The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Dennis “Big Dan” Brouthers retired from the game of baseball in 1896 but made a return to play a few games the New York Giants and his good friend the manager of the team John McGraw. Dan lived in the state of New York and in New York City for the majority of his life. In New York, Dan experienced the transformation of American society and politics from machine government and populist policies to the Progressive Era reform. Throughout the nation, big government and big businesses were at the center of Progressive reform because concentrated economic inequality was stagnating the U.S. economy. Dan was basically forced into retirement in 1896 because poor play on the baseball diamond. Dan had a reputation of being an alcoholic and the public awareness of a drinking problem and financial failures as a baseball club owner forced Dan to turn to his longtime friend in John McGraw for a job in 1904. McGraw had a great deal of trust in Dan, which turned out to be fruitful as Dan was one of the most successful scouts for the New York Giants in the early 20^th century. McGraw even let Dan put the uniform back on for a few games in 1904. He was granted full freedom in his responsibility to recruit new players for the Giants and given every financial resource needed to close the deals with up and coming players. Despite Dan’s failure as an owner and his perceived reputation as an alcoholic, Dan was a great asset for the New York Giants as he was able to find many hidden gems of young baseball players, like the future Hall of Famer Catcher Buck Ewing. When Dan moved to New York City he was leaving behind a real estate enterprise in Wappinger Falls, in 1911 a former teammate of Dan’s summarized Dan’s real estate business, “Dan once owned much real estate up in Wappinger Falls, and was credited as being a wealthy man, but real estate didn’t prove as good as speculation as Dan anticipated” (Kerr, Pg. 155).

Baseball historians remember big Dan Brouthers as being baseball’s first great slugger. He lived and played in a baseball era where the game was tailor-made for pitchers to succeed, however Dan was big and strong enough to leave an everlasting mark on the game of baseball. He was an ironman of a player as he played in four different decades, which is truly astonishing. After Dan retired from baseball he never truly left the game as he was given a job by McGraw as a scout and then later as a gate tender at the Press gate in the Polo Grounds. Perhaps Dan’s the most revealing elements of Dan Brouthers were publicized when Dan became a writer for the Boston Globe. Dan’s true personality was being shown to the public for the very first time in his writings. Dan, as being a great hitter will be remembered mostly for that, but he also was a great scout for the Giants and a pretty good writer who was able to humanize professional baseball players. My relationship to Dennis Brouthers is just that of a fan and baseball junky who likes to learn about the history of baseball. I’ve always considered myself a student of the game and the best way to learn is to look back on the past players and their history.

 

 

Works Cited

Kerr, Roy. Big Dan Brouthers: Baseball’s First Great Slugger. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland &, 2003. Print.

 

Life Outside of Baseball: Did he have a life?

Like many of the great baseball players throughout history Big Dan Brouthers ate, breathed, and lived baseball. After Dan retired he never truly left the game, however, he did have a work and family life before playing professional baseball. His wife Mary and him had two daughters, Anna Lillian and Margaret, and two sons, Addison and Martin. Addison actually played on the same team as his father in 1909 when Dan organized a semi-professional team at the age of 51. In 1907 after Dan had retired, he and his family except Anna Lillian moved from Wappingers Falls to New York City so that Dan could gain employment. Thanks to his old friend, John McGraw, Dan was able to become a scout for the New York Giants.

During Dan’s lifetime he experienced New York City during the peak of Machine Politics. America during the 18^th and 19^th centuries was ran and dominated by machine government and machine politics, especially in major cities like Chicago and New York. Ward bosses were the de facto governs of everyday life, as they were the main source income for many people because they controlled job creation. Tammany Hall the New York City political machine, which was ran by William M. Tweed, was an example of the corrupt quid pro quo business practices that machine politics stood for. Progressivism drew from the Evangelical Protestantism and its belief that people have a moral duty to rid the world of corruption and vice. To make the world a better place is the spirit of Progressivism. Concentrated economic power distorted the economic process, which is exactly what machine politics achieved and why the Progressive Era used the power of the state to reform government and political processes. Looking back on history, Dan Brouthers lived during a truly historic time. “When he first walked onto the diamond for the Wappingers Falls activities, the telephone, the phonograph, the incandescent light bulb, motion pictures, the automobile, and the airplane did not exist” (Kerr, Pg. 160) Along with the peak of Political Machines, to the demise of them through Progressive reforms, and the roaring 1920’s; Dan lived in a period of American innovation that spurred unprecedented growth and the revolution of culture.

Although he moved from Wappingers Falls to New York City in 1907, the Big Apple would never be his home as The Sage of Wappingers Falls would never not call Wappingers Falls his home. He would go back almost every summer with his family, and “in the summer of 1921, he made a special trip home to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Sweet-Orr Overall Company, where he had worked as a teenager prior to starting his baseball career” (Kerr, Pg. 172). Dan certainly was a great baseball player and beloved by many fans. I believe he was an incredible person because he knew he was a superstar but he was not bigger than the game or any other person. However, Dan experienced many personal failures, which may paint him in a bad perspective for some people. He was basically forced into retirement because of poor play, there was public awareness that he had a drinking issue, and he had some financial failures as a baseball club owner. Everyone has his or her own personal issues but what one does with them is the true test of character. Dan used this to his advantage; he was able to learn and grow from them and helped many young baseball players experience their dreams of playing professional baseball.

