Tommy Leach Marquee

b. November 4, 1877 · Louisville Colonels 1898–1899, Pittsburgh Pirates 1900–1912, 1918, Chicago Cubs 1912–1914, Cincinnati Reds 1915

Six home runs were enough to lead the National League in 1902, and no league since has been led by a total that low but one. He hit 22 triples the same year, which was also the most in the league, and the two facts describe the era better than any sentence could: the ball did not carry, so a hard-hit ball rolled.

Nineteen seasons gave him 2,143 hits, 172 triples, 810 runs batted in, 1,355 runs and 361 stolen bases. He led the National League in runs in 1909 with 126, playing center field for the Pittsburgh club that won 110 games and the World Series with Honus Wagner at shortstop and Fred Clarke managing from left. He was 5 feet 6 and never weighed 160 pounds.

He played third base for half his career and the outfield for the other half, 955 games at one and 1,079 at the other. Two writers' ballots gave him one vote apiece and two committees looked at him. He played in the first World Series, in 1903, and lived to see sixty-six more. He died in 1969, at ninety-one.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
Baseball Magazine All-Star	3	1909, 1910, 1913

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1898	LOU	3	10	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.100
1899	LOU	106	406	75	117	10	6	5	57	37	27	19	.288
1900	PIT	51	160	20	34	1	2	1	16	21	16	8	.212
1901	PIT	98	374	64	114	12	13	2	44	20	32	16	.305
1902	PIT	135	514	97	143	14	22	6	85	45	45	25	.278
1903	PIT	127	507	97	151	16	17	7	87	40	32	22	.298
1904	PIT	146	579	92	149	15	12	2	56	45	47	23	.257
1905	PIT	131	499	71	128	10	14	2	53	37	44	17	.257
1906	PIT	133	476	66	136	10	7	1	39	33	19	21	.286
1907	PIT	149	547	102	166	19	12	4	43	40	36	43	.303
1908	PIT	152	583	93	151	24	16	5	41	54	40	24	.259
1909	PIT	151	587	126	153	29	8	6	43	66	49	27	.261
1910	PIT	135	529	83	143	24	5	4	52	38	62	18	.270
1911	PIT	108	386	60	92	12	6	3	43	46	50	19	.238
1912	CHC/PIT	110	362	74	93	14	5	2	51	67	29	20	.257
1913	CHC	131	456	99	131	23	10	6	32	77	44	21	.287
1914	CHC	153	577	80	152	24	9	7	46	79	50	16	.263
1915	CIN	107	335	42	75	7	5	0	17	56	38	20	.224
1918	PIT	30	72	14	14	2	3	0	5	19	5	2	.194
Career	—	2156	7959	1355	2143	266	172	63	810	820	666	361	.269

On this day & linked events

1877

Born November 4, 1877

French Creek, NY, USA

1969

Died September 29, 1969

1898

Major-league debut: Tommy Leach

Tommy Leach made a major-league debut on September 28, 1898.

1918

Final major-league game: Tommy Leach

Tommy Leach played a final major-league game on September 2, 1918.

Image: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress), public domain