1887 sees another man enter the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. The class of 1887 is another one man class. The man being inducted played 14 seasons for three different clubs. He felt like a journeyman, bouncing from place to place, but his career numbers are completely out of whack with any other second baseman in the history of baseball.
Wes Fisler
Accomplishments
All Star Selections: 7
Gold Gloves: 2 (1873 and 1874)
World Series Championships: 2 (1881 with Cincinnati and 1886 with St. Louis)
Position: Second Base
Current Individual Records Held at Second Base: 17 (Out of a possible 35 Categories)
Inducting Team: Philadelphia Athletics
Records Page for 2B as of March, 1887
Fisler started his path to the Hall of Fame with seven and half seasons in Philadelphia. During his tenure in Philly he was a six time All Star and was really at the peak of his ability. It was unfortunate that during this time, Fisler's Athletics were not one of the premier teams in the American League. Fisler was a bright spot on a losing team. It was doubly unfortunate that Fisler was traded away before the Athletics had the emergence of Bobby Mitchell and Monte Ward in 1879, because I think if they had kept Fisler, they probably would have been able to convert some of their American League Championships. Instead, the Athletics without the best second baseman in baseball, were not able to capture a World Series Championship.
In 1878, Philly traded Fisler to Cincinnati in a laughably lopsided deal for a couple of prospects who never ended up cracking the major league roster in Philadelphia. Wes would help turn around what had been a terrible team. He helped them win the World Series in 1881 against his former team the Athletics. Ironically, Fisler would have been a much better fit on the defensively minded Athletics than he was the Red Stockings who had traded for him three years prior. Still, the Red Stockings appreciated his glove up the middle as they raised the banner that year.
The following season he would find himself in St. Louis, playing for the Browns, after they selected him in the MLB expansion draft. He was no longer in his prime, but he spent five seasons in St. Louis as an everyday starter and helped lead them to their first World Series championship in 1886. He retired a champion.
Fisler never had that dominant season that you expect out of first ballot Hall of Fame players. Instead, what he did have was 14 seasons in the majors as one of, if not the best second baseman in baseball each season. He was able to play competitively, as a starter on the best team in baseball, at the age of 41. He absolutely owns the MLB record books for second basemen, topping the historical archives in nearly half of the recorded statistical categories.
Wes Fisler played great baseball at a position where most of the other teams in the league were getting poor play. He had a great glove in a time where his peers were not capable of helping their team defensively. He is a Hall of Fame player.