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Billy Hamilton

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Baseball Player

The Resume

    (February 16, 1866-December 16, 1940)
    Born in Newark, New Jersey
    Outfielder for the Kansas City Cowboys (1888-89), Philadelphia Phillies (1890-95) and Boston Beaneaters (1896-1901)
    Led the National League twice in batting average (1891,1893), four times in runs scored (1891,1894-95,1897), five times in walks (1891,1894-97) and five times in stolen bases (1889-91,1894-95)
    Career batting average: .344 (tied for 7th all-time with Ted Williams)
    Career on-base percentage: .455 (4th all-time)
    Nicknamed 'Sliding Billy'
    Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee (1961)

Why he might be annoying:

    His career stolen bases totals are inflated by the fact that for much of his career, a player was credited with a steal for gaining extra bases on a hit (i.e., a runner who went from first to third on a single would be credited with a steal); the modern steal rule went into effect in 1898.
    Due to sloppy record keeping in baseball's early days, his exact career totals for most stats are uncertain; for instance, depending on the source, his career stolen bases total is either 912, 914 or 937.
    He was not a very colorful player, which may be why, despite great statistics, he was overlooked for the Hall of Fame until 1961.
    A collectors guide declared that 'just abut 100%' of memorabilia with his signature on it is a forgery.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He batted and threw left handed.
    He popularized the head-first slide.
    He is one of only three players with more career runs scored than games played: 1690 (or 1691 or 1697) runs in 1591 (or 1594) games.
    After more than a century, he still holds the record for most runs in a season, 198 in 1894, which was only a 129-game season (compared to the modern 162-game season).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 72 Votes: 50.0% Annoying