WHY I THINK TIP O’NEILL SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK TIP O’NEILL SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Tip O’Neill was the dominant batter and slugger of his era. O’Neill holds many achievements, such as being the first to reach 200 hits in a season (in 1887, tied with pre-1900 greats Denny Lyons, Pete Browning and Sam Thompson), two batting titles, a .400 season, five seasons of 100 or more runs scored, a Triple Crown, and a lifetime batting average of .326. He was also a great defender in leftfield even with no glove. In the ten years he played, Tip O’Neill terrorized opposing pitchers and infielders with his bat. O’Neill started his career in 1883 by batting an unimpressive .197 in 23 games. He raised it to .276 in 78 games in 1884 and hit .350 in 52 games in 1885. O’Neill batted .328 and led the American Association with 107 RBI’s for his 1886 season. O’Neill brought the storm in 1887, establishing new major league records for, most notably, hits (225), batting average (.435), doubles (52), OBP (.490), total bases (357), slugging percentage (.691), extra-base hits (84), OPS (1.180) and runs scored (167) in only 124 games. He also led the AA in RBI’s, triples, home runs and home run percentage. The incredible thing about his .490 OBP was that by 1887 you still needed five balls to earn a walk and that pitchers threw underhand from only 50 feet away, although to be fair foul balls weren’t counted as strikes yet, and it took four strikes to whiff you. O’Neill’s batting average slipped 100 points to .335 in 1888 but still won the AA batting title and led the league with 177 hits. After batting .335 again Tip O’Neill batted .302 in 1890 in a Players League high 137 games played. He proceeded to hit .323 with ten homers in 1891. Although O’Neill slipped to .251 in 1892 and retired on a “weak” note, he certainly still had the most lethal swing in the game, even if it had slowed slightly. Whatever the reason, Tip O’Neill isn’t in the baseball Hall of Fame, even though he hit for the second highest single season batting average in baseball history. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS

Games career: 1,052 season high: 138 in 1886 led PL: 137 in 1890 

At Bats career: 4,248 season high: 579 in 1886 

Hits career: 1,385 season high: 225 in 1887 led AA: 225 in 1887, 177 in 1888 

Doubles career: 222 season high: 52 in 1887 led AA: 52 in 1887 

Triples career: 92 season high: 19 in 1887 led AA: 19 in 1887 

Home Runs career: 52 season high: 14 in 1887 led AA: 14 in 1887 

Runs career: 879 season high: 167 in 1887 led AA: 167 in 1887 

Runs Batted In career: 757 season high: 123 in 1887 led AA: 107 in 1886, 123 in 1887 

Stolen Bases career: 161 season high: 30 in 1887 (stolen bases weren’t counted until 1886) 

Walks career: 420 season high: 72 in 1889 

Strikeouts career: 194 season high: 37 in 1889 (strikeouts weren’t counted from 1884 through 1886) 

Batting Average career: .326 season high: .435 in 1887 led AA: .435 in 1887, .335 in 1888 

On Base Percentage career: .392 season high: .490 in 1887 led AA: .490 in 1887 

Slugging Percentage career: .458 season high: .691 in 1887 led AA: .691 in 1887 

Total Bases career: 1,947 season high: 357 in 1887, led AA: 357 in 1887 

Sacrifice Hits career: N/A

Fielding Percentage career: .917 season high: season high: .937 in 1888 (the league fielding percentage was .895) 

Double Plays career: 16 season high: 4 in 1886 

Putouts career: 1,810 season high: 279 in 1886 

Assists career: 81 season high: 37 in 1884 

DID YOU KNOW?

-nicknamed “The Woodstock Wonder” and "Canada's Babe Ruth"

-is the only player ever to lead his league in doubles, triples, and home runs in the same season

-went 16-16 on the mound with a 3.39 ERA in 289 innings pitched (29 complete games), including a 2.68 mark in 1884, and led the AA in winning percentage (.733, 11-4) that year 

-hit 20 or more doubles six times and over 30 twice 

-his 167 runs in 1887 are still the season record for a right handed batter 

-hit ten or more triples five times and eight once 

-had over 100 RBI’s in a season three times and also had two other seasons with 95 or more 

-finished second in the 1889 AA batting race to Tommy Tucker (.372) 

-led the AA in singles in 1886 and 1888 

-his .326 career batting average ranks 36th all time 

-hit for the cycle a record three times

-won an 1886 World Series ring and batted .400 with a pair each of stolen bases and home runs in the Series against the Chicago White Stockings 

-had totals of 35 hits, 23 runs scored, 25 RBI’s, three doubles, three triples, five home runs, two  stolen bases, ten walks, and ten strikeouts in “World Series” play 

-played a game at first base in 1884 

-was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986