Dude Esterbrook

Dude Esterbrook
Third baseman
Born: (1857-06-20)June 20, 1857
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Died: April 20, 1901(1901-04-20) (aged 43)
Middletown, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 1, 1880, for the Buffalo Bisons
Last MLB appearance
July 22, 1891, for the Brooklyn Grooms
MLB statistics
Batting average.261
Runs batted in210
Stolen bases55
Teams
As player
As manager

Thomas John "Dude" Esterbrook (June 20, 1857 – April 30, 1901) was an American Major League Baseball player from Staten Island, New York who played the majority of his games at third base, but did play many games at first base. Esterbrook played for seven different teams during his 11-year career, and had his biggest success in 1884, while playing for the New York Metropolitans, when he batted .314, and was among the leaders in many other batting categories.[1]

In 1889, Esterbrook was named the manager, or "Captain" as it was known then, of the Louisville Colonels. After only ten games, and only two wins, the team owner determined that due to the team's record and his manager's confrontational behavior, Esterbrook would be fired and replaced by Jimmy Wolf.[2]

Esterbrook died at the age of 43 when he leaped from a train, in Middletown, New York, that was transporting him to a mental hospital.[3] He is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.[4]

  1. ^ Baseball-Reference player page
  2. ^ SABR Biography – Chicken Wolf
  3. ^ "OLD-TIME BALL PLAYER DEAD.; T.G. Esterbrook, Who Played with the Metropolitans, Injured by Jumping from a Train". The New York Times. May 1, 1901. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  4. ^ Baseball Almanac player page