William Robert Hamilton (February 16, 1866 – December 15, 1940), nicknamed Sliding Billy, was an American professional

baseball 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 t ...

player in

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 (A ...

(MLB) during the 19th-century. He played for the Kansas City Cowboys,

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

between 1888 and 1901. Hamilton won 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) batting title twice and led the NL in

stolen bases 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 ...

five times, eclipsing 100 on four occasions. He hit over .400 in 1894 and set the major league record for runs scored in a season with 198. His 914 stolen bases ranks third all time. A career .344 hitter, he was elected to the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

in 1961 via the Veterans Committee.

Early life

Hamilton was born on February 16, 1866 in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. His parents, Samuel and Mary Hamilton, had emigrated to New Jersey from Ireland. According to biographer Roy Kerr, there is evidence to suggest Hamilton was descended from the

Ulster Scots people The Ulster Scots ( Ulster-Scots: ''Ulstèr-Scotch''; ga, Albanaigh Ultach), also called Ulster Scots people (''Ulstèr-Scotch fowk'') or (in North America) Scotch-Irish (''Scotch-Airisch''), are an ethnic group in Ireland, who speak an Ul ...

. (As an adult, Hamilton was known to proudly proclaim his Scottish ancestry.) When Hamilton was a small child, his family moved to

Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massa ...

. Kerr, Roy, pp. 38-39 He worked in a Clinton cotton mill as a young teenager. Kerr, Roy, pp. 40

Professional career

Hamilton broke into the major leagues in 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 ...

with the Kansas City Cowboys in 1888. He established himself as a star the following season by

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

.301 with 144 runs and 111

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 o ...

s. In 1890, the Cowboys, who were ceasing operations, sold Hamilton to the

. The next year he led the NL in batting average (.340), runs scored (141) and hits (179). For a third consecutive season, Hamilton led the NL in stolen bases. In 1892, Hamilton hit both a leadoff and game-ending home run in the same game. Only

Vic Power Victor Felipe Pellot (November 1, 1927November 29, 2005), also known professionally as Vic Power, was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican professional baseball first baseman. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athl ...

(1957),

Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (; born June 4, 1974) is an American former professional baseball player and the former head coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball team. Erstad spent most of his playing career with the Los Angeles Angel ...

(2000), Reed Johnson (2003) and Ian Kinsler (2009) have accomplished the same feat. He hit .380 in 1893, which led the major leagues. Philadelphia outfielders Hamilton,

Sam Thompson Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922) was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known ...

Ed Delahanty Edward James Delahanty (October 30, 1867 – July 2, 1903), nicknamed "Big Ed", was an American professional baseball player, who spent his Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers, Cleveland Infants, Philadel ...

and

Tuck Turner George A. Turner (February 13, 1867 – July 16, 1945) was an American Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Browns. Career Born in West New Brighton, Staten Island, Turner began his baseball career as a paid ...

all hit over .400 in 1894. That year Hamilton set the all-time standard for most runs scored in a season (198); since then,

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

has come closest to Hamilton in runs scored, with 177 in 1921, setting the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

and modern MLB record. Hamilton also set the record for most stolen bases in one game, with seven on August 31, 1894. He set the record for most consecutive games scoring one or more runs, with 35 runs in 24 games in July–August 1894. Hamilton led the league in steals for a fifth time in 1895. In 1896, Hamilton moved to Boston, for whom he played his final six seasons. Although his numbers declined, Hamilton still scored over 100 runs in all but two of those seasons. Hamilton retired after the 1901 season. Over his career he compiled 912 (or 937; see this article's "legacy" section) stolen bases, a .344 batting average and 1690 runs in 1591 games; he is one of only three players to average more than a run per game played. His .455 career

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

ranks fourth all-time behind

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

and

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 189 ...

, and his 912 stolen bases ranks third behind

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

and

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis ...

. He is the Philadelphia Phillies career leader in batting average (.361), on-base percentage (.468) and stolen bases (508). He holds Phillies single-season records for on-base percentage (.523 in 1894), runs (196 in 1894), stolen bases (111 in 1891) and times on base (355 in 1894).

Legacy

Though stolen bases were credited differently during Hamilton's career than they are in modern times, he was very proud of his stolen base marks. In 1937, Hamilton lambasted the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' in a letter he wrote to them, stating, "I was and will be the greatest base stealer of all time. I stole over 100 bases on many years and if they ever re-count the record I will get my just reward."

Later life

After his playing days ended, Hamilton managed several minor league teams in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and served as a scout with the Boston Nationals. Hamilton died on December 15, 1940, at his home at 6 Lucian Street in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

. He was survived by his wife Rebecca (Carr) Hamilton, four daughters and two grandchildren. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961.

Notes

* His career steals total differs, based on the source. Hamilton's plaque in the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

credits him with 937 steals, while MLB.com credits him with 912 stealsMLB.com Hamilton stats
/ref> and Baseball Reference.com credits him with 914 steals. * While most sources list this date of birth, biographer Roy Kerr writes that Newark archives suggest a date of birth of February 15, 1866.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Billy National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees National League batting champions National League stolen base champions Kansas City Cowboys players Philadelphia Phillies players Boston Beaneaters players 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball center fielders Baseball players from Newark, New Jersey Minor league baseball managers Waterbury Brass Citys players Worcester Grays players Haverhill Hustlers players Harrisburg Senators players Lynn Shoemakers players 1866 births 1940 deaths Player-coaches