On this day in 1884, Fred Dunlap's 13th HR helps his St. Louis Maroons (UA) bury the Washington Nationals 11-1. The 2B will add the HR championship to his UA titles in batting‚ slugging‚ on base percentage‚ hits‚ doubles‚ and total bases‚ the most dominant season by any nonpitcher of the 19th century. He also leads all UA second basemen in fielding average‚ putouts‚ assists‚ DPs‚ and total chances per game.
In 1887, The St. Louis Browns end their season with a 95-40 record‚ besting their 1886 record by 2 wins. This will not be topped until the adoption of the 154-game schedule.
In 1898, Jack Taylor of Chicago defeats Jack Taylor of St. Louis 5-4 in 10 innings. The winner is a newcomer who won 28 games for Milwaukee in the Western League. The loser is a veteran of 8 seasons.
-from Baseball Library
2 comments:
I have to disagree with your comment on Dunlap: "The 2B will add the HR championship to his UA titles in batting‚ slugging‚ on base percentage‚ hits‚ doubles‚ and total bases‚ the most dominant season by any nonpitcher of the 19th century."
In 1876, Ross Barnes led the NL in batting, slugging, on base average, hits, doubles, total bases, triples, walks, and runs (by 50!)
I knew at some point if I keep repeating that Dunlap's 1884 season was the most dominant of all time somebody at somepoint would challenge that (and I'm certainly open to argument).
I have nothing but respect for Barnes and he was unbelievable in 1876. Don't know if I posted it yet but there's a play in the second StL/Chi game in 1876 where Barnes scores the winning run and it's just smart, heady baseball. Barnes was great.
However, based on Alex Reisner's metrics (http://alexreisner.com/baseball/stats/player?p=dunlafr01&y=1884), I think we can make the argument that Dunlap's season was the most dominant. He has Barne's 1876 season (http://www.alexreisner.com/baseball/stats/player?p=barnero01&y=1876) a bit below that. Also, it's most likely true that Dunlap also lead the UA in RBI although there's no official record.
In the end, when we're talking about season's like these, there's really not much seperation (and there's always the question of league quality with both Dunlap and Barnes). If I had to bet the farm on what was really the most dominating major league season of all time, I'd probably go with one of Babe Ruth's years.
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