Bristol Robotham Lord (September 21, 1883 – November 13, 1964) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1905 to 1913 for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

, and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

. Lord is best known for a 1910 trade between Philadelphia and Cleveland in which he was exchanged for

Morrie Rath Morris Charles Rath (December 25, 1887 – November 18, 1945) was an American baseball player. He played second base in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox, and Cincinnati Reds. Rath was the ...

and

Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

, who became one of the best hitters in baseball history.

Career

Lord made his major league debut in 1905 with the Athletics, appearing in 66 games that season. He became known as "The Human Eyeball" because he was said to have great eyesight. However, in his first three seasons, Lord hit .239, .233, and .182. Because of this lack of progress, Athletics owner/manager

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

sent Lord to the New Orleans minor league team for the 1908 season. After Lord hit .314 for New Orleans, the Cleveland Naps purchased his contract in 1909, and Lord hit .269 in 69 games for Cleveland that year. Lord was traded from Cleveland back to the Philadelphia Athletics in July 1910 in exchange for infielder

and a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. Shoeless Joe Jackson had frustrated Athletics owner/manager Mack by not taking baseball seriously, so Mack sent Jackson to Cleveland as the player to be named later. Jackson had a .408

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 1911, and he finished his career with the third-highest batting average of all time. In 1911, Lord played in a career-high 134 games and had a .310 batting average. He finished 14th that year in the league's Most Valuable Player voting. He won the World Series with Philadelphia in 1910 and 1911, but he hit .182 and .185, respectively, in those World Series. Lord spent one more season with Philadelphia, playing in 97 games in 1912. He concluded his major league career the next season, playing in 73 games with the Boston Braves. In 742 games over eight seasons, Lord posted a .256 batting average (707-for-2767) with 380 runs, 119 doubles, 49

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 13

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 236

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, 74

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

and 175

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He finished his career with a .957

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

playing at all three outfield positions. In three World Series (1905, 1910, and 1911) covering 16 games, Lord hit .159 (11-for-69) with 5 runs and 4 runs batted in.

Later life

After his playing career, Lord managed several minor league teams as well as an amateur club in Upland, Pennsylvania. He owned a car dealership and a pool hall in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

, then worked at the Delaware County juvenile home in Upland before retiring in the mid-1950s. He had been a member of the Upland Fire Department and the Upland Baptist Church. Lord died in

Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Prince Frederick was 3,226, up from 2,538 in 2010. It is the county seat of Cal ...

on November 13, 1964. He was buried at Lawn Croft Cemetery in

Linwood, Pennsylvania Linwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,281 at the 2010 census. Geography Linwood is located in southern Delaware County at (39.825945, -75.422808). It occupies the easter ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Bris 1883 births 1964 deaths Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Boston Braves players Cleveland Naps players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers Memphis Chickasaws players Mobile Sea Gulls players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Philadelphia Athletics players Burials at Lawn Croft Cemetery Baseball players from Delaware County, Pennsylvania