No one who ever saw any of these guys play is still alive today to tell us about it. Yet baseball statisticians have gleaned enough information from the raw stats available from that distant past to be able to draw some reasonable conclusions regarding the relative value of these 19th-century players. Primarily using WAR, though also drawing from other published accounts I’ve read over the years, here’s my top ten list of the best players of baseball’s first half-century.
Curry Foley was the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit for the cycle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
1) Cap Anson
2) George Davis
3) Roger Connor
4) Dan Brouthers
5) Bill Dahlen
6) Jesse Burkett
7) Ed Delahanty
8) Billy Hamilton
9) Jake Beckley
10) Willie Keeler
Honorable mention to Sam Thompson, Buck Ewing, King Kelly, Jack Glasscock, Cupid Childs, George Van Haltren (the Andy Van Slyke of his era), and Jim O’Rourke.
Bill's Top Ten Lists 