Milton Parker Scott (January 17, 1861 – November 3, 1938), nicknamed "Mikado Milt", was an American professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

whose career spanned from 1882 to 1889. He appeared in 341

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), ...

games over four seasons as a

first baseman 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 ...

for the Chicago White Stockings (one game, 1882),

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

(148 games, 1884–85),

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

(55 games, 1885) 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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

(137 games, 1886). He compiled a .228

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 ...

with 42 doubles, 10

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 ...

, five

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, and 132

RBIs 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 ...

Early years

Scott was born in 1861 at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois. His father, William Scott, was an immigrant from Scotland who was employed as a commission merchant. His mother, Emily R. Scott, was an immigrant from Canada. At age 18, Scott "ran away" from

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

to play baseball at

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. The next year, he joined a semi-pro team owned by

Albert Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised ...

Career

Scott began his major league baseball career on September 30, 1882, appearing in a single game for

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 c ...

's Chicago White Stockings. He went two-for-five and scored a run in his only game for the team. Scott played the 1883 season in the minor leagues with the Fort Wayne Hoosiers 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 ...

. In January 1884, Scott was purchased from Fort Wayne by the

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 ...

. He returned to the major leagues as the Wolverines' starting first baseman and appeared in 110 games during the 1884 season. He had the best offensive year of his career with a .247 batting average, 17 doubles, five triples, three home runs, and 50 RBIs. Scott remained with the Wolverines for the first couple months of the 1885 season and hit .264 in 38 games. He was sold to the

in late June and hit .248 in 55 games for that team. In April 1886, the Alleghenys assigned Scott to the

. He was the Orioles' starting first baseman in 1886, appearing in 137 games at the position. However, his batting average dropped to .190, and he appeared in his final major league game on October 14, 1886, at age 25. Although his major league career ended in 1886, Scott continued to play in the minor leagues through the 1889 season, including stints with the LaCrosse Freezers of the

(player-manager, 1887),

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 ...

of the Western League (1887),

Chicago Maroons The Chicago Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray, and the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA Division III, mostly as ...

of the Western Association (1888), and Utica Braves of the New York State League (player-manager, 1889).

Nickname and later years

During his baseball career, Scott was also an expert handball player. He was nicknamed "Mikado Milt".

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

's ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', a satirical comic opera set in Japan, opened in March 1885; by February 1886, ''The Sporting Life'' reported that "the 'Mikado' craze has invaded base ball, and we hear of amateur 'Mikado' clubs in all directions." Scott was married in approximately 1886 to Mary (or May) Zell. In 1900, Scott and his wife were living in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Scott was employed at that time as a police telephone operator. By 1920 and still in 1930, Scott and his wife were living in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. Scott was employed in 1920 as an insurance solicitor and was not employed in 1930.Census entry for Milton P. Scott, age 68, born in Illinois. Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Baltimore, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: 861; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0271; Image: 441.0; FHL microfilm: 2340596. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Scott died in 1938 in Baltimore at age 77. He was buried at

Loudon Park Cemetery Loudon Park Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. It was incorporated on January 27, 1853, on of the site of the "Loudon" estate, previously owned by James Carey, a local merchant and politician. The entrance to the cemetery i ...

in Baltimore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Milt Major League Baseball first basemen Chicago White Stockings players Detroit Wolverines players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Fort Wayne Hoosiers players LaCrosse Freezers players Kansas City Cowboys (minor league) players Chicago Maroons players Utica Braves players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Chicago 1861 births 1938 deaths