The next card from my early custom set, "19th Century Base Ball
Champions" to get the spotlight here on the blog is that of "The Crab",
Jesse Burkett, one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen:
Really
fun set to design and produce.
Over his 16 year baseball career, which
began in 1890 as a player in the short-lived Players League and last
through the 1905 season with Boston in the American League, Burkett was
nothing short of astounding, hitting at a .338 clip, with three batting
titles, including two straight .400 campaigns in 1895 and 1896 that saw
him hit .405 and .410 respectively for the Cleveland Spiders.
He
missed a third .400 season in 1899 when he hit .396 in his first season
with St. Louis of the National League, picking up 221 hits in 558
at-bats, one of six 200-hit seasons he'd have over his amazing career.
By
the time he retired, he finished with 2850 hits, 1720 runs scored,
including 160 in 1896 in only 133 games, 389 stolen bases and a .415
lifetime on-base-percentage, along with nine 100-run campaigns and seven
.350+ seasons.
If not for an injury shortened 1891 season
that saw him play in only 40 games, he would have easily reached the
3000 hit plateau, which would have made him only the second player
behind Cap Anson at that time to attain the lofty mark.
In
1946, he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the "Old Timer's Committee",
the precursor to the Veteran's Committee, and rightly so.
