Delos Drake

Delos Daniel “Del” Drake was born on December 3, 1886, in Girard, Ohio, to William H. Drake, a dentist, and Mary E. (Schuck) Drake. A younger brother, William, died in infancy. Dr. Drake was credited for his son’s athletic prowess, and one article discovered by the author makes the claim, which the author has been unable to verify, that Dr. Drake was a member of one of Cap Anson’s Chicago teams of the early 1880s.1 Del’s grandfather, Dr. Warren Wright Drake, was a physician. His obituary states that he was intensely interested in athletics and that he preached the gospel of muscular activity and the creed of deep breathing exercises and right living.2 In 1888 William and Warren Drake moved their family to Findlay, Ohio, and set up practice there. At that time, Findlay was a thriving boom town following the discovery of natural gas there in 1886.

Del’s interest in baseball was greatly influenced by his father. William Drake owned a local semipro baseball team, the Findlay Sluggers, and Del was the team’s batboy. The outstanding black baseball player of the 1890s and early 1900s Grant “Home Run” Johnson, played on the Sluggers in 1893 and 1894. Bud Fowler, another noted early black baseball player and manager, also was a member of the 1894 Sluggers. Del and Grant Johnson became lifelong friends. Johnson, who worked as a porter on a Pullman car for many years after his playing days were over, would visit Del in Findlay when the train Johnson was working on stopped for a layover.3 A team photograph of the 1894 Sluggers has been on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 1997, when it was the first item a visitor encountered as he entered the exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the integration of major-league baseball. The photograph is historically significant because several of the team’s white players are in the photograph. In those days, it was a rarity for white ballplayers to be photographed with black teammates.

Del displayed excellent hand-eye coordination as a youth. The reverse side of a photograph taken of him in 1901 at age 14 bears the inscription “champion 14 year old trap-shot of Ohio.”4

Del developed a reputation as a baseball phenom at an early age. One newspaper article refers to a game Del played as a “ringer” for Findlay College when he was only 15 years old in 1902, in which he rapped out five doubles. A photo of the Findlay Elks Lodge baseball team in 1902 shows that he was several years younger than his teammates. There is no record of Del attending Findlay High School after his sophomore year. With the blessing of his father and grandfather, a dentist and physician, respectively, Del Drake ended his formal education after his sophomore year in high school in 1902 so that he could cast his lot as a professional baseball player.

Del’s first team was the semipro Findlay Independent team. Some would say his professional career got off to a somewhat rocky start. Playing baseball on the Sabbath was outlawed by local ordinance in many communities in those days. Such was the case in Findlay, where it was strictly enforced. Consequently, the Findlay team began playing its Sunday games in Arcadia, a village seven miles east of town. The Sunday games began affecting attendance at church services in Arcadia. The local clergy prevailed upon the mayor to do something about it.

On Sunday, June 21, 1903, Del and eight other players, along with William Drake, the team’s owner, were arrested, and criminal charges were filed against them in Mayor’s Court in Arcadia for playing ball on Sunday. Bond for those 10 was set by the mayor at $200, which was posted by Del’s father and grandfather. The front-page headline about the incident in the Morning Republican the next day proclaimed, “George Bailey Throws Constable Johnson Off Reeves Park Grounds.”5 Once tensions died down, the case was resolved on July 1 by the arrestees paying a fine of one cent each.6 Thus began Del Drake’s slow and frustrating climb up the ladder toward the major leagues.

Del was first drafted by Detroit in 1903. For several years during the first decade of the 1900s, he would stay in shape in the offseason by doing a lot of hunting in the fall on the farms and in the woods outside Findlay, and by working on a ranch in Arizona in the winter months.7 Newspaper articles about his baseball exploits referred to him as “Cowboy Del Drake” and “the Cowboy,” and had photos of him in full cowboy attire.8 During one of his stays in Arizona, he was tossed from a horse and broke his leg. One newspaper article claimed that the Tigers were ready to give Del a shot at making the parent club in 1908, but decided not to after the leg injury.

