Richard J. Pearce (February 29, 1836 – September 18, 1908) known as Dickey Pearce was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

playerDickey Pearce
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed November 18, 2009
Archived
11/18/09 and one of the sport's most famous early figures. He was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and began playing with the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1857. He continued his career in the National Association and the early years of

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 ...

. It is possible Pearce was one of the first baseball players to earn money for playing the game professionally. Pearce is given credit for pioneering the

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

position. Pearce introduced his "tricky hit" to baseball, known today as the bunt. For much of his career, the rules permitted the ball to roll foul and still be a hit.Dickey Pearce
at baseballlibrary.com, URL accessed November 18, 2009
Archived
11/18/09 Pearce played professionally for 22 years, spanning the generation from the game's beginnings to 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 ...

. In the June 30, 1868 edition of the St. Louis Times, the paper said of him: "Pearce has been noted as a superior shortstop for ten years and to-day has no equal in the base ball field. He bats with great judgment and safety..." After retiring from playing, Pearce umpired into the mid-1880s.

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* Major League Baseball shortstops Brooklyn Atlantics (NABBP) players Brooklyn Excelsiors players New York Mutuals players New York Mutuals managers Brooklyn Atlantics players St. Louis Brown Stockings (NA) players St. Louis Brown Stockings players Baseball player-managers 1836 births 1908 deaths Ludlow (minor league baseball) players Rhode Islands players Quincy Quincys players Baseball players from Brooklyn St. Louis Brown Stockings managers {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub