Orator Shafer
| Orator Shafer | |||
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| Right fielder | |||
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Born: October 1851 Philadelphia |
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Died: January 21, 1922 (aged 70) Philadelphia |
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 23, 1874, for the Hartford Dark Blues | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 13, 1890, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .282 | ||
| Home runs | 11 | ||
| Runs batted in | 317 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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George W. Shafer [sometimes spelled Shaffer or Schaefer] (October 1851 – January 21, 1922) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Orator", because he was an avid speaker, Shafer played for 10 teams in four different major leagues between 1874 and 1890. Though he was a good hitter who batted over .300 three times, Shafer was best known for his defensive abilities. He led the National League's outfielders in assists four times. In 1879, he set an MLB single-season record with 50 outfield assists, which is a mark that has stood for over 130 years. He was considered by some to be the greatest right fielder of his era.
Shafer was 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighed 165 pounds (75 kg).
Shafer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1851. He was a "promising young Philadelphia amateur" before starting his professional baseball career in 1874 in the National Association. That year, he played in nine games for the Hartford Dark Blues and in one game for the New York Mutuals, with a cumulative batting average of .225. His fielding percentage was a career-low .710. The following season, he played 19 games for the and batted .243.
Shafer was known during his playing career by the nickname "Orator". According to Alfred Henry Spink, founder of The Sporting News, he received the nickname because he "was a great stickler for his rights and talked to himself when not talking to the Umpire." Another player of the era, future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Orator Jim O'Rourke, shared the same nickname.
Shafer joined the National League's Louisville Grays in 1877. He earned a job as the team's starting right fielder, and he led the league in games played (61), outfield assists (21), and outfield errors (28). He also batted .285 and had the second-most home runs in the league with three. (Lip Pike had four homers.) In 1878, Shafer had one of his best seasons at the plate for the Indianapolis Blues. He batted .338 to finish sixth in the batting race and also ranked among the league leaders in on-base percentage (third), slugging percentage (third), and total bases (fourth). His OPS+ total of 186 led the league, and his 3.8 wins above replacement was the highest among all position players. Shafer also had 28 assists in the outfield.
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