Billy Hamilton

William Robert "Sliding Billy" Hamilton (b. February 16, 1866, d. December 15 or December 16,  1940) was a 19th century Major League Baseball player. He holds a number of offensive records that still stand today. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961.

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 * Team(s) = Kansas City Cowboys (1888-1889), Philadelphia Phillies (1890-1895), Boston Beaneaters (1896-1901)

Background
Born in Newark, New Jersey, "Sliding Billy" Hamilton broke into the Majors in the American Association with the Kansas City Cowboys in 1888 and established himself as a star the following season by batting .301 with 144 runs and 111 stolen bases.

Hamilton joined the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League in 1890 and continued his trend-setting ways over the following six years, averaging 146 runs and 92 stolen bases a season while hitting as high as .404 (in 1894). Hamilton was part of one of the greatest hitting outfields and teams of all-time. Hamilton, Sam Thompson, Ed Delahanty, and Tuck Turner all hit over .400 for the season. (Done in by a poor pitching staff, however, the team only finished 71-57, fourth in the National League.) In 1896, Hamilton moved to the Boston Beaneaters, for whom he played his final six seasons. Although his numbers declined, Hamilton still scored over 100 runs in all but two of those seasons. He holds the major league record for runs scored in a season, scoring 192 runs in 1894.

Hamilton retired after the 1901 season. Over his career he compiled 912 stolen bases, a .344 batting average and 1690 runs in 1591 games; he is one of only three players to average more than one run per game played. His .455 career on base percentage is ranked 4th all time behind Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and John McGraw, and his 912 stolen bases rank 3rd behind Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock. Even for the run-happy 1890's, these are very fine career numbers. Hamilton also set the record for most stolen bases in one game, with seven, set August 31, 1894.

Hamilton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961. He was the first New Jersey native so honored, and remains the only one from the northern part of the State, although Alabama-born  Monte Irvin grew up in East Orange and South Carolina-born Larry Doby grew up in Paterson. Hamilton died in 1940.

Accomplishments

 * Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (1961)
 * 3rd all time for stolen bases in a career (912)
 * Led the Major Leagues in stolen bases (1889-91, 1894, 1895)
 * Led the National League in batting average (1891, with .340)
 * Led the National League in runs scored (1891, with 141)
 * Led the National League in hits (1891, with 179)
 * Led the National League for times on base (1891)
 * Led the Major Leagues in batting average (1893, with .380)
 * Led the Major Leagues in runs scored (1894-95, 1897)
 * Led the Major Leagues for times on base (1894, 1896-97)
 * Set record for runs scored with 198 in 1894.
 * Philadelphia Phillies Career Leader in Batting Average (.361), On-base percentage (.468) and Stolen Bases (508).
 * Holds Phillies single season records for On-base percentage (.523 in 1894), Runs (192 in 1894), Stolen Bases (111 in 1891) and Times on Base (355 in 1894)