What If? Billy Hamilton's 1894 Season ~ Basic Bloganomics

Welcome to another edition of What If? Fantasy Baseball. In case you're not familiar with this concept, this is where I look back at a season long before fantasy baseball became a prominent or permanent fixture in American society. I'll calculate the numbers on what that player's season would have looked like if the fantasy game existed then or wasn't as known though the game has now been removed from the Sporting News site. Today, we look back at the 1894 season of Hall of Famer Billy Hamilton. But before we do that, let's look at the Sporting News fantasy scoring system in place for this.

Point system for Sporting News(batting):
Out: -2 points
Run Scored: 5 points
Single: 5 points
Double: 10 points
Triple: 15 points
Home Run: 20 points
Run Batted In: 5 points
Walk or Hit By Pitch: 3 points
Strikeout: -1 point
Stolen Base: 10 points
Caught Stealing: -5 points

Point system for Sporting News(pitching):
Win: 30 points
Save: 30 points
Hold: 5 points
Loss: -15 points
Inning Pitched: 15 points
Hit Allowed: -5 points
Earned Run Allowed: -10 points
Walk or Hit Batsman: -3 points
Strikeout: 3 points

Here are the stats and SN points for Billy Hamilton's 1894 season:
Out: 333 = -666 points
Run Scored: 198 = 990 points
Single: 181 = 905 points
Double: 25 = 250 points
Triple: 15 = 225 points
Home Run: 4 = 80 points
Run Batted In: 90 = 450 points
Walk or Hit By Pitch: 137 = 411 points
Strikeout: 19 = -19 points
Stolen Base: 100 = 1,000 points
Caught Stealing: 0 = 0 points
Total points: 3626
Points per game: 27.47
Hamilton played in 132 games in 1894.
Note: No records are shown of caught stealing numbers in 1894 according to baseball-reference.com. Stolen base records were also kept differently since baserunners would be credited for them if they advanced more bases than the batter did after a hit.

The year 1894 was a time when the U.S. were nearly thirty years removed from their own Civil War, Grover Cleveland was in his second stint as President, and Coca Cola was sold out of bottles for the first time ever. It was the year before that the country experienced a serious economic depression(now called the Panic of 1893) which resulted in the highest unemployment rates of the 19th Century in 1894. Railroads were being overbuilt and financing were the main cause. Two of college football's storied rivalries(Harvard/Yale, Army/Navy) suspended their annual games due to the crippling injuries caused mainly by the flying wedge play. They would eventually resume play as rules were still being revised in the sport.

Baseball's National League was in its 19th season, and they were still revising rules such as foul bunts being called strikes as well as putting in the infield fly rule. Twelve teams competed for the NL pennant, and the American League was seven years away from being founded.

The Philadelphia Phillies set all kinds of offensive records in 1894, but it was Hamilton who ignited the offense from the leadoff spot. He did like no other that year setting offensive records that still stand to this day.

Though the Phillies wouldn't win the NL pennant due to the emergence of the original Baltimore Orioles(this was the first of three pennants in a row) winning it all, they batted a mind-boggling .350 as a team setting a record mark for the season. The entire starting outfield of Hamilton, Sam Thompson, and fellow future Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty all batted above .400 in 1894.

Hamilton came off of a year where he only appeared in 82 games for Philadelphia, but batted .380 with a .490 on-base percentage and 43 steals. With his strong knack for stealing bases, it would have made him a high draft pick in most fantasy baseball leagues. Owners sure wouldn't have been hurt by stolen bases or runs with Hamilton on their teams. Averaging 27 points a game would make anyone happy.

Hamilton scored 198 runs which broke the record of 177 by Tom Brown in 1891, and hasn't come close to being challenged. Seven players scored 150 or more runs on the season.

He hit only four home runs in a time when it wasn't a huge part of offensive strategy until the 1920s, and running the bases decided the outcome of games. However, two of his home runs were inside the park - both against Cincinnati.

His most memorable game happened on August 31 against Washington when he tied a league record with seven stolen bases in one game to help them to an 11-5 win. The record also still belongs to him.

Baseball-reference.com credits him with 100 stolen bases, and some give him 92 on the year. His career stolen bases total is also disputed with baseball-reference.com giving him 914. Some others have him at either 912 or 937. Regardless, his record of stolen bases wouldn't be broken until the late 1970s by Lou Brock. Rickey Henderson eventually passed both of them, but Hamilton is still third all-time.

He was credited with a 36-game hitting streak in 1894, but research in 2004 has pointed out that it was snapped after 10 games due to a protested game.

One thing that isn't disputed is Hamilton is widely considered to be the greatest lead-off hitter in National League history. Many have said that only the switch-hitting Tim Raines in the 1980s has the best argument against Hamilton.

Nonetheless, Hamilton's 1894 season was his best setting career-highs in runs(198), hits(225), doubles(25), triples(15), RBI(90), walks(128), batting average(.403), on-base percentage(.521), total bases(292), and OPS(1.044). He led the league in runs, stolen bases, walks, and on-base percentage in 1894.

Hamilton followed up his 1894 season with a strong 1895 campaign which turned out to be his last in Philadelphia. He scored 166 runs, batted .389, and stole 97 bases that year. He was traded to the Boston Beaneaters(now the Atlanta Braves) for Billy Nash. He still holds records for the Philadelphia Phillies franchise.

He still had productive years playing for Boston, but knee and ankle injuries slowed down his stolen base totals. He retired at age 35 in 1901 with Boston.

Some of Hamilton's career accomplishments include him ranking 7th all-time in batting average(.344), 4th in on-base percentage(.455), and 25th in runs scored(1697). He is one of only three players in baseball history to have more runs scored than games played in(1697 runs in 1594 games) for those that qualify.

He died in 1940 at the age of 74 at his home in Worchester, Massachusetts.

Although it took awhile, Hamilton's play earned him Hall of Fame honors in 1961 by the Veteran's Committee. With that induction, he became the first New Jersey-born player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Though many of his statistics are still disputed, there's little doubt he was one of the best players in the early history of the game and in the 19th Century. He was the first great lead-off man, and is a very deserving Hall of Fame member for his accomplishments in the early history of baseball.

Previous What If? Fantasy Baseball posts:
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig's 1927 season
Ted Williams' 1941 season
Roberto Clemente's 1966 season
Hack Wilson's 1930 season
Walter Johnson's 1913 season
Joe DiMaggio's 1937 season

Thanks for viewing!

First photo is an 1889 card of when he played for Kansas City in the American Association. The second is a photo of him later in his career. Stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com