MVP Profile: Jake Daubert, 1913

First Baseman, Brooklyn Superbas

Age:  29 (Apr. 17)

4^th season with Superbas/Dodgers

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’10” Weight: 160

Prior to 1913:

A native of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, Daubert appeared to be destined to a life of working in the local coal mines until he joined a semipro baseball team in nearby Lykens. Initially a pitcher, he was shifted to first base. In 1907 he joined a team in the Interstate League and moved on to Marion of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League later in the year. Following a trial with Cleveland in 1908 and found to still be unready for the major leagues, he was released and moved on to Nashville of the Class A Southern Association, where he batted .262. Daubert split 1909 between Toledo of the American Association and Memphis of the Southern Association, where he hit .314. He signed a $2000 contract with Brooklyn in 1910 and hit .264 as a rookie with 15 triples, 8 home runs and 50 RBIs. A swift runner and outstanding fielder at first base Daubert improved his batting average to .307 in 1911 and finished ninth in NL MVP voting. A slashing hitter with excellent bat control and good power by “dead ball era” standards, Daubert was a fine bunter and very good fielder. In 1912 he hit .308 with 19 doubles, 16 triples, 3 home runs, and 66 RBIs while also stealing 29 bases and leading all NL first basemen with a .993 fielding percentage. He tied for eighth in the NL MVP balloting. Intelligent, highly respected, and an early advocate for player rights, he was widely considered to be one of the best first basemen in the league and was also notably modest regarding his accomplishments. 

1913 Season Summary

Appeared in 139 games

1B – 138, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 572

At Bats – 508

Runs – 76 [15, tied with Art Fletcher]

Hits – 178 [2]

Doubles – 17

Triples – 7

Home Runs – 2

RBI – 52

Bases on Balls – 44

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 40

Stolen Bases – 25 [16, tied with Rabbit Maranville]

Caught Stealing – 21 [8, tied with Hans Lobert & Joe Connolly]

Average - .350 [1]

OBP - .405 [3]

Slugging Pct. - .423 [11]

Total Bases – 215 [14, tied with Ed Konetchy]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 3

Sac Hits – 17 [19, tied with Art Fletcher, Frank Schulte & Rabbit Maranville]

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading batting average was +.009 ahead of runner-up Gavvy Cravath

Midseason snapshot: HR - 2, RBI - 27, SB – 13, AVG - .348, OBP – .418

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 7/14, (in 5 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 7/16 – 11 innings

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

HR at home – 2

HR on road – 0

Most home runs, game – 1 (in 3 AB) vs. Cincinnati 5/12, (in 3 AB) vs. St. Louis Cards 5/15

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 at Phila. Phillies 4/10, vs. St. Louis Cards 7/23

Pinch-hitting – N/A

Fielding

Chances – 1372

Put Outs – 1279

Assists – 80

Errors – 13

DP – 91

Pct. - .991

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: Chalmers Award

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Jake Daubert, Brook.: 50 pts. - 78% share

Gavvy Cravath, PhilaP.: 40 pts. – 63% share

Rabbit Maranville, BosB.: 23 pts. – 36% share

Christy Mathewson, NYG: 21 pts. – 33% share

Chief Meyers, NYG: 20 pts. – 31% share

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Superbas went 65-84 to finish sixth in the NL, 34.5 games behind the pennant-winning New York Giants while leading the league in fewest walks drawn (361) and playing their first season at Ebbets Field.

Aftermath of 1913:

In 1914 Daubert’s bunting prowess came to the forefront as he set major league records with four sacrifice hits in a game and six in a doubleheader. For the year he once again topped the NL in batting with a .329 average and further accumulated 17 doubles, 7 triples, 6 home runs, 45 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases. Daubert hit .301 in 1915 and led NL first basemen with 102 assists. Brooklyn won the NL pennant in 1916 and Daubert contributed a .316 batting average and a .993 fielding percentage that led the league’s first basemen. But he batted just .176 in the World Series loss to the Red Sox. Daubert’s average dropped to .261 in 1917 but he bounced back to hit .308 in 1918 with a league-leading 15 triples. The season was cut short due to US participation in World War I and when Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets refused to pay the remainder of Daubert’s contract (he had signed a four-year contract in 1914 to keep him out of the clutches of the rival Federal League) Daubert sued Ebbets and, although the case was settled out of court, Daubert was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1919. Named team captain in Cincinnati, he contributed a .276 batting average, 12 triples, and a league-leading 39 sacrifice hits to the club’s championship season. He was back over .300 in 1920, ’21, and ’22 and was still with the Reds in 1924 when, suffering from abdominal pain that was diagnosed as gallstones or appendicitis, surgery was performed from which he failed to recover, dying in October at the age of 40. Overall for his major league career, Daubert batted .303 with 2326 hits that included 250 doubles, 165 triples, and 56 home runs. He also compiled 722 RBIs and 251 stolen bases. Of those totals, 1387 hits, for a .305 average with 138 doubles, 87 triples, 33 home runs, 415 RBIs, and 187 stolen bases came while playing for Brooklyn. His 392 career sacrifice hits remain a NL record. 

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.