David Daniel Eggler (April 30, 1849 – April 5, 1902) was a

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), ...

center fielder. He was born in

Brooklyn, New York 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 ...

. Eggler's career began in the

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...

with the

New York Mutuals The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Ass ...

in , and was a member of the Mutuals when they joined the professional National Association in . He went on to play for the

Philadelphia White Stockings The Philadelphia White Stockings were an early professional baseball team. They were a member of the National Association from 1873 to 1875. Their home games were played at the Jefferson Street Grounds. They were managed by Fergy Malone, Jimmy ...

and

Athletic of Philadelphia Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...

in the NA. After the formation 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 ...

, Eggler remained with Philadelphia, then went on to play for the Chicago White Stockings,

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 ...

, and

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

before his career ended. Dave Eggler now holds an unfortunate record, as his 2,544 at-bats and 2,593

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

are the most by any player with 0 career home runs, statistically making him the game's least prolific home run hitter. However, because his career began before the formation of the modern National League, the record isn't universally recognized as Eggler's. Also, the rarity of the home run during his career means that his inability to hit one was understandable; in 1871 (the first year of his career), his entire league combined to hit 47 home runs - a single-season home run mark that has been equalled or surpassed by 62 different individuals a combined 107 times since then. He died after being hit by a

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

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1849 births 1902 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball center fielders Brooklyn Eckfords (NABBP) players New York Mutuals (NABBP) players New York Mutuals players Philadelphia White Stockings players Philadelphia Athletics (NA) players Philadelphia Athletics (NL) players Chicago White Stockings players Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Accidental deaths in New York (state) Railway accident deaths in the United States Philadelphia Athletic players Buffalo (minor league baseball) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Baseball players from New York (state) {{baseball-center-fielder-stub

See also

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