Baseball: BASEBALL TRIVIA QUESTION #12---4 HR's in one day

QUIZ

Very few men have hit four home runs in one major league game. I, however, am one of them. I'm also a deserving Hall of Famer and own one of the highest lifetime batting averages in MLB history, at .346. Part of that fact is that, when I was in my late 30's but still good, I engaged in one of my notorious fits of drunken, atrocious behavior and got thrown off my team's train by Niagara Falls. Then, in the process of trying to cross a bridge over the immense body of water way down below, I either slipped and fell or got in a tussle with a railroad employee and fell. Either way, I perished and thus did not go through the last few years of my career, which would have cost me mucho points off my lofty career average. (We didn't take steroids in our late 30's and early 40's back then.)

I also once hit four HR's in one game, as mentioned above. Moreover, it was reported for a very long time that ALL FOUR of these HR's were inside the park jobs. Only recently has the record been set straight, and has it been made known that "only" two of my HR's that day were inside-the-park HR's. Still, that puts me 2 ahead of my colleagues in this very special club, as nobody else has ever hit ANY inside-the-park HR's during a 4-HR game. In that respect, along with several others (see above), I stand alone.

HINT: With due respect to Cap Anson, I am quite possibly the greatest player of the 19th Century.

WHO AM I?

HOOTIE: No waiting time on this one.

EVERYONE: As usual, NO GOOGLE OR OTHER RESEARCH TOOLS.


B.H.N.

OK, I will add a clue, of a sort.

This guy is often said to have the fourth highest lifetime batting average of all time, at .346. The problem I have with that stat is this: The three higher guys are supposed to be Cobb (.367 or .366, depending on which number you use), Hornsby (.358) and Shoeless Fix Jackson (.356). But of those 3 guys--and including THIS guy--Cobb is the ONLY one who played a full career. Hornsby became a part-time player at age 34, artifically raising his career average by avoiding the natural and substantial dropoff in the final years. Jackson, well, he avoided it by throwing World Series games and getting banned for life. And this guy, he avoided it by being a repulsive drunk and finally losing his life in Niagra Falls as a result.

So to me, Tris Speaker (.344 or .345) has the #2 all-time average for a guy with a truly full career, closely followed by Ted Williams and then either Ruth or Heilmann (not sure which hit a higher .342).

Forget all about Lefty O'Doul. He didn't have nearly enough career at bats to count, and was "so great" he was traded at the height of his "career." In my native Bay Area, there are still lots of guys--mostly drunks--who insist he's a Hall of Famer, but they're dreaming.

B.H.N.

OK, I can sense the overwhelming apathy on this question, and since this guy fell to his famous-among-baseball-historians-only death in 1903, I'm not surprised. Also, the miserable injury and pain suffered by Giants Fan (MORPHINE!!!?), and the incredible events in the NCAA Men's Regional Finals, probably make this question truly "Trivial" at this time. It's certainly that way to racing fans.

So, the answer is....

ED DELAHANTY.

And really, folks, back in his alcoholic day, he was one hell of a player. His career averages are favorably skewed by the fact he didn't play those last few lousy years of the "decline phase," like almost everyone else does, but still:

(1) He had a .411 career on-base average, back in a time when lots of players swung at almost anything;

(2) He had a .346 lifetime batting average;

(3) He is #33 all-time in doubles and #13 in triples, so he didn't just slap his way on base, like many Dead Ball Era guys did.

(4) Bill James rates him #12 all time among left fielders, ahead of Joe Medwick (#13) and Goose Goslin (#15), and immediately behind Minnie Minoso (#10) and Billy Williams (#11).

(5) I think James has this part of LF wrong. I would have Minoso at least at #10, probably higher. But I would rate Goslin--a very fine power hitter whose stats got killed by titanic Griffith Stadium--ahead of both Williams and Delahanty, and perhaps Minoso... even though I consider Minoso the best eligible player NOT in the Hall of Fame. I would drop Williams and his wind-aided Wrigley HR's below Delahanty. I might also drop Shoeless Joe Jackson (#6) behind the whole lot of them, simply because I would not want him on any time of mine, ever, PERIOD.

B.H.N.

Interesting story.