Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) the "Iron Batter",[2] was an American star of 19th-century baseball in the United States.

[3] He brought an impressive blend of power and speed to the team, hitting many home runs as well as being one of the fastest players around.

He moved on to the Irvington, New Jersey club and later in 1867 to the New York Mutuals, always a leading team, where he returned for 1868, having caught the eye of Boss Tweed.

In 1870, the Atlantics, with Pike manning second base, finally ended Cincinnati's 93-game winning streak.

In 1871, the National Association was formed as the first professional baseball league, and Pike joined the Troy Haymakers for its inaugural season.

[11] On August 16, 1873, he raced a fast trotting horse named "Clarence" in a 100-yard sprint at Baltimore's Newington Park, and won by four yards with a time of 10 seconds flat, earning $250 ($6,400 today).

The Dark Blues were a poor team, but Pike had another fine season, slugging .574 to lead the league, and coming in 2nd with an on-base percentage of .368.

[10] Pike abandoned the weak Hartford team after a single season, switching to the St. Louis Brown Stockings.

[10] In all, Lip Pike has the National Association career home run (15) and extra base hits (135) records.

[10] Seemingly never content to stay with a team very long, Pike headed to the Cincinnati Reds for the 1877 season.

[10] His play was so poor as to arouse suspicions, and Pike found himself banned from the National League that September.

[2] The Brooklyn Eagle reported that "Many wealthy Hebrews and men high in political and old time baseball circles attended the funeral service.

In 1936, decades after he died, Pike received one vote in the veterans election for the 1936 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting.