John W. O'Rourke (August 23, 1849 – June 23, 1911) was an American 19th-century

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 te ...

. Between 1879 and 1883, 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 ...

with the

Boston Red Caps The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(1879–1880) and in the American Association for the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

(1883). A center fielder, O'Rourke batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. O'Rourke was the older brother of Jim O'Rourke, another major league baseball player. In a three-season career, O'Rourke posted a .295

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 11

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 98 RBI in 230 games. O'Rourke died in Boston, Massachusetts, at age 61.

Best season

*1879 – Led National League in slugging percentage (.521) and RBI (62), and finished fourth in the batting race with a .341 BA behind Paul Hines (.357), his younger brother Jim O'Rourke (.348), and

King Kelly Michael Joseph "King" Kelly (December 31, 1857 – November 8, 1894), also commonly known as "$10,000 Kelly", was an American outfielder, catcher, and manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League, Inter ...

(.348).

Sources

Baseball AlmanacBaseball Library
* 1849 births 1911 deaths Boston Red Caps players New York Metropolitans players National League RBI champions Major League Baseball center fielders Baseball players from Bridgeport, Connecticut Manchester (minor league baseball) players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players 19th-century baseball players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1840s-stub

Best season

See also

Sources