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Forum >> Baseball >> Barehanded catcher elect to hall of fame...  

Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function
#2125	12/03/2012 3:16:57 pm
admin Joined: 01/27/2010 Posts: 5024 Administrator	James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 7, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball's barehanded period, he caught more games than any other player during the decade, and was a major figure on five consecutive championship teams from 1873 to 1877 – three in the National Association (NA), in which he played throughout its five-year existence from 1871 to 1875, and two in the National League (NL), which was formed as the first recognized major league in 1876, partially as a result of White and three other stars moving from the powerhouse Boston Red Stockings to the Chicago White Stockings. Although he was already 28 when the NL was established, White played 15 seasons in the major leagues, completing a 23-year career at the top levels of the sport. In 1871, White was the first batter to come to the plate in the National Association, the first professional baseball league. After compiling a .347 batting average over five NA seasons, he led the NL in runs batted in (RBI) in its first two seasons of play, and also led the league in batting (.387), slugging average, hits, triples and total bases in a brief shift to first base in 1877. In his mid-30s he became an effective third baseman when the toil of catching had become too great, and was a major force on the championship Detroit Wolverines team of 1887, batting .303 at age 39. Over the 20-year period from 1871 to 1890, White batted .312 and had more RBI (977) than any player except Cap Anson, and also ranked fourth in career games (1,560), at bats (6,624), hits (2,066) and total bases (2,595). He also ended his career ranking fourth in major league history in games (826) and total chances (3,016) at third base, fifth in assists (1,618), and sixth in putouts (954) and double plays (118). White will be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2013. Deacon White (3B, C, OF, 1871-1890) If the 19th century is your thing, White is a pretty strong candidate. A well-respected player (Bill James called him the most admirable star of the 1870s), White earned his nickname for going to church, something that apparently set him apart from most ballplayers of his time. A catcher early in his career he later moved to third base. He won two batting titles and rates as the best player in the National League in 1877, which I suppose is something. Steve
#2128	12/03/2012 6:31:00 pm		Ignore
Utah Dodgers Joined: 10/21/2012 Posts: 49 Inactive	Great story...

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