John McGraw Marquee Hall of Fame 1937

He was five feet seven and played for the Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s, a club that made its living on spikes, interference and whatever the single umpire could not see. He batted .334 with 1,309 hits, walked 836 times against 155 strikeouts, and let a pitch hit him 134 times.

In 1,100 games he scored 1,024 runs and stole 436 bases, and he led the National League in both runs and walks in 1898 and again in 1899. Getting on base was the whole method: among players with 3,000 plate appearances, only Ted Williams and Babe Ruth did it at a higher rate.

He joined the New York Giants in 1902 and stayed for the rest of his working life, playing less every year until 1907, when he appeared in one game. What he did from the bench after that is not in this archive, which keeps no managerial record. He died in February 1934; the Veterans Committee elected him in 1937.