In 1904 Del played outfield for the Massillon, Ohio, team in the Ohio and Pennsylvania League. In 1905 he played for Massillon again until the club folded. He then played for the Niles, Ohio, team in the Protective Association until he suffered a broken leg, according to one newspaper account.9 In 1906 he played for Newark, Ohio, in the same league. He had a poor year in 1906, batting only .220 in 129 games, perhaps due to the broken leg. According to one newspaper article, Del and the manager of Newark did not get along.

A senseless tragedy had befallen his father in 1906. William Drake was in the prime of his life – 43 years old, a successful dentist, and in robust health. In March of that year, he presented himself for initiation into the Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal order that was the predecessor of today’s large insurance company. The initiation rite required that his arms and legs be tied to his seat, similar to a pommel horse, which was secured to the inside of a large metal wheel. This wheel was rolled around the lodge while William Drake was astride the seat with his legs tied underneath it. In the process, William Drake’s back was broken, he became paralyzed and blind, and he never worked another day the rest of his life.10

In 1907 Del moved on to Marion (Ohio) in the Ohio and Pennsylvania League, where he returned to form, batting .301 in 139 games. He started the 1908 season with Newark, New Jersey, of the Eastern League, but finished the season with Johnstown (Pennsylvania) of the Tri-State League. He played in 47 games and batted .291 for Johnstown.

Drake played for the Wilkes-Barre Barons in the New York State League in 1909 and 1910. The Barons won the pennant both years, and Del was presented with a gold pocket watch commemorating the two championship seasons. He led the Barons in batting in 1909 with an average of .345 in 143 games.11

Del went again with the Tigers to spring training in San Antonio in 1910. While there, he hit 10 home runs for the Tigers, while Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford both held out for more money and stayed away. An article in the Detroit Free Press was headlined: “Del Drake’s Daily Home Run Puts the Texans Out of It.”12 Despite his fine showing, the Tigers farmed Del out to Wilkes-Barre again for the entire 1910 season.

In 1910 Del nearly matched his prowess at the plate for the previous season, batting .340 in 122 games. On September 4 he became ill with what was initially diagnosed as typhoid fever. He was taken to Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where he was cared for by a nurse named Catherine Loftus.13 Catherine was smitten by the star center fielder for the Barons. However, she was disappointed to learn from a review of his chart that she was nearly two years older than Del. It was natural for her to think that the Barons outfielder would be far less interested in her if he knew that. So when Del began asking questions, she told him her birthdate was January 20, 1889. (The actual birthdate was January 20, 1885.)

After a 13-month courtship, Catherine and Del were married at Sacred Heart Church in Plains, Pennsylvania, on October 17, 1911. She lived the lie about her age the rest of her life, always claiming that the 1885 date on her birth certificate was a mistake. Del did not find out that he had married an older woman until he went to the Social Security office in January 1954 to apply for benefits for his wife, who by then was an invalid. The employee who assisted Del asked him why he had not come in four years earlier, when his wife turned 65. He was not at all happy that he had been fooled. He went straight to his son Bob’s law office and told him what he had discovered. Del was upset, while Bob just laughed. Del then went home and confronted Catherine about it, but she steadfastly insisted whenever she was asked that she was two years younger than Del.14

After two outstanding seasons in Wilkes-Barre, Del Drake’s dream of playing major-league baseball was finally realized with the Tigers. His first appearance in a major-league game was on April 30, 1911, against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians led 4-1 as the game headed to the bottom of the ninth inning. The Tigers mounted a ferocious rally that was chronicled in an article in the July 1912 issue of Everybody’s Magazine, a widely read journal of the day.15 Del entered the game in the ninth inning as a pinch-hitter and singled to left field, keeping the rally alive. The Tigers scored four runs and won, 5-4.

His first run batted in came in a 13-11 home loss to the Boston Red Sox on May 13. On May 14 and 16, in victories over the Red Sox, Del drove in one run in each game.

Except when he was stationed at first base, Del, a 24-year-old rookie who stood 5-feet-11 and was listed at 170 pounds, had the thrill of sharing the Tigers outfield with two future Hall of Famers, Ty Cobb and the leading slugger of the Deadball Era, Wahoo Sam Crawford. Del played left field in 76 games. The Tigers had won the American League pennant each year from 1907 to 1909, but that string was broken by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1910, when the A’s went 102-48 and finished 18 games ahead of the third-place Tigers. The Tigers started the 1911 season by winning 30 of their first 40 games. After their torrid start, their pitching failed them and they won only 59 of their last 114 games, finishing second, 13½ games behind the A’s.

