The Nine Greatest Orioles Shortstops of All Time

[DrungoHazewood]

It wouldn't be me if I didn't include the guys from before 1954:

The Hall of Famer

1. Hughie Jennings.  667 games for the Orioles, 35.4 WAR, four seasons between +13 and +20 runs in the field.  Hall of Fame, partly for his playing, partly for his later managerial career.  Starter for the three-time NL Champion Orioles from 1894-96.  Hit .401 in 1896.  And until Ron Hunt came along he was the all time leader in being hit by pitch, with a career high of 51 in 130 games in '96.  Also played for and managed the Eastern League Orioles for a few years.

The guy with the cool name you've never heard of

2. Oyster Burns.  332 games for the Orioles, 149 OPS+, 8.0 WAR, -40 fielder for his 11-year career.  Played his age 19-23 seasons for the old American Association Orioles before moving on to Brooklyn.  Led the AA in triples in 1887 with 19.

Guy with a boring name you've never heard of

3. Jimmy Macullar.  292 games for the Orioles, 88 OPS+, 2.1 WAR, -17 fielder in three years.  Was Oyster Burns' predecessor for the AA Orioles.  Hit .203, .191, and .205 in his three years in Baltimore, all as the regular SS.  He would have fit in on the 2019 Orioles because he was called on to pitch two games, which was much more common in the era of 13-man rosters.

The early American Leaguers

4. Wagon Tongue Bill Keister.  266 games, split between the NL and AL O's.  5.1 WAR.  +2 fielder in '99, -24 in '01.  Maybe '01 was the year that gave him his nickname, as he fielded like he was hauling around a wagon tongue.  Although the led the league in triples with 21.  One of those guys from the 1800s who appears to have not played pro ball until he was 24 for reasons lost to history.  And in a move that foreshadowed the O's AAA affiliate future, played for the Eastern League team that moved from Rochester to Ottawa in the middle of the 1898 season.

5. Billy Gilbert.  Played 129 games of a 71 OPS+ for the '02 Orioles as they disintegrated.

The Negro Leagues

TBD.  I am not an expert by any means, and the data is very spotty.  I should go back to some books I have at home to fill this in.  Candidates include Tommy Butts, who started for the Baltimore Elite Giants in the late 30s and 40s, John Beckwith of the mid-20s Black Sox, and Dick Lundy of the 1929-32 Black Sox.

The Minor leaguers

6. Joe Boley.  Starting shortstop for the dynastic 1919-1926 minor league champs.  Played almost every day, had good power, as many as 21 triples and 19 homers.  And hit .300 almost every year, as high as .343.  At the age of 30 he was bought by Connie Mack's A's, around the same time as Lefty Grove, and in six years in the majors he hit .269.  If the Orioles didn't want to win so badly he probably would have had a 15-year MLB career hitting .290. For his time and place he was probably as good as JJ Hardy or Mike Bordick.

7. The Eastern Leaguers... TBD.  Minor league record keeping in the 1900-1910 era was even worse than the MLBs in the 1870s, so bb-ref doesn't have who played what position.

8. Claud Derrick.  Appears to have been the IL Orioles SS From 1912-14.  Mid-.700s OPS, which for that timeframe was pretty good.  Played 113 games in the majors for several teams with a .593.

9. Everett Scott.  Holder of the consecutive games played record prior to Gehrig.  After his MLB career was done he was the starting SS for the '27 Orioles.  Hit .335.

10. Heinie Sand.  Was the O's SS from 1930-33, in his early 30s.  2nd greatest Heinie in Baltimore history after Reitz.  Hit .321 with 17 homers in '30 and declined from there.  Had a six-year career with the Phillies in his 20s where he OPS'd .688.

11. By the mid-to-late 30s you start having situations that look a little like today.  The Orioles had a different shortstop almost every year.  Even though they were often 30, they either just jumped teams or got reassigned every year.  I'm not even going to bother with the list of Bob Gibson (no, not that one), Bill Lillard, Skeeter Newsome...  Although Skeeter had a 12-year MLB career, and right in the middle at 29 he started for the IL O's for a full year.

The Federal League

12. Mickey Doolin.  The Federal League tried to be a 3rd major in 1914-15.  They kind of succeeded, they drew some talent away from the majors, but folded after '15.  The Baltimore Terrapins were not named the Orioles but I'll throw them in here for  completeness.  Doolin was their shortstop, he was 34 and 35 years old.  Had a 79 OPS+ in '14 when the team was over .500, and hit .186 with a 46 OPS+ in '15 when they went 47-107.  Imagine if Richie Martin was old and played 100 years ago.

The National Association

13. John Radcliffe was the Baltimore Canaries' SS in '72 and '73, led the league with 56 games and 297 AB in '72.  Worth 1.6 wins.  His photo on bb-ref looks like an axe murderer.

[Frobby]

Drungo, even for you, that post is awesome.    Must’ve taken a lot of work to put that together.    Thanks for the history lesson.  

[DrungoHazewood]

44 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Drungo, even for you, that post is awesome.    Must’ve taken a lot of work to put that together.    Thanks for the history lesson.  

Thanks.  There was more professional baseball history in Baltimore prior to 1954 than there has been since.  The Orioles name was 72 years old when the Browns moved.  Somebody needs to keep that alive.