- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Detroit
- Team: Tigers
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Samuel Earl Crawford (1880-1968) needed a couple more weeks among his 19 ML seasons to reach 3000 hits, finishing with 2961 and the all-time record for triples. “Wahoo Sam” teamed with Ty Cobb for 3 straight Series appearances ‘07-09. Neither did well or won a title. Nevertheless, the renowned manager who made Babe Ruth an outfielder said there was never a better hitter than Crawford. This Nebraska farm kid was considered the strongest hitter of his day and consistently ranked in the top 10 in slugging.
- Playing in the big Deadball Era parks, speedy Crawford set the record for inside-the-park HRs
- Debuting with Cincinnati in 1899, Crawford hit .307 as the youngest player in the majors
- A model of moderation, he rarely struck out, walked or reacted to teammate Cobb’s tirades
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1957
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Indianapolis
- Team: Hoosiers (NL)
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Jesse “the Crab” Burkett (1868-1953) was a Hall of Fame outfielder from 1890 to 1905. Following Ed Delahanty, Burkett became the second major leaguer to hit .400 twice (‘95 &’96 for the Cleveland Spiders.) Led the NL with .376 in 1901 while with the St Louis Cardinals.
- Still holds MLB record for inside-the-park HRs with 55
- First West Virginian elected to Hall of Fame
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1946
- Jesse Burkett did not appear in the Old Judge series. This image is taken from a photo that appeared in The Sporting Times in February, 1890. Signed by Indianapolis as a young pitching phenom after the close of the 1889 season, Burkett would never pitch for the Hoosiers as the franchise folded before the 1890 season. Burkett then made his major league debut with the New York Giants in 1890 on a pitching staff that included Amos Rusie and Mickey Welch.
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Smiling Tim, Sir Timothy (1857-1933). A dominant pitcher for 5 teams over 14 seasons, Keefe’s 1st season was the last in which pitchers threw from 45′ & his last season was the 1st in which they threw from 60’6″. In an extraordinary career, Keefe won 20+ gms 7x; 30+ gms 6x; 40+ gms 2x; 200+ Ks 6x; 300+ Ks 2x; & posted lowest ERA in history: 0.86 in 1880.
- Won Triple Crown: 1888
- ERA Champ: ’80, ’85, ’88
- 342 career Wins
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1964
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Cardinals
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Miller James Huggins (1879-1929) played 2B for the Reds and Cards (1904-16), then managed the Cards and Yankees during the latter’s dominant decade, winning 6 AL pennants and 3 World Series. Despite a low-key style, Huggins shook up the NY roster, drawing heavily from the Red Sox and even reined in the mighty Babe, laying the groundwork for Murderers’ Row.
- Presided over consecutive World Series sweeps in 1927 & 28
- Following Huggins’ untimely death at age 50, all AL games were canceled in tribute
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1964
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Browns (AL)
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Wesley Branch Rickey (1881-1965) didn’t live to see his 1967 entrance into the Hall of Fame as one of the legends in baseball’s executive ranks, but he did see the legacy of his pioneering efforts to end decades of shameful discrimination in the sport he loved. In the year of his death, one in five MLB players was African American. In his half-century in the front office, Rickey invented the farm system and had one of the keenest eyes for talent.
- In WWI Rickey commanded a chemical warfare unit that included Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson
- Hired Allan Roth as the first team statistician in 1947, thus becoming an early progenitor of sabermetrics
- Jackie Robinson eulogized Rickey as having done more for African Americans than anyone but Abraham Lincoln
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1967
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