Del’s first major-league home run was a solo homer on July 7 at Bennett Park against the visiting Washington Senators.

Another highlight for Del during the 1911 season was a triple play he started in a game against the White Sox on September 9. In the fourth inning, Marty Berghammer was on first base and Ping Bodie was on second with no outs. Lee Tannehill hit a line drive to left field and Del snagged it. Both runners took off at the crack of the bat, thinking the ball would not be caught. After making the catch, Del fired to Donie Bush at second base to double up Bodie, and Bush threw to Del Gainer at first to complete the triple play. This was the third triple play the Tigers had executed during the 1911 season.

Del, who was the only Tigers position player to throw left-handed and bat right-handed until Mark Carreon played with Detroit in 1992, platooned with veteran outfielder Davy Jones in 1911.16 His statistics for 1911 were respectable for a rookie. He played in 95 games, batted .279 in 315 at-bats, and had 88 hits, 9 doubles, 9 triples, one home run, and 36 RBIs. That season, Ty Cobb posted his highest batting average ever – .419 – and Sam Crawford batted .378. The Tigers also had minor leaguer Bobby Veach waiting in the wings.

The next season, Veach and others replaced Del as the platoon outfielder, with Veach batting .342 in 23 games, a nice start to a superb 14-year career, mostly for Detroit. Davy Jones also posted solid numbers in 1911 and 1912 for Detroit, batting .273 in 98 games in 1911, and .294 in 99 games in 1912.

Despite a respectable season in the Tigers’ outfield in 1911, the 1912 season found Del back in the minors, this time with Providence of the International League. He played in 122 games for Providence, collecting 139 hits, 21 doubles, 13 triples, 4 home runs, and 5 stolen bases, and batted .292. His salary was $2,500. His reported salary at Kansas City for 1912 and 1913 was $1,980.

Del was traded to Kansas City of the American Association late in the 1912 season and batted .343 for the Blues in 27 games. After his two great seasons in Wilkes-Barre in 1909 and 1910, a respectable rookie season in Detroit in 1911, and a solid 1912 season in Providence and Kansas City, Del was no doubt frustrated by the “one and done” treatment he had received from the Tigers. He played in 154 games for the Blues in 1913, but his batting average dipped to .267. Time was running out on his career. The reserve clause was his master. Prior to 1914, he could not escape it. Rather than stay in Kansas City for another season, he jumped to the Federal League for 1914.

Del played in 138 games for the eighth-place St. Louis Terriers in 1914. He played 70 games in left field, 35 in center, and 18 games at first base. He had 514 at-bats, 129 hits, 18 doubles, 8 triples, 3 home runs, and 42 runs batted in. His batting average was .251. In 1915 the Terriers improved to second place with a record of 87 wins and 67 losses, a half-game behind the Chicago Whales (88-66). Del played in 102 games in 1915, all but one in the outfield, with 343 at-bats, 91 hits, 23 doubles, 4 triples, one home run, 41 RBIs, and a batting average of .265.

After the collapse of the Federal League following the 1915 season, Del signed with Wilkes-Barre in 1916 for another return to the New York State League. He played in 118 games and batted .272. In 1917 he played for neighboring Scranton of the same league. On July 16, 1917, approaching age 30 with his glory days in Wilkes-Barre, Detroit, and St. Louis a fading memory, and the birth of his second child only a few weeks away, Del was released by Scranton. He was batting .281 at the time. He and Catherine stayed in the area until Bob was born the first week in September. They then headed back to Findlay for the next chapter in their lives.

During his baseball career, Del Drake did not become a wealthy man, but he had saved enough money so that when he returned to Findlay after his release by Scranton in 1917, he was able to pay cash for a new three-bedroom home at 552 West Lincoln Street. He and Catherine resided there for the rest of their lives.

