One of only three players in ML history with more runs scored than games played,
Hamilton was perhaps the best player of the 1890s. Seven times a stolen-base champion,
he combined raw speed, daring baserunning, patience at the plate, and a .344 career
average (sixth-best all-time) to become the game's first great leadoff hitter. In
a period when stolen bases were also credited when baserunners gained more bases
than a batter earned on a hit, Hamilton compiled phenomenal stolen base totals.
After
35 games with Kansas City in 1888, Hamilton won a starting spot the next year and
hit .301 with a league-leading 117 stolen bases. He would not fall below .300 again
until his final ML season. In 1890 Hamilton brought his head-first slides to the
NL's Phillies, where he led the league with 102 steals in 1890 and 115 in 1891, the
year he won his first batting title with a .340 mark. Following an off-year in 1892,
he moved from left field to center in 1893 and hit .380 to edge teammate Sam Thompson
for his second batting championship.
Sliding Billy continued his record-setting
basepath feats in 1894 with the help of his fellow Phillies, who hit a ML-record
.343 as a team that year. Playing in 131 of his club's 132 games, Hamilton scored
196 runs, by far the best ML season total ever. He accomplished this by leading the
league in walks (126) and stolen bases (99), including 7 steals in one game on August
31. He also strung together a 36-game hitting streak, the sixth-longest in NL history,
and had career highs of 87 RBI, 223 hits, 15 triples, 25 doubles, and a .399 batting
average. After leading the league once again in runs, walks, and stolen bases in
1895, he was traded to the Braves for third baseman Billy Nash. In Boston, he continued
to terrorize opposing infields, leading the NL in stolen bases twice more in 1896
and 1898. But knee and leg injuries in 1898 and 1899 finally began to slow him down,
and he retired after hitting only .287 in 1901.
In addition to his lofty batting
average, Hamilton finished his career with a .455 on-base percentage, 1,187 walks,
1,692 runs scored, and 937 stolen bases. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the
Veterans' Committee in 1961.
(AJA)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»December 31, 1889: Three players purchased from the disbanded Kansas City AA franchise by the National League are divided by lot among the bidding NL clubs. Billy Hamilton is assigned to Philadelphia, while Boston is lucky enough to get both Herman Long and Dan Stearns in the drawing.
»June 3, 1952:
Y. Yamasaki of the Chunichi Dragons steals six bases in a single game for a Japanese record. This ties the AL record of six set by Eddie Collins of Philadelphia in 1912; it is one behind the NL record set by George Gore in 1881 and Billy Hamilton of Philadelphia in 1894.
»January 29, 1961: Billy Hamilton and Max Carey are voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
»September 23, 1979: St. Louis legend Lou Brock steals the 938th—and final—base of his career in a 7–4 win against the New York Mets. He tops 19th century speedster Billy Hamilton by one.
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