So... over at the 19th c. forum, people are putting up their all-time Jurassic era teams, and not one single person does not have Billy Hamilton starting in the outfield and (if they wrote a batting order) leading off, and on this forum, Rickey's doing quite well on the "best position player" threads, so I'd like to know what y'all think- who was a better leadoff man, Billy Hamilton or Rickey Henderson?
I go for Billy. They were both so outstanding at what they did that it's rather silly, of course, but as a pure leadoff man, I think Billy had the edge. Rickey in numbers was a better pure base thief, but I don't think that's fair to Billy, since he was the first great one ever- pioneering the slide into base (hence Sliding Billy). During the fleet part of Billy's career, when he had three straight 100+ steal seasons, the stolen base rules were not the same as the modern ones, and his totals are inflated, however, the first year of the modern rules- 1898- he still managed 54 in 100 games, even though by that time his legs were mostly shot from injuries.
But in terms of getting on base and scoring runs (what I assume are the leadoff man's primary functions (actually, I suppose they're everybody's functions))- nobody in history was better than Billy, but no wonder, when you combine a .344 lifetime average with five times leading the league in walks (in 11 full non-injury seasons), you get the 4th highest OBP all-time (he led the league there five times as well). In fact, Billy's career mark of .455 is way better than Henderson's best single season (.439 in 1990, the only time in his long career he led the league).
Billy also managed to straddle two eras better than anyone- his first batting title came before they moved the plate back and his second one afterward (and his .400 year). His only full season of the 1890's that he didn't finish in the top 6 in hitting was 1897, but he still led the league in runs (152) and walks. His single season mark of 192 runs scored seems likely to last forever, and he is one of three (as far as I know) players post 1876 to reitre with more runs scored than games played. Rickey managed to finish in the top five in batting just 3 times in his career, and the comparisons in OPS+, rc/27, etc. all give Billy the nod.
So, I look forward to reading all of the counterpoint arguments for Rickey.
I go for Billy. They were both so outstanding at what they did that it's rather silly, of course, but as a pure leadoff man, I think Billy had the edge. Rickey in numbers was a better pure base thief, but I don't think that's fair to Billy, since he was the first great one ever- pioneering the slide into base (hence Sliding Billy). During the fleet part of Billy's career, when he had three straight 100+ steal seasons, the stolen base rules were not the same as the modern ones, and his totals are inflated, however, the first year of the modern rules- 1898- he still managed 54 in 100 games, even though by that time his legs were mostly shot from injuries.
But in terms of getting on base and scoring runs (what I assume are the leadoff man's primary functions (actually, I suppose they're everybody's functions))- nobody in history was better than Billy, but no wonder, when you combine a .344 lifetime average with five times leading the league in walks (in 11 full non-injury seasons), you get the 4th highest OBP all-time (he led the league there five times as well). In fact, Billy's career mark of .455 is way better than Henderson's best single season (.439 in 1990, the only time in his long career he led the league).
Billy also managed to straddle two eras better than anyone- his first batting title came before they moved the plate back and his second one afterward (and his .400 year). His only full season of the 1890's that he didn't finish in the top 6 in hitting was 1897, but he still led the league in runs (152) and walks. His single season mark of 192 runs scored seems likely to last forever, and he is one of three (as far as I know) players post 1876 to reitre with more runs scored than games played. Rickey managed to finish in the top five in batting just 3 times in his career, and the comparisons in OPS+, rc/27, etc. all give Billy the nod.
So, I look forward to reading all of the counterpoint arguments for Rickey.
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