John Phillip Peters (April 8, 1850 – January 4, 1924) was a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

who played 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 (AL), ...

with four clubs from through . Peters batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

He was born in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Peters reached the majors in 1874 with the Chicago White Stockings ( NA/ NL), spending four years with them before moving to 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� ...

(NL, 1878), again with Chicago (NL, 1879), and the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leag ...

(NL, 1880),

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

(NL, 1881) and

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 ...

(NL, 1882–1884). He was the everyday shortstop of the pennant-winning 1876 Chicago White Stockings in the very first year of the National League. Peters averaged .328 from 1876 to 1878, with a career-high .351 in the 1876 championship season to finish fourth in the National League batting title behind

Ross Barnes Charles Roscoe Barnes (May 8, 1850 – February 5, 1915) was one of the stars of baseball's National Association (1871–1875) and the early National League (1876–1881), playing second base and shortstop. He played for the dominant Boston R ...

(.429), George Hall (.366) and

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 ...

(.356). He also twice led the shortstops in putouts in 1879 (280) and 1890 (277). While in Chicago, Peters shared infield defense duties with first basemen

Cal McVey Calvin Alexander McVey (August 30, 1849 – August 20, 1926) was an American professional baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. McVey's importance to the game stems from his play on two of the earliest professional baseball teams, the origin ...

and

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 ...

; 2B

, 3B

, and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

and

as well. In 1881, with Buffalo, he again played on a team that featured early stars as

Davy Force David W. "Davy" Force (July 27, 1849 – June 21, 1918) was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. From 1871 through 1886, he played in the National Association with the Washington Olympics (1871), Troy Haymakers (1872), Baltimore Canaries (18 ...

(IF),

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , wh ...

(1B) and Jim O'Rourke ( OF). In an 11-season career, Peters was a .278 hitter (748-for-2695) with three

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 249 RBI in 615 games, including 372 runs, 92 doubles, 12 triples, and 14 stolen bases. He died in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, at the age of 73.

External links

''Baseball Reference''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, John Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Chicago White Stockings players Milwaukee Grays players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Providence Grays players Major League Baseball shortstops 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Louisiana 1850 births 1924 deaths Springfield, Illinois (minor league baseball) players Stillwater (minor league baseball) players