Best All-Time Shortstops Bill Dahlen
"“In the first place, Dahlen, while a great player, never was an observer of discipline. He looked upon rules from the standpoint that they were made only to be broken, and while this has in no way affected his playing ability, still the injury to the team in a disciplinary has been great.”—The Brooklyn Eagle, about Bill Dahlen"
Bill Dahlen started his career with the Chicago Colts, which was the name of the franchise we know as the Cubs went by from 1890 to 1897. He played for Chicago for eight years and had his most success with them, hitting .299/.384/.449.
His best year was in 1894 when he hit 15 home runs and had 108 RBI. It was the only double-digit home run year or triple-digit RBI year he had in his career.
Along with being one of the team’s best players during this time, Dahlen earned a reputation for his fiery attitude on the diamond. The local newspaper wrote of him in 1898, “Dahlen leads the league in one respect. He holds the record for being put out [ejected] of games.
Yesterday was his tenth enforced desertion of his team.” This would continue over the rest of his career. Dahlen was ejected 65 times as either a player or manager over the years.
Dahlen also very much enjoyed the nightlife in Chicago. He and a few of his teammates were called the Dawn Patrol because of their late night partying. His attitude on the field and carousing off the field resulted in a trade from Chicago to Brooklyn, where Dahlen played for the next five years.
Brooklyn was a good team. They won the NL in each of Dahlen’s first two years even though his numbers weren’t as good as they’d been in Chicago. As he moved into his 30s, he dropped from a consistent .380 or above on-base guy to more in the .330 to .360 range. He was still good with the glove, though, and remained a consistent 3 to 5 WAR player until his mid-30s.
By the end of the 1903 season, Brooklyn was tired of his shenanigans. He was traded to the New York Giants, a team he played with for four years.
His manager with the Giants, the legendary John McGraw, claimed Dahlen was the best shortstop in the country and in Dahlen’s second year on the team, they won the World Series.
Dahlen played two more seasons with the Giants, then finished out his career with two seasons with the Boston Doves and two more back in Brooklyn. After his playing career ended, he managed Brooklyn for four years, without much success.
Hall of Fame voters never gave much support to Dahlen. He was on the ballot twice and had less than 2 percent of the vote both times. The Veterans Committee considered him in 1994, but ultimately chose Bid McPhee and George Davis over Dahlen. In 2012, SABR’s 19th Century Committee designated Dahlen its “Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend for 2012.”