Dan Brouthers

Dennis Joseph Brouthers stood six feet two inches and weighed 207 pounds at a time when most ballplayers barely topped five-nine. They called him Big Dan, and occasionally Jumbo, after P.T. Barnum's famous elephant. He hit like something out of proportion too. His .342 career batting average ties Babe Ruth on the all-time list. His .520 career slugging percentage was the major league record until Ruth surpassed it in the early 1920s. He won five batting titles, the most of any player in the 19th century, and hit .300 or better in every full season he played. He was, by consensus, baseball's first great slugger.

Wappingers Falls

Brouthers was born in Sylvan Lake, New York, and grew up in Wappingers Falls, a small town along the Hudson River. He was the son of Irish immigrants and went by a different surname in childhood; the family name evolved from Brooder to Brouthers over time. He began playing semipro ball in his late teens, and on July 7, 1877, an event nearly ended his career before it began. During a game for the Actives of Wappingers Falls, Brouthers collided at home plate with catcher Johnny Quigley. His knee struck Quigley's head and fractured his skull. Quigley died of his injuries on August 12. Brouthers was cleared of wrongdoing, but the incident weighed on him.

He reached the major leagues in 1879 with the Troy Trojans, then moved to the Buffalo Bisons, where his career took shape. In Buffalo he led the National League in batting average in 1882 (.368) and 1883 (.374), establishing himself as the most dangerous hitter in the game.

The Big Four and Detroit

When the Buffalo franchise folded after the 1885 season, Brouthers and three teammates, Hardy Richardson, Jack Rowe, and Deacon White, were sold as a package to the Detroit Wolverines for $7,000. The press called them the Big Four. The transfer transformed Detroit into a contender, and in 1887 the Wolverines won the World Series over the St. Louis Browns, ten games to five.

Brouthers hit left-handed and swung a bat that measured 41.5 inches and weighed 38 ounces, substantially heavier than modern lumber. He drove the ball to all fields with unusual force. In 1886 he hit three home runs in a single game against Chicago, one of only eleven instances of a three-homer game during the entire 19th century. He briefly held the career home run record from 1887 to 1889.

Boston, Brooklyn, Baltimore

Brouthers moved to the Boston Beaneaters in 1889, won his third batting title (.373), and then joined the Players League rebellion of 1890. The Players League was organized by ballplayers themselves in revolt against the reserve clause and exploitative owner practices. Brouthers played first base for the Boston Reds, sharing the roster with Old Hoss Radbourn and King Kelly, and the team won the Players League pennant.

When the Players League collapsed after one season, Brouthers landed with the Boston Reds in the American Association, where he won his fourth batting title (.350) in 1891. He then spent two seasons with the Brooklyn Grooms, winning his fifth batting title (.335) in 1892, before arriving in Baltimore.

The 1894 Baltimore Orioles remain one of the legendary teams in baseball history. Every starter hit .300 or better. The roster held six future Hall of Famers, among them John McGraw, Willie Keeler, Hughie Jennings, and Brouthers himself. Brouthers hit .347 with 128 RBI. He was 36 years old and still productive, but his body was beginning to slow.

The Polo Grounds Night Watchman

Brouthers played his last regular major league season in 1896 with the Philadelphia Phillies, then spent several years in the minor leagues before a brief return. In October 1904, John McGraw honored his old teammate by putting the 46-year-old Brouthers on the New York Giants roster for the final two games of the season. It was a gesture of respect for a man who had been the most feared hitter in the country a generation earlier.

McGraw then kept Brouthers employed at the Polo Grounds for nearly two decades. Brouthers served as a scout (Sporting Life called him the Giants' "chief scout" in 1907), a ticket taker at the press gate, and eventually a night watchman. Among the players he scouted were first baseman Fred Merkle and second baseman Larry Doyle. In the evenings after games, McGraw, Brouthers, and fellow ex-player Amos Rusie would sit together and talk about the old days.

Brouthers died of a heart attack on August 2, 1932, in East Orange, New Jersey, at 74. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Old Timers Committee. In 1971, Wappingers Falls dedicated a field and a monument in his honor. His slugging records had long since fallen to Ruth, but his .342 average still ranks among the highest in history, and his five batting titles stood as the 19th century's best for more than a hundred years.