Ezra Ballou Sutton (September 17, 1849 – June 20, 1907) was an American

third baseman 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 Baseball scorekeep ...

in the National Association and

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 ...

from 1871 to 1888. Sutton collected 1,574

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

during this time period; he had a lifetime

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .294. Like many players in an era when walks were more rare, Sutton did not walk a lot, only drawing 169 walks in more than 5,500 plate appearances. By almost all measures, Sutton had his two best seasons in and – he collected 203 runs and 296 hits during those seasons. On May 8, 1871, Sutton hit the first

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 ( ...

in professional baseball history for the

Cleveland Forest Citys The Forest Citys were a short lived professional baseball team based in Cleveland in the early 1870s. The actual name of the team, as shown in standings, was Forest City, not "Cleveland". The name "Forest Citys" was used in the same generic sty ...

against the Chicago White Stockings. He would go on to hit another home run later in the game but Cleveland still lost the game 14–12. The

Seneca Falls, New York Seneca Falls is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 9,027 at the 2020 census. The Town of Seneca Falls contains the former village also called Seneca Falls. The town is east of Geneva, New York, in the north ...

born Sutton came to the

in 1870 from the Alert club of

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

(who had played the Forest Citys twice in 1869), and then joined the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

in 1873 after the Cleveland club failed. As third baseman for each he had the unique distinction of playing in both the first National Association game on May 4, 1871 and the first

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 ...

game on April 22, 1876. But his main team was the

Boston Red Caps The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

(later redubbed the "Beaneaters") where he won pennants in 1877, 1878, and 1883. After the National League's formation in 1876, he was one of the first several players to collect 1,000 hits in the major leagues. Sutton died at a private hospital in Braintree, Massachusetts.Sutton, Old-Time Ball Player, Dead
''The New York Times'', June 21, 1907.

External links

Baseball Almanac

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Ezra Major League Baseball third basemen Cleveland Forest Citys (NABBP) players Cleveland Forest Citys players Philadelphia Athletics (NA) players Philadelphia Athletics (NL) players Boston Red Caps players Boston Beaneaters players Baseball players from Seneca County, New York People from Seneca Falls, New York Rochester Jingoes players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Milwaukee Creams players Hartford (minor league baseball) players 1849 births 1907 deaths