Ned Williamson

Ned Williamson
	Ned Williamson
	Catcher
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
	Born: {{{birthdate}}}
MLB Debut
	May 1, 1878 for the Indianapolis Blues
Final game
	September 27, 1890 for the Chicago Pirates
Career Statistics
AVG	.255
HR	64
RBI	667
Teams
	Indianapolis Blues (1878); Chicago White Stockings (1879-1889); Chicago Pirates (1890);
Career Highlights and Awards
	1883: Williamson set the single season double record with 49; 1884: Williamson set the single season home run record with 27;

Edward Nagle Williamson (October 24, 1857 - March 3, 1894) was a Major League baseball player for the Indianapolis Blues (1878), Chicago White Stockings (1879-1889), and Chicago Pirates (1890). He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1883, Williamson set the single season double record with 49 using the short dimensions of Chicago's Lakeshore Park, which fences were 180' in left field, 300' in center field, and 196' in right field. If a ball was hit over the fence it was counted as a double until 1884, which it then became a home run. His doubles record stood until Tip O'Neill of the St. Louis Browns hit 52 in 1887.

In 1884, Williamson set the single season home run record with 27 in a 112-game season, besting the record of 14 set by Harry Stovey the previous year. This record stood for thirty-five years, finally topped by Babe Ruth in 1919, when he hit 29 for the Boston Red Sox in a 140 game schedule. On May 30 of that year, he became the first major league baseball player to hit 3 home runs in one game. Historians look upon Williamson's records skeptically, due to those all-too-friendly dimensions of Lakeshore Park. Williamson hit 25 of his 27 home runs in Chicago (the other 2 were in Buffalo). Many historians did not know of the shortened fence, and he actually received some support for the Hall of Fame in the 1950s.

Williamson died at the age of 35 of dropsy complicated by consumption^[1] in Willow Springs, Arkansas. He was laid to rest at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.^[2]

References[]

↑ Too Young to Die. Retrieved October 11, 2006.
↑ Ned Williamson Stats. Retreived October 11, 2006.

External links[]

Baseball-Reference.com - Major league career statistics
BaseballLibrary.com
A Short History of the Single Season Home Run Record

Preceded by: King Kelly	Single season doubles record holders 1883-1886	Succeeded by: Tip O'Neill
Preceded by: Buck Ewing	National League Home Run Champion 1884	Succeeded by: Abner Dalrymple
Preceded by: Harry Stovey	Single season home run record holder 1884-1919	Succeeded by: Babe Ruth

Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	1857
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	1894
PLACE OF DEATH

[1] Too Young to Die. Retrieved October 11, 2006.

[2] Ned Williamson Stats. Retreived October 11, 2006.

[1]

[2]