Induction
Information
Elected to Hall of Fame by Veterans Committee in 1974, Player
Born: April 23, 1900, in Oglesby, Illinois
Died: December 11, 1959, in St.Louis, Missouri
ML Debut: 8/18/1922
Primary Position: First Baseman
Bats: L Throws: L
Played For: St. Louis Cardinals (1922-1932), Cincinnati
Reds (1933-1935), St. Louis Browns (1936-1937)
Managed: St. Louis Browns (1937)
Post-Season: 1926 World Series, 1928 World Series, 1930
World Series, 1931 World Series
Awards: 1928 National League Most Valuable Player
Bio
With a disposition that earned him the nickname “Sunny Jim, “ James
Leroy Bottomley became the first league Most Valuable Player to
emerge from a team’s own farm system. Bottomley played over 1,800
games at first base and held a lifetime batting average of .310 with
nine .300-plus seasons during his 16-year career. In 1928, Bottomley
led the National League in home runs and RBI and captured the Most
Valuable Player Award, while leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the
World Series, one of four Fall Classics in which he would play.
Quote
"I noticed one thing that day and that was that Bottomley could
field. By the sinews of Joshua, how he could field! He had those
flat stretching muscles that enabled him to extend himself far past
normal. His reach from wrist to ankle was sublime. And he could hit,
too. He made one of the longest hits ever slugged out on the old
Cardinal park that day. And so we tied him up shoes and all."
— Branch Rickey on the day he first saw Bottomley
Did You Know... that in 1936, Jim Bottomley set the
single-season record for most unassisted double plays by a first
baseman with eight? |