On a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame Library in Cooperstown in 1997, the author obtained from Del’s file a partial listing of the salaries he earned during his career. The record indicates that he was paid $300 per month in 1910 by Wilkes-Barre. As a rookie for Detroit in 1911, he earned $1,800 for the season, about the same as he was paid by Wilkes-Barre. He had been drafted by the Tigers organization in 1903 and again in 1908, and had been its property for the better part of a decade. While in his early 20s, Del felt he deserved better treatment from the Tigers organization, and had written several letters to owner Frank Navin, National Commission Chairman August Herrmann, Dan Brouthers of the Giants, and other baseball executives seeking a release from the Tigers and an opportunity with another organization. He received courteous letters in reply, but the message was always the same: We can’t help you.

The 1918 Polk’s Findlay City Directory lists Del’s occupation as “ball player.” The information for the 1918 directory was compiled in 1917. By 1918, Del was employed by the Ohio Oil Company (subsequently Marathon Oil Company). Subsequent issues of the city directory list him as a clerk, later as a bookkeeper, and then as an accountant for Ohio Oil, despite the fact that he did not graduate from high school. However, industrial league baseball was popular in the nation in the post-World War I era, and Findlay was no exception. The Ohio Oil team in Findlay’s City League was a force to be reckoned with, and company officials were no doubt pleased to have a home-grown ex-major leaguer on their team. Not too long ago, a photograph in the Findlay Courier displayed the 1919-20 City League champions, the Ohio Oil team.17 A graying Del Drake, who was then in his early 30s, was a valued member of those championship teams. The author also has a similar photograph of the 1929 Ohio Oil team, which still featured Del Drake at the age of 42. The team photo shows sons Del Jr. and Bob as the batboys.

On October 15, 1926, Del went to the principal’s office at St. Michael School and asked that 11-year-old Del Jr. and 9-year-old Bob be taken out of class. As they left school and piled into the family car, the boys wanted to know where they were going. All Del told them was, “You’ll see.” They drove out of town toward Lima, about 30 miles away. The boys persisted with their question, but received the same answer every time: “You’ll see.” Once they arrived at Lima, they continued to a baseball diamond, Murphy’s Field. A large crowd was present. A line of baseball players extended from the pitcher’s mound to the outfield fence. Babe Ruth stood at home plate and took three swings at the offerings of each of the players, who were pitchers for area baseball teams. Some of the pitchers were able to blow a pitch or two by the Babe, but a lot of the pitches were hammered well beyond the outfield fence. The next day, several photos of the Babe with local personalities were published in a Lima paper. There was even a photo of Del wearing his old St. Louis Terriers warmup sweater, and a few words about him. Both Drake boys loved telling this story, and felt that seeing the Babe perform in person was the thrill of a lifetime.

Catherine Drake came from a poor Irish Catholic family of coal miners who settled in Plains, Pennsylvania, which is next to Wilkes-Barre. Hall of Famer Ed Walsh was also a native of Plains. Catherine’s aunt, Bridget Gillespie, married John Walsh, Ed’s brother. Catherine’s mother bore 10 children, but only five of them lived to adulthood. Catherine was the only girl among the five, and was the only child in the family who had attended school beyond the third grade. Her four brothers all quit school by the age of nine in order to work in the coal mines. Catherine not only graduated from high school, she continued her education and became a registered nurse. During World War II, despite suffering from diabetes, she spent many hours as a volunteer for the Red Cross, wrapping bandages to be sent overseas for the troops.18

As the Great Depression swallowed up the dreams of millions of Americans during the 1930s, Catherine Drake held on to hers. More than anything else, she wanted her three boys to go to college. Although Del had been employed by Ohio Oil for 15 years by the time Del Jr. graduated from high school in 1933, times were tough for almost everybody. The Drakes did not have the money to send their boys to college. Stu Holcomb, who closed out his long career in athletics as the general manager of the Chicago White Sox, was the athletic director at Findlay College in 1933. Findlay College at that time was down to approximately 400 students, but it did have a baseball team, something that Findlay High School did not have.

In order to fulfill his wife’s dream, Del made Stu Holcomb an offer. He would coach the Findlay College baseball team without pay while his two oldest sons were on the team, if the school would allow his three boys to attend school there tuition-free.19 Stu liked the idea, the president of the college agreed to the proposal, and Del’s bosses at Ohio Oil supported it as well.

