10 Obscure Baseball Hall Of Fame Hitters Who Should Not Be Forgotten

2. Billy Hamilton

Who He Was: Played 1888 to 1901 for the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Beaneaters When Billy Hamilton, currently an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds, was about to come into the majors in 2013, sportswriters heralded his arrival by saying he might be the fastest man to ever play the game. But at the time, few seemed to recall that a Billy Hamilton had already been among the fastest men ever to play the game. More than a century ago, an outfielder with the same name put on a career-long display of speed that has rarely come close to being matched. The original Billy Hamilton stole 914 bases, an amazing total that has him in third place on the all-time list, after only Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock. Hamilton, in his 14 year career, averaged more steals per season than either of those other two great base thieves. He led his league in steals five times, including four in which he reached or surpassed the 100 mark. Not only was Hamilton a master base stealer, he was also one of the best hitters of his era as is shown by his two batting titles (.340 in 1891 and .380 in 1893), his lifetime average of .344 (7th all-time), a .455 on base percentage (4th all-time), and his four consecutive seasons of over 150 runs scored, including an astonishing 198 runs in 1894, a record that has stood unthreatened for 120 years.