- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Omaha
- Team: Omahogs
- League: Western Association
John Atkinson Leighton (1861-1956) enjoyed a lengthy baseball career from 1887 through 1901, but his only major league stint was for the Syracuse Stars of the American Association in 1890. He played in seven games and batted .296 while playing the outfield. A long-lived Massachusetts native, Leighton was considered the oldest living player until his death, whereupon he was succeeded in that status by Dummy Hoy. Leighton was part of the Stars’ only ML season. He was a teammate of their top hitter, Cupid Childs and their ace Dan Casey on the mound.
- Leighton appeared in the Old Judge series as a CF for the Omaha Omahogs, but there is no reference to him on the team’s roster
- Leighton did play for Syracuse and Providence in the International League and Lewiston in the New England League
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Browns (AA)
- League: American Association
Walter Arlington Latham (1860-1952). Nicknamed “The Freshest Man on Earth” for his comedic personality, Latham was a 3rd baseman for 6 teams over 17 seasons & is credited as the 1st full-time base coach in history. Latham’s antics of distraction while coaching 3rd base inspired Major League Baseball to implement the coaching box.
- At age 49, became the oldest player to steal a base
- Ranks 8th all-time in SBs: 739
- Holds career record for errors at 3rd base: 822
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Athletics (AA)
- League: American Association
Henry E. Larkin (1860-1942). A good first baseman and an excellent hitter for 3 teams over 10 professional seasons, Larkin retired with a .303 lifetime batting average. Larkin batted over .300 6 times in his career and retired with an OPS+ of 142. His best season may have been 1890, when he hit .330, scored 93 runs and knocked in another 112 with an OPS of .901.
- Hit for the cycle: 1885
- Hit 4 doubles in one game – a record tied many times but never broken
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
George Edward Lewis (1888-1979) turned 18 on April 18, 1906 and thought he’d never see 19. His home town of San Francisco was rocked by quake and fire but Lewis survived to play college and minor league ball before Boston Red Sox owner John Taylor trekked all the way to the coast to personally sign this promising youngster. Lewis didn’t endear himself to his teammates in 1910 — too pushy for a rookie, didn’t defer to Speaker, Hooper, et. al. But his bat justified his cockiness and Lewis quickly emerged as one of Boston’s finest. Long before the Green Monster, eternally quirky Fenway sported an incline up to the left field fence. No one mastered that terrain like Lewis and the geography became “Duffy’s Cliff.” Went on to anchor left for perhaps the best defensive outfield ever. Three Series’ titles and league leadership in most hitting categories followed.
- Witness to the Babe’s first and last HRs, the final while coaching the Braves (1931-35)
- Proudly recounted the time he pinch hit for Ruth, 7/11/14, and won the game
- Only member of the famed OF trio not to be inducted into the Hall
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
Hubert Benjamin Leonard (1892-1952) helped pitch Boston to two world titles (1915 & ‘16) after establishing the modern record for single-season ERA in 1914 (0.96). The brilliant left-hander came out of the Western League to the Red Sox in 1913 and immediately stepped into controversy, a state that would continue throughout his ML career. He continually sparred with management over salary and famously feuded with the snarling Tiger, Ty Cobb. Enmity began over a pitch to Cobb’s ribs and overshadowed Leonard’s final years as a Detroit player. Upon forced retirement, Leonard stirred one of baseball’s biggest scandals by accusing Cobb and Tris Speaker of fixing a 1919 contest, a case thrown out of court. If the love of money drove the Dutchman during his baseball days, he finally realized his dream of wealth as a prominent California rancher and vintner, building a two million-dollar estate.
- Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans never showed Dutch any love, berating his miserable attitude and calling him “gutless”
- Leonard hurled two no-hitters for the Sox: 1916 against the Browns and ’18 versus the Tigers
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