Orator Shafer Marquee

b. October 4, 1851 · Hartford Dark Blues 1874, New York Mutuals 1874, Philadelphia Whites 1875, Louisville Grays 1877, Indianapolis Blues 1878, Chicago White Stockings 1879, Cleveland Blues 1880–1882, Buffalo Bisons 1883, St. Louis Maroons 1884–1885, Philadelphia Athletics 1885–1886, 1890

Shafer had an extraordinary 1884 season for the St. Louis Maroons, hitting .360 with 168 hits, 130 runs and a league-leading 40 doubles across 106 games. The average, hits, runs and doubles were all career highs.

Eleven recognized major-league seasons gave him 974 hits, 162 doubles, 52 triples, 584 runs and a .283 average across 842 games. He played primarily in the outfield, with only brief appearances around the infield. His career crossed the National League, Union Association, American Association and Players' League.

Shafer also played 29 games in the earlier National Association during 1874 and 1875, recording 26 hits and 17 runs. The archive lists those separately because MLB does not recognize that circuit as a major league. His final season came with Philadelphia in the 1890 Players' League. He died in 1922, at seventy.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1874*	HAR/NYU	10	40	7	9	0	0	1	3	0	4	0	.225
1875*	PHI	19	70	10	17	2	1	0	6	0	4	2	.243
1877	LOU	61	260	38	74	9	5	3	34	9	17	0	.285
1878	IND	63	266	48	90	19	6	0	30	13	20	0	.338
1879	CHC	73	316	53	96	13	0	0	35	6	28	0	.304
1880	CLV	83	338	62	90	14	9	0	21	17	36	0	.266
1881	CLV	85	343	48	88	13	6	1	34	23	20	0	.257
1882	CLV	84	313	37	67	14	2	3	28	27	27	0	.214
1883	BUF	95	401	67	117	11	3	0	41	27	39	0	.292
1884	SLM	106	467	130	168	40	10	2	0	30	0	0	.360
1885	PHA/SLM	71	266	31	52	11	3	0	19	20	31	0	.195
1886	PHA	21	82	15	22	3	3	0	8	8	0	3	.268
1890	PHA	100	390	55	110	15	5	1	58	47	0	29	.282
Major leagues	—	842	3442	584	974	162	52	10	308	227	218	32	.283
All seasons	—	871	3552	601	1000	164	53	11	317	227	226	34	.282

Seasons outside MLB's recognized major leagues appear in All seasons, but not in Major leagues or the leaderboards. For Orator Shafer, that is 1874–1875. Why totals can differ.

On this day & linked events

1851

Born October 4, 1851

Philadelphia, PA, USA

1922

Died January 22, 1922

1874

Major-league debut: Orator Shafer

Orator Shafer made a major-league debut on May 23, 1874.

1890

Final major-league game: Orator Shafer

Orator Shafer played a final major-league game on September 13, 1890.