William Smith O'Brien (March 14, 1860 – May 26, 1911) was an American

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), ...

player who played

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He was considered a "one-year wonder" and led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL) in

home run 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 ...

s in 1887.

Baseball career

O'Brien was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, in 1860. He started his professional baseball career in 1884 and spent most of the season with the St. Paul Apostles of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

."Billy O'Brien Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2021. In September, O'Brien made his major league debut in the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

, playing a total of 12 games for the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

and

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

."Billy O'Brien Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2021. He then played in the minor leagues in 1885 and 1886. In March 1887, O'Brien was acquired by the NL's

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. That season, he played 113 games,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.278 with 73

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 ...

(RBI) and a 126

OPS+ OPS may refer to: Organizations *Obscene Publications Squad, a former unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England * Oceanic Preservation Society *Office of Public Safety, a former US government agency * Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg ...

. He led the league in home runs, with 19. In 1888, O'Brien's play declined. He had a .225 batting average, 9 home runs, 66 RBI, and a 79 OPS+. In 1889, O'Brien played two games for the Nationals before being released in May. He spent the rest of the year with the Rochester Jingoes of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. O'Brien returned to the majors in 1890 with the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

's Brooklyn Gladiators. Just like in 1884, the addition of a third major league allowed him to receive playing time in the worst of the three circuits. In 96 games that season, O'Brien batted .278 with 4 home runs, 67 RBI, and a 121 OPS+. He played his last MLB game in August. O'Brien played for various minor league teams from 1891 to 1896 before retiring from professional baseball. His 1887 season with Washington remained his best in either the majors or minors. In 356 career MLB games, O'Brien had a .256 batting average, 32 home runs, 206 RBI, and a 107 OPS+. O'Brien died in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, in 1911.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Billy 1860 births 1911 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball first basemen National League home run champions St. Paul Saints (UA) players Kansas City Cowboys (UA) players Washington Nationals (1886–1889) players Brooklyn Gladiators players St. Paul Apostles players Kansas City Cowboys (minor league) players Memphis Reds players St. Paul Freezers players Nashville Americans players Rochester Jingoes players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Denver Mountaineers players Sioux City Corn Huskers players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players Nashville Tigers players Sioux City Cornhuskers players Omaha Omahogs players Denver (minor league baseball) players Lincoln Treeplanters players Jacksonville Jacks players Springfield, Illinois (minor league baseball) players Toledo Mud Hens players Baseball players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Albany, New York

Baseball career

See also

References

External links