David Leonard Brain (January 24, 1879 – May 25, 1959) was an
infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.
Standard arrangement of positions
In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
/
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
who played for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
(1901),
St. Louis Cardinals (1903–1905),
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...
(1905),
Boston Beaneaters
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
/
Doves
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
(1906–1907),
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
(1908) and
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
(1908). Brain batted and threw right-handed. He was born in
Hereford, England.
Brain was an unreliable fielder who showed some power with his bat and good speed on the basepaths. In 1903 for the St. Louis Cardinals he
stole 21 bases and hit 15
triples
TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...
, including two three-triple games to become the only player in
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
history to perform the feat twice in a season.
But his accomplishments were overshadowed by his 67
errors – 41 at
shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...
and 22 at
third base
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
.
In 1904 Brain played around the infield, hitting 24
doubles with 12 triples and 18 stolen bases, and also posted a career-high with 72
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...
. In 1905 he divided his playing time between St. Louis and the Pittsburgh Pirates, and played the next two seasons with the Boston teams of the National League. Brain led the league with 10 home runs in 1907 at age 28, but the following season was his last; Brain appeared in 27 games with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants while hitting no home runs.
In a seven-season career, Brain was a .252 hitter with 27 home runs and 303 RBI in 679 games.
Brain died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 80.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit so far that the batter is able to circle all the bases ending at home plate, scoring himself plus any runners already on base, with no errors by the defensive team on the play. An automatic ...
References
External links
Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Dave
Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park
National League home run champions
Boston Beaneaters players
Boston Doves players
Chicago White Sox players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Cincinnati Reds players
New York Giants (NL) players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Major League Baseball infielders
Major League Baseball outfielders
Major League Baseball players from the United Kingdom
Major League Baseball players from England
English baseball players
Sportspeople from Hereford
1879 births
1959 deaths
Chicago White Stockings (minor league) players
Des Moines Hawkeyes players
St. Paul Saints (Western League) players
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
St. Paul Saints (AA) players