Abner Frank Dalrymple (September 9, 1857 – January 25, 1939) was an American

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who hit 43

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s (including 22 in 1884, the second-highest total to that date) and batted .288 with 407 RBI during his 12-season career spent primarily with the Chicago White Stockings. Born in Gratiot, Wisconsin, he played for the Milwaukee Grays, White Stockings, Pittsburgh Alleghenys, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. Dalrymple started his major league career in 1878 with the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

's Milwaukee Grays, and that season, he had a career-high .354 batting average. He spent the next eight seasons with the Chicago White Stockings, for whom he starred as the leadoff hitter on five NL pennant winners. In 1880, Dalrymple led the league in hits (126) and

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

(91). In 1881, he became the first batter known to be given an intentional walk with the bases loaded. He hit four doubles in a game in 1883, which still ties him for the major league record. In 1884, aided by the short right field fence at his home park, Dalrymple hit a career-high 22 home runs and moved into sixth place on the all-time home run list. On the strength of 11 home runs for the 1885 champions, he moved up one place. For the remainder of his career, he hit only six home runs. His hitting declined in 1886, and his major league career ended five years later. Dalrymple died in

Warren, Illinois Warren is a village in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2020 census, down from 1,428 at the 2010 census. Warren was named after Warren Burnett, the first male child born at the site. History Captain Al ...

at age 81.

Disputed 1878 NL batting title

Dalrymple is sometimes cited as one of only three players in MLB history to win a batting title during his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season, a feat which he accomplished in

1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...

. (The other two were Tony Oliva, in 1964, and Ichiro, in 2001.) However, Dalrymple's claim to leading the league in hitting in 1878 has since been disputed–– even though the National League initially awarded him the batting crown for that year, further research has suggested that

Paul Hines Paul Aloysius Hines (March 1, 1855 – July 10, 1935) was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. Born in Virginia, he is credited with winning base ...

actually had a higher batting average that season (.358 to Dalrymple's .354), once one accounts for hits that were made in tie ballgames (at the time, statistics from tie games weren't counted).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalrymple, Abner 1857 births 1939 deaths Baseball players from Wisconsin National League home run champions Major League Baseball left fielders Milwaukee Grays players Chicago White Stockings players Pittsburgh Alleghenys (NL) players Milwaukee Brewers (1891) players Milwaukee (minor league baseball) players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Denver Mountaineers players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Milwaukee Creams players Spokane Bunchgrassers players Macon Central City players Macon Hornets players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players Minneapolis Minnies players Evansville Black Birds players People from Gratiot, Wisconsin People from Warren, Illinois

Disputed 1878 NL batting title

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