Highlighted Year: George Van Haltren, 1900

Outfielder, New York Giants

Age: 34

7^th season with Giants

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’11” Weight: 170 

Prior to 1900:

Born in St. Louis, Van Haltren moved with his family to Oakland, California in his early youth in 1868. He began playing baseball in school and joined a local semipro team as a rare lefthanded catcher in 1885. He was converted into a pitcher after joining a top semipro club called the Greenhood & Morans a short-time later with a 16-strikeout performance. Pitching well against visiting teams tof major leaguers in the 1886-87 offseason, he drew the attention of National League clubs. He signed with Pittsburgh in 1887, but instead played for San Francisco of the California League due to his desire to remain close to home while his mother was seriously ill. Pittsburgh transferred his rights to the Chicago White Stockings (now Cubs) and Van Haltren joined the club after his mother’s death in May of 1887. Already having grown the thick mustache that he wore all his adult life, he got off to a rough start as a pitcher for the White Stockings but finished with an 11-7 record and a 3.86 ERA with 76 strikeouts, along with 66 walks, over 161 innings pitched. In addition he played 27 games in the outfield but was unimpressive at the plate. In 1888 he posted a 13-13 tally with a 3.52 ERA, 24 complete games, and 139 strikeouts over 245.2 innings. Appearing in 57 games in the outfield, his batting improved to .283 with 9 doubles, 14 triples, 4 home runs, 34 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, a .329 on-base percentage, and a .437 slugging percentage. In 1889 Van Haltren played exclusively in the outfield (mostly in left) and hit .322 with 20 doubles, 10 triples, 9 home runs, 81 RBIs, 28 stolen bases, a .416 OBP, and a .446 slugging percentage. Jumping to the short-lived Players League in 1890, he returned to the pitching mound with the Brooklyn club and went 15-10 with a 4.28 ERA in his last season as a regular pitcher, although he would take the mound on rare occasions during the remainder of his career. With the demise of the Players League, Van Haltren moved on to Baltimore of the American Association in 1891 where he appeared at shortstop (very unsuccessfully) in addition to the outfield. He batted .318 with 14 doubles, 15 triples, 9 home runs, 83 RBIs, 75 stolen bases, a .398 OBP, and a .443 slugging percentage. Baltimore joined the National League in 1892 where Van Haltren served briefly as player/manager, before being replaced after the club went 1-10 under his direction. The disgruntled player began to play sloppily in the field until being dealt to Pittsburgh late in the season. His batting production for the season was .293 with 22 doubles, 14 triples, 7 home runs, 62 RBIs, 55 stolen bases, a .373 OBP, and a .409 slugging percentage. “Rip”, as he was nicknamed, spent the offseason playing in the Pacific Coast League. Returning to Pittsburgh in 1893 he benefited from the change to the modern pitching distance of 60 Feet, 6 inches and batted .338 with 14 doubles, 11 triples, 3 home runs, 79 RBIs, 37 stolen bases, a .422 OBP, and .423 slugging percentage. In the offseason he was dealt to the Giants where he was installed in center field and as lead-off hitter. A consistent hitter with speed and an able fielder, he batted .331 in 1894 with 22 doubles, 7 home runs, 105 RBIs, 43 stolen bases, a .399 OBP, and a .428 slugging percentage. The Giants finished second to the Baltimore Orioles in the NL pennant race and defeated Baltimore in the Temple Cup series, which would be Van Haltren’s only postseason appearance. He batted .500 in four games against Baltimore and furthermore was chosen as the favorite player of baseball fans in New York and Brooklyn in a vote conducted by The New York Mercury. He followed up in 1895 by hitting .340 with 23 doubles, 19 triples, 8 home runs, 103 RBIs, 32 stolen bases, a .408 OBP, and a .503 slugging percentage. He led the league with 21 triples in 1896 while batting .351 with 18 doubles, 5 home runs, 74 RBIs, 39 stolen bases, a .410 OBP, and a .484 slugging percentage. In 1897 Van Haltren led the league with 31 outfield assists and offensively he hit .329 with 22 doubles, 9 triples, 3 home runs, 64 RBIs, 50 stolen bases, a .376 OBP, and a .415 slugging percentage. In 1898 he hit .312 with 204 hits, 28 doubles, 16 triples, 2 home runs, 68 RBIs, 36 steals, a .372 OBP, and a .413 slugging percentage. Van Haltren remained a solid producer in 1899 as he batted .301 with 27 extra-base hits, 58 RBIs, 31 stolen bases, and a .379 OBP. By 1900 he was well established as an outstanding player on a club that had become mired in controversy and mediocrity.

1900 Season Summary

Appeared in 141 games

CF – 141, P – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 635 [5, tied with Billy Hamilton]

At Bats – 571 [3]

Runs – 114 [3, tied with Jimmy Barrett]

Hits – 180 [6]

Doubles – 30 [5]

Triples – 7

Home Runs – 1

RBI – 51

Bases on Balls – 50 [15]

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 26

Stolen Bases – 45 [1, tied with Patsy Donovan]

Caught Stealing – N/A

Average - .315 [16]

OBP - .371 [18]

Slugging Pct. - .398

Total Bases – 227 [12]

FGDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 1

Sac Hits – 13 [14, tied with Hughie Jennings]

Sac Flies – N/A

Pitching:

G – 1 GS – 0, CG – 0, Record – 0-0, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 3, H – 1, R – 0, ER – 0, HR – 0, BB – 3, SO – 0, ERA – 0.00, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Fielding

Chances – 376

Put Outs – 325

Assists – 28

Errors – 23

DP – 7

Pct. – .939

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The Giants went 60-78 to finish eighth in the NL, 23 games behind the pennant-winning Brooklyn Superbas while leading the league in fewest home runs (23). The slow-starting Giants only got worse in May and June, after which they were firmly ensconced in the NL cellar, from which they never emerged the rest of the way.

Aftermath of 1900:

In 1901, Van Haltren led NL outfielders with 23 assists. He had another solid season at the plate, batting..335 with 23 doubles, 6 triples, a home run, 47 RBIs, 24 stolen bases, a .396 OBP, and a .405 slugging percentage. He began to show decline in 1902 at age 37 and was batting only .250 in May when a broken ankle sidelined him for the remainder of the season. His time with the Giants came following a 1903 season in which he lost his starting job in center field and hit .257 in a part-time role. For his major league career, Van Haltren batted .316 with 2544 hits that included 286 doubles, 161 triples, and 69 home runs. He scored 1642 runs and compiled 1015 RBIs, 583 stolen bases, a .386 OBP, and a .418 slugging percentage. With the Giants he batted .321 with 1580 hits, 976 runs scored, 195 doubles, 88 triples, 29 home runs, 605 RBIs, 320 stolen bases, a .384 OBP, and a .414 slugging percentage. After leaving the Giants, Van Haltren returned to the West Coast where he was a player/manager for several seasons in the Pacific Coast League and after that a PCL umpire. He also scouted for the Pittsburgh Pirates He also regularly participated in Old Timers Games on the West Coast and died at age 79 in 1945. Efforts to achieve his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame fell short.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.