George Sisler

George Harold Sisler played 15 major league seasons, batted .340, and collected 2,812 hits. In 1920, he set the major league record with 257 hits in a single season, a mark that stood for 84 years until Ichiro Suzuki broke it with 262 in 2004. In 1922, he batted .420, won the American League MVP award, and put together a 41-game hitting streak, the longest in the American League until Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games in 1941. He played first base with a grace that prompted Ty Cobb to call him "the nearest thing to a perfect ballplayer" he had ever seen. Then a sinus infection destroyed his vision, and the player who came back was not the same one who had left.

Manchester, Ohio

Sisler was born in Manchester, Ohio, and grew up in Akron. He attended the University of Michigan, where he played both baseball and football and studied mechanical engineering. His college coach was Branch Rickey, who would later become one of the most important executives in baseball history. Rickey recognized Sisler's talent immediately and maintained a personal and professional connection with him for decades.

The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed they held rights to Sisler based on a minor league contract he had signed as a teenager, before attending college. The National Commission, baseball's governing body at the time, ruled the contract invalid because Sisler had been a minor when he signed it and his father had not consented. Sisler was declared a free agent and signed with the St. Louis Browns, where Rickey had become manager.

St. Louis

Sisler reached the Browns in 1915, initially as a pitcher. He pitched in several games that first season, including a 2-1 victory over Walter Johnson in which both men pitched complete games. Rickey soon moved him to first base, recognizing that Sisler's bat was too valuable to use every fifth day.

By 1917, Sisler was one of the best hitters in baseball. He batted .353 that year, .341 in 1918, and .352 in 1919. In 1920, he put together the greatest offensive season anyone had seen from a first baseman. He hit .407 with 257 hits, 49 doubles, 18 triples, and 19 home runs. He stole 42 bases. He led the American League in batting average and hits. His 257 hits broke the record of 248 that Ty Cobb had set in 1911.

Two years later, in 1922, he was even better at the plate. He batted .420, the highest average in the American League since Nap Lajoie hit .426 in 1901. He had 246 hits, 18 triples, and 51 stolen bases, and he put together the 41-game hitting streak. He won the American League MVP award.

The Eyes

Sisler missed the entire 1923 season with sinusitis that affected the optic nerves, causing severe double vision. He saw specialists across the country but could not find a permanent fix. When he returned in 1924, the double vision had subsided but his depth perception was permanently impaired. He could still hit, batting .305 in 1924, .345 in 1925, and .290 in 1926, but he was no longer the player who had hit .420. The difference was visible in his plate discipline and his ability to track breaking pitches.

He served as player-manager of the Browns from 1924 to 1926, compiling a record of 218-241. The Browns were a poorly funded team in a two-team city, and Sisler could not overcome the talent gap.

After 1927, the Browns sold him to the Washington Senators. He appeared in only 20 games before Washington sold him to the Boston Braves. He finished his career in Boston from 1928 through 1930, batting .340 in his first season, .326 in his second, and .309 in his final year.

After Baseball

Sisler scouted for the Brooklyn Dodgers and later the Pittsburgh Pirates after his playing career. Working for Branch Rickey again in Brooklyn, he helped evaluate talent during the early years of integration. He scouted Roberto Clemente for the Pirates, recommending the young Puerto Rican outfielder who would become one of the greatest players in the franchise's history.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939, receiving 235 of 274 votes (85.8 percent), the highest total in that year's class. He was inducted alongside fellow BBWAA electees Eddie Collins and Willie Keeler.

Sisler died on March 26, 1973, in Richmond Heights, Missouri, two days after his 80th birthday. His sons Dick and Dave both played in the major leagues. Dick hit the pennant-winning home run for the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies. George Sisler's 257 hits in 1920 remained the record for more than eight decades, and even after Ichiro Suzuki passed him, the achievement endured as the standard for an era when 154 games was a full season.