Top 106 Baseball Players: #98 - Dan Brouthers

Dan Brouthers

Dan Brouthers was known as the first great slugger in baseball, and he is one of just a handful of players from the 19th century to make this list, due to having 12 straight seasons of leading the league in at least one major statistical category.

As was the case with most players back then, Brouthers' career was very nomadic. He played for 10 different teams in his 19 seasons, with his longest tenure in one city just 5 years, which ended when the Buffalo Bisons folded following the 1885 season.

That stretch in Buffalo was the best of his career, as he led the league in slugging percentage all 5 years, while also leading in batting average and hits twice, and triples, homers, and RBI's once each. He reached his peak batting average of .374 in 1883, and he never hit below .300 in his career.

After Buffalo folded, he was sold to the Detroit Wolverines, where he led the league in doubles 3 straight years, along with slugging percentage and runs scored twice and home runs once. In 1887 the first "World Series" was played, but it was just an exhibition series between the top 2 teams and wasn't considered to be of any importance, and Brouthers appeared in just one of the 15 games.

Detroit folded after the 1888 season, and he was purchased by the Boston Beaneaters, where he led the league in batting average and times hit by a pitch (14), but he left after the season to form a new league with many other players who had just formed the first-ever baseball players union, of which he had been voted vice president.

The new league lasted just two seasons, and he returned to the NL with the Brooklyn Grooms, where he had his best individual season. He led the league with 197 hits, a .335 average, 124 RBI's, and 282 total bases, and probably would have won the MVP if it existed at that point.

Even more than 100 years later, he is still #8 all time in triples, and his career batting average of .342 ranks ninth among all players. He was the all-time leader in home runs from 1887-1889, a distinction held by only 10 players in history. When the old-timers committee was created for the Hall of Fame, he was in the first class elected by that group, and there is no doubt that it was well deserved.