Happy belated birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame first basemen Jim Bottomley. Also one of the many great St. Louis Cardinal first basemen and one of the fourteen Cardinal players to win an MVP award.
Career Statistics & Accolades (1922-1937):
.310 BA, 2,313 HITS, 219 HR, 1,422 RBI, .369 OBP, 1,177 RUNS
2x World Series
1928 MVP
Unlike many fellow players he played with, Bottomley left school at 16 to provide for his struggling family. Other than work, he also played semi-baseball to make an extra few bucks, and when a fan in the stands noticed him and had a connection to Branch Rickey, GM of St. Louis Cardinals, Bottomley would go on to play baseball for a living. In 1919, he joined the Cardinals organization for $150 a month. He'd make it to the majors in 1922, and over the next eleven seasons, he complied for a .325 Average and 1,105 RBIs throughout over 5,300 At Bats in a Cardinals uniform. He wasn't a "Homerun Hitter" at his peak. He hit over 40 Doubles and even 20 Triples in a season, averaging 200 hits yearly over a 162-game pace. He averaged a .988% Fielding Percentage at First Base over a 16-year career. To this day, Bottomley still holds the single-season record for the most unassisted double plays as a first baseman.
Despite getting a little unlucky with the injuries starting during his age 31 seasons, Bottomley qualifies as a Hall of Famer in my book. I'll end with this, on a mid-September afternoon in 1924, playing against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Bottomley came to the plate six times and recorded six hits. He hit two home runs, a double, and three singles for 12 RBIs. It's an MLB record for most RBIs in a game, along with Mark Whiten of the Cardinals in 1993.
References:
Jim Bottomley Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bottoji01.shtml
Johnson, Bill. Jim Bottomley via SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jim-bottomley/
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