry Wright , the man who assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. Wright managed the Phillies with Delahanty for four seasons, from 1890 to 1893, with the two and their fine supporting cast leading the Phils to "first division" finishes during those years, though the team never won a pennant.Niagara Falls Incident
Delahanty died when he was swept over
Niagara Falls in 1903. He was apparently kicked off a train by the train's conductor for being drunk and disorderly. The conductor said Delahanty was brandishing a straight razor and threatening passengers. After being kicked off the train, Delahanty started his way across the International Bridge (near Niagara Falls) and fell or jumped off the bridge (some accounts say Ed was yelling about death that night). Whether "Big Ed" died from his plunge over the Falls, or drowned on the way to the Falls is uncertain."The Most Shameful Home Runs of All Time"
Delahanty was also the victim behind one of "The Most Shameful Home Runs of All Time" according to the third edition of Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo's series "The Baseball Hall of Shame." In July of 1892, when Delahanty's Quakers hosted Cap Anson's Chicago White Stockings at Huntington Grounds, Anson hit a fly ball to center in the top of the eighth inning. The ball hit a pole and landed right in the "doghouse," a feature unbeknownst to everyone then until that moment; it was used to store numbers for the manually-run scoreboard. Delahanty tried to get the ball (it was still in play) by first reaching over the doghouse, then crawling down into it, but on the latter attempt, he got stuck, and by the time teammate Sam Thompson freed Delahanty from the area, Anson crossed home plate on what the "Baseball Hall of Shame" book calls an "inside-the-doghouse home run."
Delahanty was inducted to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.ee also
*
List of major league players with 2,000 hits
*List of Major League Baseball doubles records
*List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
*List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
*List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
*List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBIs
*List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
*List of Major League Baseball batting champions
*List of Major League Baseball home run champions
*List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
*List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
*List of Major League Baseball triples champions
*Batters with four home runs in one game
*Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
*List of Major League Baseball players with 400 stolen bases External links
*
* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/delahanty_ed.htm Baseball Hall of Fame]
* [http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Delahanty.Ed.Obit.html Dead Ball Era (NY Times Articles after his death)]References
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