Joe Start
| Joe Start | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| First baseman | |||
|
Born: October 14, 1842 New York City |
|||
|
Died: March 27, 1927 (aged 84) Providence, Rhode Island |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| May 18, 1871, for the New York Mutuals | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| July 9, 1886, for the Washington Nationals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .299 | ||
| Hits | 1,417 | ||
| Runs | 854 | ||
| Teams | |||
|
|||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Joseph Start (October 14, 1842 – March 27, 1927), nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the biggest stars of baseball's earliest era, and certainly the top first basemen of his time. He started his career before the American Civil War and continued to play professionally until 1886, when he was 43.
Born in New York City, he led the Brooklyn Atlantics, the team he joined in 1862, to undefeated seasons in 1864 and 1865. In 1871, he joined the new National Association's New York Mutuals, hitting a career-high .360 in his first season with the team, when he was age 28. When the National League was formed in 1876, the Mutuals joined, bringing Start with them. After spending 1877 with the Hartford Dark Blues and 1878 with the , he found his next home with the Providence Grays. From 1879 until 1885, when he was 42, Start held down first base for the Grays and continued to hit well. Unfortunately, 1885 was Providence's last season in the NL, so in 1886, he moved to the Washington Nationals for what would be his last season. Start only played 31 games for the Nationals and didn't hit well, even for a 43-year-old.
1878 was probably Start's best season with the bat. He led the league with 100 hits and 125 total bases. He came close to the league lead with his 12 doubles, 5 triples, and a single home run. His 58 runs that year were second in the league. These statistics all came in only 285 at bats, and at the age of 35, long after most players have begun to decline. Start ended his career with 1418 hits, 854 runs, and 544 RBI in National League and National Association play. He had a .299 batting average, a .322 on-base percentage, and a .367 slugging percentage. These numbers ignore the first 11 years of his career and, since they were achieved in much shorter seasons than today's professionals play, they only show a portion of his value to his teams. In addition, his career spanned many important rule changes that changed the game in many ways, but Start continued to play at a high level through all of them. Start's 1879 Providence team won the National League, and in 1884 they won a championship, beating the New York Metropolitans.
...
Wikipedia