| Lip Pike | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born:(1845-05-25)May 25, 1845 New York City, U.S. | |
| Died: October 10, 1893(1893-10-10) (aged 48) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 9, 1871, for the Troy Haymakers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 28, 1887, for the New York Metropolitans | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .322 |
| Home runs | 21 |
| Runs batted in | 332 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) the "Iron Batter",[2] was an American star of19th-century baseball in theUnited States.[2][3] His brother,Israel Pike, played briefly for theHartford Dark Blues during the1877 season.
Pike was one of professional baseball's first great sluggers, leading early professional leagues inhome runs four times.[1] Pike possessed "great speed, a powerful, if erratic, throwing arm, and enormous power."[4]
Pike was also the firstJewish baseball star andmanager in America.[5][4]
Pike was Jewish and was born in New York into a JewishDutch family, and grew up inBrooklyn.[6][2] His father Emanuel was ahaberdasher.[7] His mother was Jane, his brothers were Boaz, Israel, and Jacob, and he had a sister Julia.[5] His family moved to Brooklyn when he was very young.[5] Several of Pike's ancestors were Jewish rabbis who emigrated fromPortugal to theNetherlands.
Pike began in baseball when he was 13.[8] Pike first rose to prominence playing for thePhiladelphia Athletics, whom he joined in 1866.[3] He brought an impressive blend of power and speed to the team, hitting manyhome runs as well as being one of the fastest players around. On one occasion he hit five home runs in one game.[2]
However, it was soon brought to light that he and two other Philadelphia players were being given $20 ($430 in current dollar terms) a week to play.[3][9] Since all baseball players were ostensibly amateurs (though many were, like Pike, accepting money under the table), a hearing was set up by the sport's governing body, theNational Association of Base Ball Players. In the end, no one showed up to the hearing, and the matter was dropped. By1869, theCincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly professional team, and Pike's hearing, farcical as it seems to have been, paved the way forHarry Wright's professionalization of baseball. The Athletics were very successful, but Pike was dropped from the team in 1867, because he was from New York, and thus a 'foreigner,' calling his loyalty into question.
He moved on to theIrvington, New Jersey club and later in 1867 to theNew York Mutuals, always a leading team, where he returned for 1868, having caught the eye ofBoss Tweed. In 1869 he moved to theBrooklyn Atlantics, another perennial leader, where he hit .610. In1870, the Atlantics, with Pike manningsecond base, finally ended Cincinnati's 93-game winning streak.
In1871, theNational Association was formed as the first professional baseball league, and Pike joined theTroy Haymakers for its inaugural season. He was their star and for 4 games was the captain andmanager,[3]batting .377 (6th best in the league) and hitting a league-leading 4 home runs.[1] He also led the league inextra base hits (21), and was 2nd inslugging percentage (.654) anddoubles (10), 4th inRBIs (39), 5th intriples (7), 6th inon-base percentage (.400), 9th inhits (49), and 10th inruns (43).[1] The Haymakers only finished 6th, though, and the team's captaincy switched toBill Craver.
The Haymakers revamped their roster for the1872 season, and Pike headed forBaltimore, where he played for theBaltimore Canaries. Pike had another excellent season, leading the league in home runs again (with 6), RBIs (60), and games (56), and coming in 2nd intotal bases (127) and extra base hits (26), 3rd inat bats (288), 5th in doubles (15) and triples (5), 9th in slugging percentage (.441) andstolen bases (8), and 10th in hits (84).[1]
In1873, Pike led the league in home runs for the 3rd consecutive season, hitting 4, and was 2nd in triples (8), 4th in total bases (132), stolen bases (8), and extra base hits (26), 7th in slugging percentage (.462), 8th in doubles (14), RBIs (50), and at bats (286), 9th in hits (90), and 10th in games (56).[1]
Pike was also one of the fastest players in the league. He would occasionally race any challenger for a cash prize, routinely coming out the winner.[10] On August 16, 1873, he raced a fasttrotting horse named "Clarence" in a 100-yard sprint at Baltimore'sNewington Park, and won by four yards with a time of 10 seconds flat, earning $250 ($6,600 today).[3]
Baltimore wentbankrupt after the season, so Pike headed off to captain theHartford Dark Blues for the 1874 season. The Dark Blues were a poor team, but Pike had another fine season, slugging .574 to lead the league, and coming in 2nd with anon-base percentage of .368.[1]
Pike abandoned the weak Hartford team after a single season, switching to theSt. Louis Brown Stockings.[1] For the first time in his professional career, Pike failed to hit a home run, although he stole 25 bases.[1] He also hit 12 triples and 22 doubles (leading the league) in what was probably his finest offensive season.[1]
In all, Lip Pike has the National Association career home run (15) and extra base hits (135) records.
In1876, when theNational League replaced the National Association, Pike stuck with St. Louis. The Brown Stockings turned in a very good season, finishing a solid 2nd to theChicago White Stockings. Pike continued to produce offensively, notching totals of 133 total bases (5th in the league) and 34 extra-base hits (2nd).[1]
Seemingly never content to stay with a team very long, Pike headed to theCincinnati Reds for the1877 season. The Reds finished last. Pike was still a top-quality player, leading the league in home runs for the 4th time in the 1870s.[8] However, age was starting to catch up with the 32-year-old Pike. He began the season as the 8th-oldest player in the league, and was the 4th-oldest player of the 1878 season. The 1878 Reds played very well, though. They finished 2nd, but Pike was replaced byButtercup Dickerson halfway through the season and forced to look elsewhere for a team. He ended up playing a few games for theProvidence Grays, and spent the next two years playing for minor league teams.
Sporting Life subsequently named him an outfielder on its 1870–1880 All-Star team.[2]
Pike got a brief call-up in 1881 to play for theWorcester Worcesters,[11] but the 36-year-old Pike could no longer play effectively, hitting .111 and not managing a single extra base hit in 18at-bats over 5 games.[1] His play was so poor as to arouse suspicions, and Pike found himself banned from the National League that September. He was added to theNational League blacklist in 1881. He turned tohaberdashery,[11] the vocation of his father, and spent another 6 years playing only amateur baseball. He was reinstated in 1883.
In 1887, theNew York Metropolitans of theAmerican Association gave Pike another chance. At 42, he was the oldest player in baseball. The only game he played was more of a sending off than a new start, though, and Pike headed back to his haberdashery once more.
Pike died suddenly ofheart disease at the age of 48 in 1893.[2]The Brooklyn Eagle reported that "Many wealthy Hebrews and men high in political and old time baseball circles attended the funeral service."[12] He was interred in theSalem Fields Cemetery inBrooklyn, New York.
In 1936, decades after he died, Pike received one vote in the veterans election for the1936 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting. He was not included on any further ballots.[2]
Pike was inducted into theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.[5]
Pike was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2016.[citation needed]
Pike was inducted into theNational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.
Pike was the first Jewish manager in major league history and one of only seven all-time.[13]
· Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none | Career home run record holder shared with Levi Meyerle &Fred Treacey 1871 | Succeeded by self |
| Preceded by | Career home run record holder 1872–1879 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Cincinnati Reds (1876–1880) Managers 1877 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