Sons Del Jr. and Bob each played for the team during their four years in school. Findlay College was so financially strapped in those days that the members of the varsity baseball team had to provide their own uniforms. Del asked the Tigers to help out with some uniforms and equipment for his team. The Tigers responded by sending two full uniforms and several bats and balls. Del Drake Jr. in 1937 appears in the team photo in the Findlay College yearbook wearing a uniform that had been issued to Hall of Famer Al Simmons when he was traded to Detroit before the 1936 season. Bob Drake is pictured wearing the uniform of an unknown Tiger. Del’s 1939 team, which featured Bob as one of its best hitters, had a record of 14 wins and 3 losses, the highest winning percentage of any college in Ohio that year. Findlay defeated the University of Toledo, Bowling Green, and Kent State.

Del Drake was a third-generation member of his family to join the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The Findlay lodge had been built with significant financial support from members of the Donnell family, which controlled the Ohio Oil Company for several decades. Company president O.D. Donnell one day assigned Del to ask each new male employee if he would be interested in joining the Elks.20 Del was only too happy to oblige. The results were predictable when he would suggest to a new hire that “O. D. thinks it would be a good idea if you joined the Elks.” In 1957, the Elks’ grand exalted ruler, Fred Bohn, presented Del Drake with an honorary life membership for his contribution to the Findlay Lodge by sponsoring more than 300 new members for initiation.21

After retiring from Ohio Oil Company in 1951, Del spent much of his time fulfilling the role of “Grandpa Drake.” Four of his nine grandchildren lived less than a mile away, and for the next 14 years, he was devoted to them. The author can honestly state that from the age of five in 1957 until Del’s last illness, he saw his grandfather nearly every day.

In 1957, after his old teammate on the 1911 Tigers, Sam Crawford, had finally been elected to the Hall of Fame, Del sent Crawford a letter of congratulations. Sam’s reply letter to Del was written in green ink, and the envelope which carried it was addressed simply to “Del Drake, Findlay, Ohio.” Although at the time Findlay had a population of nearly 30,000 people, the mailman had no trouble finding the old Tiger and delivering to him the letter from Wahoo Sam.

An article in Baseball Magazine in 1920 listed Del as having participated in 1,161 games in 11 minor-league seasons, with 1,236 hits and a .301 lifetime batting average.22 You will not find his bust in Cooperstown, nor will you find his name mentioned among the greats of the Detroit Tigers and the American League. But to his wife, his three children, and his nine grandchildren, he was a Hall of Famer in life. He was a devoted companion to Catherine in their nearly 54 years of marriage, and cared for her at home with compassion as she endured a severe illness the last 30 years of her life. It says something about Del Drake, and also of Ty Cobb, that in 1960, a year before Cobb died, he wrote to Del Drake and invited him to visit him in Georgia for some quail hunting. Ty Cobb and Del Drake were together in spring training several years between 1905 and 1911, but spent only one season (1911) together on the Tigers. They were born only a few months apart, and both had suffered the tragedy of losing a father at the age of 19. (Ty’s father lost his life; Del’s father lost the quality of his life.) Because of his wife’s illness, Del had to decline the invitation.

In March 1965, Catherine Drake fell at home and broke her hip. For the previous 30 years, diabetes had caused her immense suffering, eventually robbing her of nearly all of her mobility and eyesight. Del had frequently told his children, his friends, and his neighbors that when his wife died, he hoped to follow right behind her. In 1965 there were few nursing homes, and the ones that did exist were often places where a caring relative would not place a loved one.

Catherine Drake remained hospitalized from March 1965 until her death on October 2, 1965. Del was so upset by what he knew was her final illness that after the first couple of weeks of her hospitalization, he could not bring himself to visit her. Ten days before Catherine’s death, he called his son Bob and asked him to take him to the hospital to visit her. He was visibly shaken by what he saw, and asked to be taken home after only a short visit.

The next day he called Bob again and told him that he was not feeling well, and that he would like to go to the hospital. He was admitted. Over the next nine days, his condition declined rapidly, and he died on Sunday, October 3, 1965, only 26 hours after his wife of 54 years had died. It was the final day of the 1965 major-league season. He and Catherine were buried together in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Findlay.23

In his only season with the Tigers, Del Drake made a lasting mark on the game. Bill James maintains that the regular use by manager Hughie Jennings of Del against left-handed pitchers and of Davy Jones against right-handed pitchers in 1911 was the first documented case of platooning during the regular season in the major leagues.24

Del appears on his own baseball card, a T-207 “Tobacco Card” issued by Recruit Little Cigars.

