Brouthers, "Dan" (Dennis J.)
Baseball
b. May 8, 1858, Sylvan Lake, NY
d. Aug. 2, 1932
Brouthers played for eleven different major league teams, including a record nine NL teams, because he was a star during a turbulent era in baseball.
He began his career with a brief 1880 stint with the Troy, NY, team in the NL, then joined the NL's Buffalo team in 1881. In four-plus seasons with Buffalo, Brouthers combined with Hardie Richardson, Jack Rowe, and Deacon White to form the "Big Four," the era's equivalent of the New York Yankees' "Murderers' Row" of the 1920s and 1930s.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Brouthers, a left-handed hitting first baseman, led the league in home runs with 8 in 1881 and in hitting with a .368 average in 1882 and a .371 average in 1883.
Because of financial problems, Buffalo sold all four stars to Detroit late in the 1885 season. Brouthers was credited with a .419 batting average, second in the league, in 1887, when walks counted as hits. His average without walks was actually .338.
Also in 1887, Brouthers became one of the leaders of the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players, the first association of professional athletes. The movement culminated three years later in the establishment of the Players' League.
The Detroit franchise folded after the 1888 season and Brouthers went to Boston. He led the league in hitting at .373, then joined a Boston team in the Players' League in 1890, when he batted .345.
The league lasted just one season, but Brouthers remained in Boston, this time with an team in the American Association, then a major league. He won his fourth batting title with a .349 average. Brouthers moved to the Brooklyn NL team in 1892. He led the league in doubles with 33 and triples with 20, hitting .335 to tie for the batting title.
After one more year in Brooklyn, he was traded to Baltimore, where he spent the 1894 season. Early in 1895, Brouthers was sold to the Louisville NL team, and he spent his final major league season, 1896, with Philadelphia.
Brouthers continued to play in the minor leagues for several years, winning two more batting championships at that level. He played two games with the New York Giants in 1904 to close out his career. He later worked as a scout for the Giants and was press box attendant and night watchman at the Polo Grounds.