Books and articles about Ezra Sutton

Uncle Ezra, as admiring Boston fans called him, was a power hitter in the bare-handed days. He once hit three consecutive triples in a single game and had respectable numbers for slugging average and total bases. Originally a cross-handed batter (from the righthander's side of the plate), he adopted the normal grip to enhance his effectiveness against pitchers' ever-increasing speed.

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Essentially a third baseman, he played all infield positions as needed, had a strong throwing arm and unflinching courage facing "fair-foul" hits down the line. Except for a league-leading .908 in 1884, however, his fielding percentages were usually in the .800s. While with the Athletics he made the first error in the first National League game ever played.

A solid contributor to Boston's 1877, 1878, and 1883 champions, he came to a sad end, dying crippled and impoverished. (ADS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 14th, 1876 » June 17th, 1876 » June 20th, 1883: Boston mauls Philadelphia 29-4, as Sam Wise goes 6-for-7 with 4 extra-base hits. Wise, Ezra Sutton, and Joe Hornung each score 5 runs. Philadelphia helps by committing 21 errors. » August 27th, 1887: Mike Kelly and Ezra Sutton score 6 runs each as the Beaneaters trounce the Alleghenies 28-14. The score is the biggest ever yielded by a Pittsburgh ML team.