Silver Flint Marquee

Silver Flint caught for eleven seasons in Chicago without a glove, a mask for only part of it, and finished with hands that contemporaries described as permanently disfigured — every finger broken more than once. That was the job before equipment, and he did it longer than most survived.

He was the regular catcher for the White Stockings clubs that won five National League pennants between 1880 and 1886, working with Larry Corcoran and John Clarkson. The bat was slight, .236 across 760 games, and nobody expected otherwise from the position.

Born in Philadelphia in 1855, Flint played his last game in 1889 and died on January 14, 1892, at thirty-six, of tuberculosis.