Abner Frank Dalrymple (September 9, 1857 – January 25, 1939) was an American

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

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), ...

who hit 43

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 (including 22 in 1884, the second-highest total to that date) and batted .288 with 407 RBI during his 12-season career spent primarily with the Chicago White Stockings. Born in

Gratiot, Wisconsin Gratiot is a village in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 236 at the 2010 census. The village is surrounded by the Town of Gratiot. History The village was named after Henry Gratiot, a French-American trader and In ...

, he played for the

Milwaukee Grays The Milwaukee Grays were a short-lived baseball team that spent one year, 1878, in the National League. The team was part of the League Alliance, loosely affiliated with the National League, in 1877. It won 19 games and lost 13 (including a 10� ...

, White Stockings,

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 ...

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. Dalrymple started his major league career in 1878 with 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 ...

's Milwaukee Grays, and that season, he had a career-high .354 batting average. He spent the next eight seasons with the Chicago White Stockings, for whom he starred as the leadoff hitter on five NL pennant winners. In 1880, Dalrymple led the league in hits (126) and

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

(91). In 1881, he became the first batter known to be given an

intentional walk In baseball, an intentional base on balls, usually referred to as an intentional walk and denoted in baseball scorekeeping by ''IBB'', is a walk issued to a batter by a pitcher with the intent of removing the batter's opportunity to swing at the ...

with the bases loaded. He hit four doubles in a game in 1883, which still ties him for the major league record. In 1884, aided by the short right field fence at his home park, Dalrymple hit a career-high 22 home runs and moved into sixth place on the all-time home run list. On the strength of 11 home runs for the 1885 champions, he moved up one place. For the remainder of his career, he hit only six home runs. His hitting declined in 1886, and his major league career ended five years later. Dalrymple died in

Warren, Illinois Warren is a village in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2020 census, down from 1,428 at the 2010 census. Warren was named after Warren Burnett, the first male child born at the site. History Captain Ale ...

at age 81.

Disputed 1878 NL batting title

Dalrymple is sometimes cited as one of only three players in MLB history to win a

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

during his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season, a feat which he accomplished in

1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Battle o ...

. (The other two were

Tony Oliva Tony Pedro Oliva (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter for the Minneso ...

, in 1964, and Ichiro, in 2001.) However, Dalrymple's claim to leading the league in hitting in 1878 has since been disputed–– even though the National League initially awarded him the batting crown for that year, further research has suggested that

Paul Hines Paul Aloysius Hines (March 1, 1855 – July 10, 1935) was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. Born in Virginia, he is credited with winning baseb ...

actually had a higher batting average that season (.358 to Dalrymple's .354), once one accounts for hits that were made in tie ballgames (at the time, statistics from tie games weren't counted).

References

External links

, o

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalrymple, Abner 1857 births 1939 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Wisconsin National League home run champions Major League Baseball left fielders Milwaukee Grays players Chicago White Stockings players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Milwaukee Brewers (AA) players Milwaukee (minor league baseball) players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Denver Mountaineers players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Milwaukee Creams players Spokane Bunchgrassers players Macon Central City players Macon Hornets players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players Minneapolis Minnies players Evansville Black Birds players People from Gratiot, Wisconsin People from Warren, Illinois

Disputed 1878 NL batting title

See also

References

Further reading

External links