Deacon White Marquee Hall of Fame 2013

b. December 2, 1847 · Cleveland Forest Citys 1871–1872, Boston Red Stockings 1873–1875, Chicago White Stockings 1876, Boston Red Caps 1877, Cincinnati Reds 1878–1880, Buffalo Bisons 1881–1885, Detroit Wolverines 1886–1888, Pittsburg Alleghenys 1889, Buffalo Bisons 1890

He came up with Cleveland on May 4, 1871, the first day the National Association played, and lasted twenty seasons. The National League counts from 1876, and his fifteen seasons from then on produced 1,619 hits and a .303 average. His five Association years, tallied separately, added 448 hits in 261 games.

He caught through the 1870s, before masks and mitts were standard equipment, then moved to third base and played 827 games there into his forties. He drove in more runs than anyone in the National League in each of its first two seasons, and led in hits and triples in 1877. He was 42 in his last year.

Detroit sold him and Jack Rowe to Pittsburgh after 1888. He objected to being sold like property, held out, played one season there, then left for the Players' League in 1890, the single year in which the players ran a league of their own. He died in 1939. The Pre-Integration Era Committee elected him in 2013, on fourteen votes of sixteen.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1871*	CLE	29	146	40	47	6	5	1	21	4	1	2	.322
1872*	CLE	22	109	21	37	2	2	0	22	4	1	0	.339
1873*	BOS	60	311	79	122	17	8	1	77	0	2	19	.392
1874*	BOS	70	352	75	106	5	7	3	52	5	0	1	.301
1875*	BOS	80	371	76	136	23	3	1	60	3	2	2	.367
1876	CHC	66	303	66	104	18	1	1	60	7	3	0	.343
1877	BSN	59	266	51	103	14	11	2	49	8	3	0	.387
1878	CIN	61	258	41	81	4	1	0	29	10	5	0	.314
1879	CIN	78	333	55	110	16	6	1	52	6	9	0	.330
1880	CIN	35	141	21	42	4	2	0	7	9	7	0	.298
1881	BUF	78	319	58	99	24	4	0	53	9	8	0	.310
1882	BUF	83	337	51	95	17	0	1	33	15	16	0	.282
1883	BUF	94	391	62	114	14	5	0	47	23	18	0	.292
1884	BUF	110	452	82	147	16	11	5	74	32	13	0	.325
1885	BUF	98	404	54	118	6	6	0	57	12	11	0	.292
1886	DTN	124	491	65	142	19	5	1	76	31	35	9	.289
1887	DTN	111	449	71	136	20	11	3	75	26	15	20	.303
1888	DTN	125	527	75	157	22	5	4	71	21	24	12	.298
1889	PIT	55	225	35	57	10	1	0	26	16	18	2	.253
1890	BUF	122	439	62	114	13	4	0	47	67	30	3	.260
Major leagues	—	1299	5335	849	1619	217	73	18	756	292	215	46	.303
All seasons	—	1560	6624	1140	2067	270	98	24	988	308	221	70	.312

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1876	CHC	1	1	2.0	1	0	0	3	0.00
1890	BUF	1	0	8.0	18	8	2	0	9.00
Career	—	2	1	10.0	19	8	2	3	7.20

Seasons outside MLB's recognized major leagues appear in All seasons, but not in Major leagues or the leaderboards. For Deacon White, that is 1871–1875. Why totals can differ.

On this day & linked events

1847

Born December 2, 1847

Caton, NY, USA

1939

Died July 7, 1939

1871

Major-league debut: Deacon White

Deacon White made a major-league debut on May 4, 1871.

1890

Final major-league game: Deacon White

Deacon White played a final major-league game on October 4, 1890.

Image: Public domain