 

Works Cited

Kerr, Roy. Big Dan Brouthers: Baseball’s First Great Slugger. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland &, 2003. Print.

 

Prime Time Playing Career: Makings of a Hall of Famer

Dan Brouthers was Baseball’s first great slugger. Brouthers played professionally from 1879 to 1904, making him the first player to play in four different decades. In his baseball career, that distinguished him as one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, he compiled a batting average of .342 and hit 107 homeruns, which was fourth of all time among 19^th century players. However, his baseball story did not begin with glory right away. He was released from the Troy Trojans in 1880 and contemplated whether or not he would retire from the game of baseball for good. Dan was lucky enough to be able to make the acquaintance of “Honest John” Kelly, who was a catcher for the Trojans, in 1979 during his first tryout for Troy. Kelly, a New York City native, was starting a ball club in New York and wanted Brouthers. Although he only played a few weeks on the New York team before it moved to Hoboken, Dan pitched a game against the Atlantics and would then transfer to them. When he played for the New York team he was introduced by The Clipper, which “introduced a new spelling of Dennis’ surname when it announced that ‘Brothers, the big batsman, will play for the New York Club’” (Kerr). Kelly gave Brouthers the opportunity again to play baseball and he took it and ran with it garnering an opportunity with a new team.

Big Dan played for the Troy Trojans, Buffalo Bison, Detroit Wolverines, Boston Beaneaters, Boston Reds, Brooklyn Grooms, Baltimore Orioles, Louisville Colonels, Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Giants in his career during his four decade career. Dan rose to fame in Buffalo, as he was part of the “Big Four” of Buffalo. During his long illustrious career he was able to accomplish many historical feats. “He won five batting and on-base percentage titles, seven slugging titles, and was the first player to win the batting and slugging crowns in successive years” (Kerr). His .342 batting average has him tied with Babe Ruth for ninth all time and his 205 triples leaves him in eighth all time. Even though Big Dan had an advantage being a lefty, Dan was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1945, cementing his legacy as one of the best power hitters of all time!

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Kerr, Roy. Big Dan Brouthers: Baseball’s First Great Slugger. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland &, 2003. Print.

 

Dan Brother’s Early Life

Dennis Joseph “Big Dan” Brouthers was born on May 8^th, 1858 in Sylvan Lake, New York. The Hudson River and the Eerie Canal played a huge role before, during, and after Dan’s life. Once the Eerie Canal was completed in 1825 and connect the Eerie Lake to the Hudson River cities started to spring up all along there because of an economic surge. Sylvan Lake village is a hamlet in the town of Beekman, Dutchess County, New York; the hamlet is about 10 miles southeast of Poughkeepsie just off the Hudson River. The village is named after the Lake it surrounds. An Irish Immigrant in search of work, Michael Brooder, settled in Beekman with his wife and four children, one of which is none other than Big Dan. Michael worked in the iron-refining industry, according to census data he was labeled as an “iron furnace man” (Kerr). Since the Eerie Canal allowed coal to transported so easily it became the main source of energy, many jobs were created because it including Michaels. Dan was born on the same year as the founding of St. Denis Church in Beekman. Dan and his family moved around in his childhood but always in the New York region. His family moved two miles north to the town of Fishkill Plains, while welcoming another baby sister, then went west and settled down in the village of Wappingers Falls.

As an Irish Catholic white man, Dan was able to play baseball freely in a period of American history right after the Civil War. During this period he played base ball (yes two words) as a child almost as soon as he could but when he wasn’t playing he was working with his father at a calico dye and printing mill called either the Garner or the Dutchess Print Works, depending on the year” (Kerr). The days were long starting at 6:20AM and ending at 6PM, with an hour-long lunch. He worked half days on Saturdays too. The pay was not enough for him and his family to live a lavish lifestyle; instead they lived a hard and brutal life. Unfortunately, Dan’s mother, Annie died before her 48^th birthday. The good news was that since Dan had been born and the time he started playing baseball professionally, baseball had turned from the trendy amateur sport to the professional sport that drove America wild. He started playing baseball in semi-professionally in Wappingers Falls and would garner the nickname “The Wappingers Falls Boy” or “The Wappinggerian” (Kerr).

The next time that the Eerie Canal and the Hudson River played a role in Dan’s life was in the city of Troy, New York. Troy is almost at the connection of Eerie Canal and the Hudson River, making it very important to the growth of New York because of all the expanded trade. Dan, unfortunately, died on August 2^nd, 1932 in East Orange, New Jersey due to a heart attack. He is fittingly buried in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Wappingers Falls (Dennis Joseph “Big Dan” Brouthers).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“Dennis Joseph “Big Dan” Brouthers.” Find a Grave. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2016. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8497&gt;.

Kerr, Roy. Big Dan Brouthers: Baseball’s First Great Slugger. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland &, 2003. Print.

Why I chose Big Dan Brouthers.

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 8^th, 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 2^nd, 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&gt;.

 

“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&gt;.