Deacon White’s career began three years before the National Association was formed. He then played twenty Major League seasons. In the 1870s (from age 23 to 31), White hit .345/.358/.437, good for an OPS+ of 151. Despite his dominance, he wasn’t able to pad his career totals. Seasons were short back then and White played in only 525 games (he missed only eight of his team’s games despite being a barehanded catcher).
White accumulated 23.7 WAR in those 533 team-games. If you prorate those 533 games across nine 162-game seasons, suddenly White could have earned 64.8 WAR. Of course, it’s impossible to say he would have accumulated that WAR total across full seasons, but it gives you an idea of White’s relative value.
But White wasn’t done there. In the 1880s he converted to third base and added another 20 WAR and 1221 hits (in 1035 games with a 114 OPS+) to his resume. His career totals include a .312/.346/.393 line, good for an OPS+ of 127. He collected 2067 hits. But remember—his prime is not represented well in those totals (neither the counting stats nor the rate stats). He didn’t play 100 games in a season until he was 36 years old. In fact, he played more games from ages 35 to 42 than he did from age 23 to 34.
White was the first player inducted to the Hall of Fame after the launch of the Hall of Stats.
WAR | WAA | adjWAR | adjWAA |
---|---|---|---|
About the stats | |||
45.5 | 21.8 | 76.2 | 25.2 |
Bat | Run | DP | Fld | Pos | Pit |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
257 | -7 | 0 | -19 | 47 | -7 |
Year | Team | WAA | WAR |
---|---|---|---|
1871 | CLE (CFC) | 0.3 | 0.8 |
1872 | CLE (CFC) | 0.6 | 0.9 |
1873 | BOS (BNA) | 1.7 | 2.7 |
1874 | BOS (BNA) | 0.7 | 1.9 |
1875 | BOS (BNA) | 3.1 | 4.4 |
1876 | CHC | 2.6 | 3.7 |
1877 | BSN (ATL) | 2.4 | 3.4 |
1878 | CIN (CNR) | 1.5 | 2.4 |
1879 | CIN (CNR) | 2.5 | 3.7 |
1880 | CIN (CNR) | 0.0 | 0.6 |
1881 | BUF | 0.0 | 1.3 |
1882 | BUF | -0.1 | 1.2 |
1883 | BUF | -0.3 | 1.2 |
1884 | BUF | 3.3 | 4.9 |
1885 | BUF | 0.6 | 2.1 |
1886 | DTN | 0.8 | 2.7 |
1887 | DTN | 0.6 | 2.3 |
1888 | DTN | 1.5 | 3.5 |
1889 | PIT | -0.4 | 0.4 |
1890 | BUF (BFB) | 0.3 | 1.6 |
Player (Hall Rating) | Similarity |
---|---|
Home Run Baker (122) | 179 |
Mickey Cochrane (109) | 182 |
Bill Dickey (131) | 183 |
David Wright (94) | 197 |
Cupid Childs (85) | 198 |
King Kelly (108) | 229 |
Larry Doyle (83) | 229 |
Fred Lynn (93) | 229 |
Kirby Puckett (93) | 231 |
Andrew McCutchen (86) | 231 |
Tony Lazzeri (80) | 234 |
Gene Tenace (103) | 234 |
Stan Hack (98) | 248 |
Heinie Groh (92) | 255 |
Ernie Lombardi (82) | 256 |
Bob Elliott (86) | 259 |
Wally Schang (103) | 260 |
Jorge Posada (88) | 263 |
Joe Mauer (113) | 265 |
Gabby Hartnett (131) | 270 |