19th Century Dick Higham
Full Name: Richard "Dick" Higham
Height: 5'8" Weight: 171 lbs
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Born: Jul 24, 1851 in Ipswich, County Suffolk, England
Major League Debut: Jun 1, 1870
Died: Mar 18, 1905 in Chicago, IL


CAREER BATTING STATISTICS
 BATTING
YEAR TEAM LG AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1878
1880
 NY
Bal
NY
NY
CHI
Har
Prv
Try
 NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NL
NL
NL
 .362
.343
.314
.261
.272
.327
.320
.200
 21
50
49
65
57
67
62
1
 94
245
245
333
272
312
281
5
 21
72
57
58
56
59
60
1
 34
84
77
87
74
102
90
1
 3
10
5
14
10
21
22
0
 1
1
4
3
3
2
1
0
 0
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
 9
38
34
37
22
35
29
0
 2
2
2
4
0
2
5
0
 0
3
1
0
1
7
16
0
 .375
.348
.320
.270
.236
.331
.332
.200
 .415
.416
.367
.330
.288
.407
.416
.200
Totals AVG
.307		 G
372		 AB
1787		 R
384		 H
549		 2B
85		 3B
15		 HR
4		 RBI
204		 BB
17		 K
28		 OBP
.314		 SLG
.410


CAREER FIELDING STATISTICS
YEAR TEAM LG POS G Ch PO A E DP FPCT
1871
1871
1871
1872
1872
1872
1872
1872
1873
1873
1873
1874
1874
1874
1875
1875
1875
1875
1875
1875
1875
1876
1876
1876
1876
1878
1878
1880
1880
 Mut
Mut
Mut
Bal
Bal
Bal
Bal
Bal
Mut
Mut
Mut
Mut
Mut
Mut
Chi
Chi
Chi
Mut
Mut
Mut
Mut
Har
Har
Har
Har
Prv
Prv
Try
Try
 NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
NL
 2B
C
OF
1B
2B
3B
C
OF
2B
C
OF
2B
C
OF
2B
C
OF
1B
2B
C
OF
SS
2B
C
OF
C
OF
OF
C
 12
1
8
1
5
2
25
24
18
17
19
1
48
33
13
24
14
2
6
8
3
1
1
13
59
1
62
1
1
 79
8
18
12
23
10
183
41
82
139
21
3
344
33
89
151
15
15
46
46
2
5
5
66
84
3
127
0
1
 29
6
14
9
10
2
131
29
35
100
15
2
248
13
34
110
11
12
23
27
2
1
3
38
57
1
76
0
1
 30
0
0
0
6
2
24
1
25
17
0
0
45
2
38
14
1
0
14
7
0
3
2
14
16
1
27
0
0
 20
2
4
3
7
6
28
11
22
22
6
1
51
18
17
27
3
3
9
12
0
1
0
14
11
1
24
0
0
 3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
1
0
0
4
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
4
0
0
 0.592
0.750
0.778
0.750
0.588
0.250
0.824
0.725
0.614
0.820
0.714
0.667
0.829
0.419
0.667
0.803
0.786
0.800
0.719
0.692
1.000
0.800
1.000
0.788
0.869
0.667
0.811
-.---
1.000
Totals G
423		 Ch
1651		 PO
1039		 A
289		 E
323		 DP
24		 FPCT
0.804


[Bio information by Larry R. Gerlach and Harold V. Higham, SABR 2001]

Richard Dick Higham is one of the forgotten pioneers of professional baseball's formative years. He is one of only a few dozen men who played the full term of baseball's first professional leage, the National Association (1871-1875), and the early years of the National League (1876-1880). While the average career of a professional player was six years, Higham played for a decade. He ranked among the foremost players of the day, but his subsequent banishment as an umpire by the National League in 1882 has obscurred his accomplishments as a player.

His career, which began in the amateur era and spanned the 1870's, illustrated many of the common characteristics of the times - growling, hippodroming, erratic performances, and frequently switching teams and leagues. Participating in the inaugural seasons of both the professional National Association and the National League, he played with and against the great names of early major league baseball. Higham was known as an excellent batter, posting a career batting average of .307, besting .300 five times. Unusually versatile, he played mostly catcher, second base, and right field, but also appeared in at least one game at every position except pitcher. Several appointments as team captain or manager spoke to his leadership abilities and expert knowledge of the game. Higham hit into the very first Triple Play in the National League on May 13, 1876.

Higham was the only ML umpire ever dismissed for cheating. When he was a hard-hitting outfielder and catcher in the National Association and early NL, the English-born Higham was the subject of rumors that his play was not always on the level. Even though he led the NL in doubles in 1876 and 1978 and in runs scored in '78, his reputation for shady dealings curtailed his ML career. Nevertheless, the NL hired him as an umpire after his playing days ended, apparently because he had sometimes umpired in the NA. In 1882 William Thompson, the mayor of Detroit and president of the Wolverines baseball team, became convinced that Higham was consistently calling close decisions against Detroit. Thompson hired a private detective who turned up a letter that Higham had mailed to a well-known gambler in which he outlined a simple telegram code on how and when to bet. "Buy all the lumber you can!" meant bet on Detroit. No telegram meant bet against them. Thompson and the other owners confronted Higham and he was banished from baseball. Reportedly, the crooked ump went back to Chicago and became a bookkeeper.


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