BOSTON: Infielder Ross Barnes, a star of baseball’s National Association (1871–75) and the early National League (1876–81), in a Boston Red Stockings uniform. Photograph by Warren’s (Firm), Boston, MA, 1874. From the New York Public Library. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
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Move over, Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Barry Bonds. A guy who played 150 years ago should have been in the National Baseball Hall of Fame long before you fellas were ostracized.
Ross Barnes’ exciting exploits helped popularize the neophyte sport. His style just may have made the game a success despite otherwise time-consuming slow play.
Unlike Rose, banned for life for betting, Jackson, banned for allegedly betting, and Bonds, shunned by many voters for illegal use of steroids, Barnes’ only problem was he got sick. After six sensational seasons he contracted a malaria-type illness that sapped him of his strength, stamina and career.
Though he attempted to keep playing, he played only three more seasons at a much-diminished level. His nine total years leave him ineligible for consideration for baseball’s highest honor.
The initial voting rules for the National Baseball Hall of Fame were devised in 1936 by its’ board of directors, led by National League President Ford Frick. Henry P. Edwards, former sports editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and founder of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) drew up the ballot and the rules. One rule is “must have played 10 seasons of Major League Baseball”.
Barnes played nine, totally dominating for six, from 1871 through 1876.
During that time, the 5-foot-8, 145-pound infielder hit .398 (669-for-1,681) in 331 games. He led his league in hits and runs four times, batting average and doubles three times, triples and walks twice and once in stolen bases and games played.
His numbers blew away the competition, though are dwarfed by later generations as league schedules increased. His numbers for those first six years, if extrapolated over 162 games, come to astounding per-season totals:
- 327.4 hits in 822.7 at-bats (.398) and 286.3 runs.
- 59.7 doubles, 21.4 triples, 2.4 homers, 143.9 RBI, 50.4 stolen bases.
- 37.7 walks and 9.8 strikeouts.
He hit the first home run in National League history on May 2, 1876.
Barnes also was a fine fielder at shortstop or second base, though his career total of 459 errors in 505 games is likely laughed at today. All players then played bare-handed for years and later used a thin-fitting mitten that was hardly a glove at all. The St. Louis Post Dispatch chastised the home team’s Andy Leonard for making nine errors in one game on June 22, 1876, pointing out that Barnes had only made that many in 21 games.
The game was markedly different. It took nine balls to get a walk and balls hit into foul territory were in play. Barnes was particularly adept at hitting a ball with backspin or sidespin that would send it out of a fielder’s reach for a safe hit.
Fans loved it, especially in the NL’s inaugural season of 1876 when Barnes batted .439 to help the fledgling Chicago White Stockings to the title with a 52-14 record. They drew record crowds, including 10,000+ to 23rd Street Park on July 4.
Before that, Barnes helped the Boston Red Stockings to a total record of 220-60 in the National Association in 1871-75.
Shoeless Shooed Away
Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball for alleged betting in the 1919 World Series – and thereby ineligible for inclusion on the voting ballot for the Hall.
CHICAGO: White Sox outfielder Joe Jackson during the Black Sox Scandal in September 1920.
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All eight of the Chicago White Sox players involved in the “Black Sox Scandal” were banned for life. Jackson admitted to getting $5,000. though denied meeting or talking to gamblers. Teammates had told him he would get $20,000.
Jackson hit .375 with 6 doubles, 1 homer and 6 RBI in the Series. Proponents of him being enshrined say this shows he did not try to throw games to the eventual champion Cincinnati Reds.
Sure-Bet Pete Busted
Pete Rose appeared to be a guaranteed first-ballot inductee after getting more hits (4,256) than any player in MLB history. Before he ever became eligible, he also drew a lifetime ban for gambling.
NEW YORK: Former Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose holds up a copy of his book titled “My Life Without Bars”. Rose confessed in the book that he bet on baseball games in 1987 and 1988. AFP PHOTO Timothy A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
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On Aug. 24, 1989, he signed a document agreeing to the ban. For years, he denied the allegations. In 2004, he admitted it. In 2007, he told ESPN Radio: “I bet on my team every night. I didn’t bet on my team four nights a week. I was wrong.”
Rose played from 1963 until 1986. He was in more games (3,562) and came to bat more times (15,890) than any MLB player, averaging .303 and scoring 2,165 runs. In 67 post-season games, he hit .321.
Should Steroids Stars Get A Shot?
Several modern stars with unquestionably great career numbers have not been elected despite being on the ballot. Voters have denied them due to hints of or proven use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (steroids). The most notable are:
- Barry Bonds: The all-time home-run leader (762) and seven-time NL MVP.
- Roger Clemens: 354 wins, 4,672 strikeouts, 7 Cy Young Awards.
- Alex Rodriguez: Three-time AL MVP, 696 homers, 3,115 hits, 2.096 RBI. Admitted using PEDs and served a suspension late in his career.
WASHINGTON: Former All-Star slugger Mark McGwire (left) talks with Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles during a House Committee session on March 17, 2005, investigating MLB steroid use. McGwire and Palmeiro later were named in the Mitchell Report that was released Dec, 13, 2007 by a committee looking into use of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB and headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Rafael Palmeiro: 3,020 hits, 569 homers. Famously told a Congressional Hearing he never used PEDs, then tested positive in 2005.
- Mark McGwire: Broke Babe Ruth’s single season home run record with 70 in 1998, hit 583 for career. Admitted to steroid use.
- Sammy Sosa: 609 career homers, dueled McGwire in ’98 home-run chase and has had widespread steroid allegations.
- Manny Ramirez: 555 homers, 1,831 RBI, .312, 12-time All-Star; twice suspended late in career for PEDs.
- Gary Sheffield: 509 homers, 9 Silver Slugger Awards, 9 All-Star Games; admitted to using a steroid cream.
- Andy Pettitte: 256-153 (.626) record and 19-11 (.633) in post-season; admitted using HGH (Human Growth Hormone) to recover from injuries.
Open The Barnes Door To Baseball Hall Of Fame
Barnes dominated the game in his era like Hall of Famers Willie Keeler, Rickey Henderson and Ty Cobb did in theirs – only under different rules and guidelines. He shouldn’t be penalized for being great at what was considered great at the time. For example, when he led the NL in runs (126) in 1876, that was 54 more than anybody else!
My opinion as to steroids users does not waver. Keep them out. Players who are deserving such as Kenny Lofton were denied because PED users got more votes at the time, though not enough to make the requirement. Some Hall of Famers say they want no part of the PED crowd, either.
After Rose died in 2024, it was decreed that he and Jackson, who passed away in 1951, should become eligible since they had “lifetime bans” and no longer lived. They could eventually be enshrined by a vote of the Veterans Committee.
If so, then a special dispensation should be made for Barnes and the 10-year career rule. Don’t eliminate the rule, but amend it for this dominant player who fell ill.
The Baseball Hall of Fame will be more complete with Ross Barnes properly enshrined.
