David Oldfield (December 18, 1864 – August 28, 1939) was an American

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

and

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 ...

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), ...

in 1883 and then from 1885 to 1886. He played with three teams during his three season career; first with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in 1883, then with the

Brooklyn Grays The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

from 1885 to 1886, and finally with the

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 ...

in 1886.

Career

Oldfield was born on December 18, 1864 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He began his professional baseball playing career with the Altoona, Pennsylvania representative of the Western Interstate League in 1883 at the age of 18. However, he played for the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

team in the

Interstate Association The Interstate Association was a minor league baseball league that played briefly in the 1906 season. The eight–team, Class C level Interstate Association consisted of franchises based in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The Interstate League playe ...

shortly thereafter, during which, he played a single game for the Baltimore Orioles of 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 ...

on June 28, 1883. He had no

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in four

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s while committing three errors and tallied five

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

s as the team's catcher. For the 1884 baseball season, he played for the Lancaster Ironsides of the Eastern League. He began the 1885 season with Lancaster, which later moved and became the

Baltimore Monumentals The Baltimore Monumentals were an American baseball team in the short-lived Union Association. In their lone season of 1884, they finished fourth in the UA with a 58–47 record. History The team was managed by Bill Henderson. Their top-hitting ...

. Oldfield then finished the year with the Brooklyn Grays of the American Association, and had a .320 batting average in 10

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. He stayed with Brooklyn through the beginning of the 1886 season, then later played for the Washington Nationals of 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 ...

. For the season, he had a .183 batting average in 35 games played while playing a catcher and in the outfield. Although Oldfield did not return to major league play again, he did play professionally in the International Association for several seasons, including the Oswego Starchboxes (1887), the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canucks (1887–1888), the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Hams (1889), the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Shamrocks (1890), and the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

(1890). He died at the age of 74 in his hometown of Philadelphia, and is interred at Oakland Cemetery.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldfield, Dave 1864 births 1939 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Philadelphia Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders Washington Nationals (1886–1889) players Brooklyn Grays players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Brooklyn Grays (Interstate Association) players Altoona (minor league baseball) players Lancaster Ironsides players Baltimore Monumentals (minor league) players Oswego Starchboxes players Toronto Canucks players Hamilton Hams players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Montreal (minor league baseball) players