The player I chose to profile is the Hall of Fame First Baseman Dan Brouthers. My connection to baseball began when I was a child watching my older brother play, then myself playing and falling in love with the game. I’ve always been intrigued by the “Dead Ball” Era, I’ve traveled to Cooperstown, seen a modern day representation of what a game would have looked like back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, and read many books about this era. Dan Brouthers is one of the greatest hitters of all time, even though he was a lefty so he had an unfair advantage. I decided to research players that played a long time because I always think a player’s best ability is his availability & Dan fit the bill. Dennis Joseph Brouthers played professionally from 1879 to 1904, making him the first player to play in four different decades. Dan was a journeyman playing for 10 teams across 8 cities, including a record nine National League teams. He played for Troy, Buffalo, Detroit, Boston, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Louisville, Philadelphia, and New York in his career. Dan ate, breathed, and lived baseball, earning my admiration and excitement for this project now.
Dan was born on May 8th, 1858 in Sylvan Lake, NY. Dan an Irish white man was able to play baseball in this time period of American history. He had two daughters and two sons with his wife Mary. In Buffalo on the Bisons, Big Dan rose to fame with “The Big Four.” He had five hitting titles and a career average of .342, which is really impressive for an era that was tailored for pitchers to dominate. After retirement he stuck around baseball, especially in NY, for more than 20 years as a press box attendant in the Polo Grounds for John McGraw, his old manager. Unfortunately, on August 2nd, 1932 a heart attack took his life in East Orange, NJ. In 1945, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame enshrining him and his career for his accomplishments.
Works Cited
Adomites, Paul. Cooperstown: Hall of Fame Players. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 2002. Print.
Appel, Marty. “Memories & Dreams: Dan Brouthers.” Marty Appel. Hiero, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. <http://www.appelpr.com/?page_id=117>.
“Dan Brouthers Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com.” Baseball-Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016. <http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/broutda01.shtml>.
Dan Bothers: Baseball Profile 