Louis Richard (Steve) Evans (February 17, 1885 – December 28, 1943) was a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

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), ...

. He played in 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) for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1908) and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

(1910–13), and in the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

(FL) for the

Brooklyn Tip-Tops The Brooklyn Tip-Tops were a team in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915. The team's name came from Tip Top Bread, a product of Ward Baking Company, which was also owned by team owner Robert Ward. They were so ...

(1914–15) and

Baltimore Terrapins The Baltimore Terrapins were one of the most successful teams in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from to , but their brief existence led to litigation that led to an important legal precedent in baseball. The team played i ...

(1915). Evans batted and threw left-handed.

Early life

Evans was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He was known as Steve, but the origins of that nickname are unclear. Evans entered professional baseball in 1907 with Dayton of the Class-B Central League.

Major league career

Evans made the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1908, but he played in only two games. He spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, serving as their starting right fielder from 1909 to 1913. He jumped to the FL for 1914 and 1915, which were his last two seasons in the major leagues. He led the FL in

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 ...

(15) in 1914 and in doubles (34) in 1915. In an eight-season major league career, Evans posted a .287

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 32

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 466 RBI in 978

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 added 478 runs, 963

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 ...

, 175 doubles, 67 triples and 86

stolen base 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 ...

s. He led the NL in being hit by pitched balls each year from 1910 to 1912, setting a single-season record of 31 in 1910 that stood for 61 years before it was broken by

Ron Hunt Ronald Kenneth Hunt (born February 23, 1941) is a former professional baseball second baseman. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1974 for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos and ...

. He also set the record for being hit by a pitch in a single game, being hit three times in a game against Brooklyn. Evans was known as a jokester on the baseball field. Sportswriter

Fred Lieb Frederick George Lieb (March 5, 1888 – June 3, 1980) was an American sportswriter and baseball historian. Lieb published his memoirs in 1977, which documented his nearly 70 years as a baseball reporter. He received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award ...

said that Evans was "one of baseball's delightful screwballs". During one game, he took the field holding a parasol, then sat on a stool before lighting a cigarette. Evans's demeanor may have irritated Giants manager

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

in 1908 and contributed to Evans's short stay in New York. However, when McGraw assembled a team for a 1913-1914 baseball world tour, he invited Evans to play. Another baseball cutup,

Germany Schaefer Herman A. "Germany" Schaefer (February 4, 1876 – May 16, 1919) was a second baseman, first baseman and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played 15 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Newark Pepper, New ...

, also joined that team, and McGraw may have invited them for their ability to charm the fans and relax their teammates.

Death

Evans died at home in Cleveland in December 1943.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Steve 1885 births 1943 deaths Baltimore Terrapins players Brooklyn Tip-Tops players New York Giants (NL) players St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball right fielders Baseball players from Cleveland Dayton Veterans players Montreal Royals players Toledo Iron Men players

Early life

Major league career

Death

See also

References

External links