WHY I THINK ED McKEAN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK ED McKEAN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien

Ed McKean was one of the greatest hitters of his era. He averaged over 100 RBI’s in a season with less than ten home runs, and he accomplished the feat four seasons in a row. McKean batted a career .302 with considerable power and while many people criticize his fielding, he was actually an above average shortstop who led his position in games played four times. Ed McKean started his career with the American Association Cleveland Blues in 1887, batting .286 as a rookie. He also showed that he was a big base stealer, as he stole 76 bases in his rookie season and 52 in his sophomore year. McKean batted .299 in 1888 before being transferred to the NL Cleveland Spiders. McKean batted .318 and .296 before slipping slightly to .282 in 1891. The 1891 season was an important one for McKean, however, because he scored 100 or more runs for the first time in his career. He continued to slump in 1892 with a .262 mark but started a streak of four consecutive years in which he scored at least 100 runs and knocked in at least 100. That was the prime of an already promising career, as McKean batted a combined .337 during that span, including 24 triples in 1893, setting the single season mark for a shortstop. McKean turned in two more solid seasons in Cleveland before being moved over to the St. Louis Perfectos. You see, the Robison brothers owned both the Spiders and the Perfectos, and assigned all of Cleveland's best players to St. Louis. This proved to be great for the Perfectos, who went 84-67 and finished fifth in the NL, and disastrous for the Spiders, who went 20-134 for a winning percentage of .130, the lowest in history. At any rate, McKean hit .260 in 67 games with them before retiring. Ed McKean was one of baseball’s best overall hitters, a great base stealer and a dependable shortstop. He was as good as or better than most of the players that are in the Hall of Fame. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,655 season high: 151 in 1898 led NL: 141 in 1891, 133 in 1896 

At Bats career: 6,894 season high: 604 in 1898 led NL: 603 in 1891, 569 in 1895 

Hits career: 2,084 season high: 198 in 1894 

Doubles career: 272 season high: 32 in 1895 

Triples career: 158 season high: 24 in 1893 

Home Runs career: 67 season high: 9 in 1898 

Runs career: 1,227 season high: 131 in 1895 

Runs Batted In career: 1,124 season high: 133 in 1893 

Stolen Bases career: 324 season high: 76 in 1887 

Walks career: 636 season high: 87 in 1890 

Strikeouts career: 257 season high: 32 in 1887 

Batting Average career: .302 season high: .357 in 1894 

On Base Percentage career: .365 season high: .412 in 1894 

Slugging Percentage career: .417 season high: .509 in 1894 

Total Bases career: 2,873 season high: 284 in 1895 

Sacrifice Hits career: 57 season high: 13 in 1898 (sacrifice hits weren’t counted until 1889) 

Fielding Percentage career: .901 season high: .932 in 1898 (the league fielding percentage was .897) 

Double Plays career: 518 season high: 57 in 1896 

Putouts career: 3,140 season high: 304 in 1898 

Assists career: 4,945 season high: 463 in 1891 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-nicknamed “Mack” 

-led the NL in plate appearances in 1891 (668) 

-batted .440 (11-for-26) with six RBI’s in the 1892 “World Series” 

-was the hardest batter in the NL to strike out in 1896 

-scored over 100 runs in a season five times 

-hit two home runs off of Amos Rusie (The “Hoosier Thunderbolt”) and one each off of Hoss Radbourn, Kid Nichols and Clark Griffith, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame 

-also had homers off of Tony Mullane and Dave Foutz 

-hit a walk-off home run on May 12, 1899 while playing for the visiting team, and was the last to do so until Amed Rosario hit one against the Yankees this year 

-also played 15 games at first base, 31 at second base, one at third base and 52 in the outfield 

-ranks 44th in career triples and 38th in at bats per strikeout -among MLB shortstops, ranks 50th in assists