During their stay in St. Louis with the Terriers, Del and Catherine were blessed by the birth of their first child, a son, Del D. Drake Jr. Two more children followed – both boys, Robert William Drake, born on September 5, 1917, in Wilkes-Barre, and William J. Drake, born January 10, 1920, in Findlay. Del Jr. was the best athlete of the bunch. He lettered in basketball and starred in baseball at Findlay College, graduating in 1937. Del Jr. taught and coached at Holy Angels High School in Piqua, Ohio, before enlisting in the Army in World War II. He was involved in Army Intelligence during and after the war. He then returned to his former position at Holy Angels, then left to become an FBI agent. He retired from the FBI after a 25-year career. He was a good-enough baseball player to be invited by the Boston Bees to spring training in 1938. However, he was plagued by flat feet, which could not stand the strain of a lengthy baseball season.

Del’s second son, Bob, started in the outfield on the 1939 Findlay College baseball team that went 14-3. He coached high-school basketball and baseball for two years after graduation in 1939, then enlisted in the Army Air Corps in September 1941. He was a highly-decorated pilot while serving in the Pacific Theater in World War II. He practiced law in Findlay for 58 years, retiring in 2006 at the age of 88.

Del’s youngest son, Bill, sustained a head injury in a fall as a young boy, and as a result did not participate in athletics. He, too, served in the Army in World War II. After the war, he continued to work for the Defense Department as a civilian employee, and retired after 30 years of service.

Del Drake was inducted into the Hancock County Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, and the Girard Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. In December 1999 he was selected by the Findlay Courier as one of the 100 greatest athletes in Hancock County during the twentieth century.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author relied upon Baseball-Reference.com.

The author of this article is a grandson of Delos Drake. Because of the family connection, he has often more informally referred to his relative by his first name. Much of the information used in writing this biography comes from family scrapbooks, which contained articles that were not identified by newspaper name or date.

Notes

1 “Drake Drafted by Detroit,” unidentified and undated newspaper, circa 1908.

2 “Dr. Drake Passes Over,” Morning Republican (Findlay, Ohio), August 7, 1911.

3 As told to the author by Del Drake Jr. and Bob Drake.

4 Family photograph in possession of the author.

5 “George Bailey Throws Constable Johnson Off Reeves Park Grounds,” Morning Republican, June 22, 1902: 1.

6 Official records from Mayor’s Court, Arcadia, Ohio.

7 “A Shining Example of Perseverance Is Drake,” unidentified newspaper, March 29, 1911.

8 “A Shining Example of Perseverance Is Drake”; Article, unidentified newspaper, circa 1910 from its content.

9 “A Shining Example of Perseverance Is Drake.”

10 Petition in Case No. 17127, Hancock County Common Pleas Court, Findlay, Ohio.

11 The official league average as reported by two printed sources is the .345 cited.

12 Joe S. Jackson, “Del Drake’s Daily Home Run Puts the Texans Out of It,” unidentified newspaper, 1910.

13 “Del Drake Weds Girl He Met in Mercy Hospital,” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, October 17, 1911.

14 As told to the author by Del Drake Jr. and Bob Drake.

15 Edward Lyell Fox, “Everybody’s Up,” Everybody’s Magazine, July 191: 3.

16 Tom Gage, “Bats Right Throws Left? Carreon’s Not the First,” Detroit News, May 31, 1992.

17 “Long Ago,” Courier (Findlay, Ohio), date unknown.

18 As told to the author by Del Drake Jr. and Bob Drake.

19 As told to the author by Del Drake Jr. and Bob Drake.

20 As told to the author by William Kirkwood Jr., past exalted ruler of Lodge No. 75 and past treasurer of Marathon Oil Company.

21 Findlay Lodge No. 75 files personally reviewed by the author, a past exalted ruler of the lodge.

22 J.C. Kofoed, “True Veterans of the Minor Circuits,” Baseball Magazine, October 1920.

23 The details in Section IX were told to the author by his father, Bob Drake, many times.

24 Bill James, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (New York: Villard Books, 1985), 117.