Dave Orr

David L. "Dave" Orr (September 29, 1859 – June 2, 1915) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1883 through 1890.

Orr played most of his career in the American Association for the New York Metropolitans (1883–1887), Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888) and Columbus Solons (1889).

He was also the first batter to compile more than 300 total bases in a season, and he was the first player with at least 3,000 plate appearances to retire with a slugging percentage above .500 (.502).

[3] Orr hit .371 in 1890, but his career was cut short by a stroke suffered during an exhibition game at the end of the 1890 season.

[3] In April 1887, Orr sustained serious injuries and reported to be in critical condition after colliding with catcher Andy Sommers, as both players were pursuing a batted ball.

Orr's injuries included a dislocated knee, a badly bruised breast, his front teeth broken off, his tongue bitten through, and hemorrhaging.

In his first game as manager on June 3, 1887, Orr had to be carried off the field after a blood vessel in his leg burst while sliding into second base.

Columbus played St. Louis in that final game of the season, and Orr came to bat with the score tied and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

It crossed the canal, hit just above the second-story window of a cottage, bounded and rolled up an alley – and Comiskey's men yielded the pennant.

"[19]Orr reportedly hit the historic home run against St. Louis with the bat that he famously named "Charlotte."

"[20] On January 22, 1890, Orr signed with the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders in the newly formed Players' League.

In June 1890, Orr became the first Brooklyn player to hit the ball over the left field fence at Eastern Park.

In early September 1890, Sporting Life observed: "Big Dave Orr is batting like great guns, and is keeping the leader, Browning, guessing.

"[25] Despite appearing in only 107 games in 1890 and still ranked among the Players' League leaders in batting average (.371), RBIs (124), slugging percentage (.534), hits (172), total bases (248), and doubles (32).

"[27] In September 1891, 4,000 tickets were sold for "a grand benefit picnic" held in Orr's honor at Euler's Washington Park, the home of the Brooklyn baseball club.

Former teammates, including John Montgomery Ward attended, and the park was lit with Chinese lanterns, a marching band led a parade, and a dance platform was "festooned with flags."

Though largely forgotten in the modern era, Orr was remembered by both fellow players and sports writers as one of the greatest hitters of the 19th century.

"[31] In 1898, the editor of Sporting Life recalled Orr once hitting a ball over the fence (400 feet from home plate) and wrote: "Dave Orr, that broad chested, good-natured big chap, who once held down a place on the Brooklyn team, in his day was the hardest hitting batsman in League or Association.

I have seen him wallop a ball so far over the outfielders' heads that it took a search warrant to get it back again, and every third baseman crossed himself and muttered the last prayers of the dying whenever he stalked to the plate.

"[32] Years later, another account in Sporting Life observed: "He was a mighty slugger and his home-run drives earned him the reputation of being the greatest batter in the world.

"[33] In his eight-season career, Orr posted a .342 batting average (1125-for-3289) with 37 home runs and 627 RBI in 791 games.

[33] In June 1915, Orr died at his niece's home at 1211 Stuthoff Avenue in the Richmond Hill section of the New York City borough of Queens in 1915.

In a talk on general subjects the last time he was in the press box at Washington Park, the veteran remarked that he never said anything derogatory against anybody, and that was true.