MOP Squad Sports - Jim Bottomley
     
 

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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?


Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG SLG
1922 STL NL 37 151 29 49 8 5 5 35 6 13 3 .325 .543
1923 STL NL 134 523 79 194 34 14 8 94 45 44 4 .371 .535
1924 STL NL 137 528 87 167 31 12 14 111 35 35 5 .316 .500
1925 STL NL 153 619 92 227 44 12 21 128 47 36 3 .367 .578
1926 STL NL 154 603 98 180 40 14 19 120 58 52 4 .299 .506
1927 STL NL 152 574 95 174 31 15 19 124 74 49 8 .303 .509
1928 STL NL 149 576 123 187 42 20 31 136 71 54 10 .325 .628
1929 STL NL 146 560 108 176 31 12 29 137 70 54 3 .314 .568
1930 STL NL 131 487 92 148 33 7 15 97 44 36 5 .304 .493
1931 STL NL 108 382 73 133 34 5 9 75 34 24 3 .348 .534
1932 STL NL 91 311 45 92 16 3 11 48 25 32 2 .296 .473
1933 CIN NL 145 549 57 137 23 9 13 83 42 28 3 .250 .395
1934 CIN NL 142 556 72 158 31 11 11 78 33 40 1 .284 .439
1935 CIN NL 107 399 44 103 21 1 1 49 18 24 3 .258 .323
1936 STL AL 140 544 72 162 39 11 12 95 44 55 0 .298 .476
1937 STL AL 65 109 11 26 7 0 1 12 18 15 1 .239 .330
      1991 7471 1177 2313 465 151 219 1422 664 591 58 .310 .500
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG SLG