Hugh "Sir Hugh" Duffy (1866-1954)
5'7"
BR TR
Debut June 23, 1888
Final Game April 13, 1906
HOF 1945
Hugh Duffy broke in with Cap Anson's Chicago White Stockings in 1888 as a 21 year old outfielder. A mere 5'7", when he walked into Anson's office, Anson reportedly asked "Where's the rest of you?" Duffy played two seasons for the White Stockings before jumping to the upstart Players League in 1890. He batted .320 for the Chicago Pirates, beginning a stretch of seven seasons batting above .300. When the Players League collapsed, Duffy joined the Boston Reds in the American Association, where he batted .336 with 85 stolen bases and just 29 strike outs. But the American Association collapsed after that season, and again Duffy changed leagues. This time to the Boston Beaneaters, where he teamed up with fellow outfielder Tommy McCarthy to form 'the heavenly twins.' Here, Duffy became famous for his outstanding defensive play in addition to his superb hitting. In 1894, Duffy reached his peak, batting a record .440 (corrected from the original .438) with 18 home runs, 145 rbi's, a monster .502 obp, and thus the triple crown (just the second time in history for such a feat).
Duffy batted .300 four more times in his career for a total of 11 .300+ seasons. This includes hitting .300 in 4 different major leagues (NL, AA, PL, AL), a feat accomplished by no one else in history. He managed teams for several seasons in the early 1900's and 20's, but never had much success. He settled down in the Red Sox orgonization as a coach, and was Ted William's hitting coach at the beginning of Teddy's career. Duffy was elected to the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee in 1945. He died October 9, 1954 at the age of 86. His career batting average was .324 amassing 2,282 hits, 119 3b's, 106 hr's 574 sb, and a career fielding % of .943 (OF).
