House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves history: Top 10 outfielders part 2

By Fred Owens

Nick Markakis informing Leo Mazzone about the benefits of decaf. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
Nick Markakis informing Leo Mazzone about the benefits of decaf. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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The history of the Atlanta Braves franchise includes Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Hamilton. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /

Number eight- Sliding Billy

BA OBP SLG OPS AVG+ OBP+ SLG+ wRC+ wOBA WAR fWAR
.339 .456 .413 .868 117 130 109 137 .426 23.8 26.8

No one stole more bases or scored more runs in the 1800s, that William Robert ‘Billy’ Hamilton. Despite his many records and the way fans cheered his base-stealing, the sports pages wrote little about him at the time.

Bill James ranked Billy Hamilton as the ninth-best center fielder of all time in the 1999 edition of The New Historical Baseball Abstract, writing about his “anonymity” of a player that fans nicknamed Sliding Billy.

"“Hamilton was completely invisible in the literature of the sport up to 1960 . . . and was not elected to the Hall of Fame until 1961. He left no legend behind him, no stories, no anecdotes . . ."

The Quakers (Phillies) dominated the National League after acquiring Hamilton in 1890, led by their speedy centerfielder. In his five seasons in Philadelphia, Hamilton led the league in stolen bases four times, walks, runs, and OBP three times, batting average twice and posted a 1.014 OPS in 1893.

In 1895, the Phillies finished 15 games back in third place. Hamilton led the league in walks, runs, steals, and batted .389/.490/.495/.985.  Fangraphs calls that a 6.9 fWAR, .471 wOBA, 157 wRC+ season.

The Phillies wanted Beaneaters third-baseman Billy Nash as their new manager and traded Hamilton to Boston to get him.

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