Lip Pike
Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) was an American professional baseball player recognized as the first great Jewish star in the sport and one of the earliest paid professionals in baseball history.[1] Born in New York City to a Jewish family of Dutch origin, Pike began playing organized baseball in the mid-1860s and competed at a high level until 1881, primarily as an outfielder and infielder.[1] Standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing around 160 pounds, he was a left-handed batter and thrower known for his power hitting during an era when home runs were rare.[1][2] Pike's professional career began in 1866 when he signed with the Philadelphia Athletics for $20 per week, making him one of the first players to receive payment for playing, which marked the transition from amateur to professional baseball.[1] In his debut season, he achieved early fame by hitting five home runs in a single game on July 16, 1866, against the Alerts of Danville, Pennsylvania, a record that stood as a benchmark for power hitting in the pre-modern era.[3] Over the next decade, Pike played for numerous teams, including the Irvington (New Jersey) BBC, New York Mutuals, Brooklyn Atlantics, Troy Haymakers, Baltimore Canaries, Hartford Dark Blues, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Cincinnati Reds, and Providence Grays, contributing to the growth of the National Association (1871–1875) and National League (1876 onward).[1] In 425 documented major league games across these leagues, he compiled a .322 batting average and .467 slugging percentage, with 21 home runs.[2] Among his most notable achievements, Pike led his league in home runs four times—three consecutive seasons in the National Association (1871–1873) and once in the National League (1877)—establishing him as baseball's premier slugger of the 1870s.[1] He also topped the National Association in runs batted in (1872) and doubles (1874), while posting a league-leading .610 batting average in 1869 with the Brooklyn Atlantics during an amateur season.[1][4] Despite his offensive prowess, Pike's teams often struggled, and he faced challenges such as inconsistent fielding and the era's rudimentary rules, yet his contributions helped popularize baseball as a professional spectator sport.[1] After retiring from playing, Pike returned to Brooklyn, where he successfully operated a haberdashery business, the same trade as his father, and lived a quiet life until his death from heart disease at age 48.[1] He was married, and his legacy as a pioneer endured, earning induction into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.[5] Pike's career bridged baseball's amateur roots and professional development, symbolizing the sport's evolution in the post-Civil War United States.[1]Early life and family
Jewish heritage and family background
Lipman Emanuel Pike was born on May 25, 1845, in New York City to Emanuel Pike, a Dutch Jewish immigrant and haberdasher, and his wife Jane Pike.[1][6] The Pike family traced its Jewish roots to the Netherlands, where Emanuel had been born before emigrating to the United States in the early 19th century, reflecting the broader migration patterns of Dutch Jews seeking new opportunities in America.[7][1] Pike grew up in a close-knit Jewish household as the second of five children, with an older brother named Boaz and three younger siblings: brothers Israel and Jacob, and sister Julia.[1][8] His brother Israel briefly entered professional baseball in 1877, appearing in one game for the Hartford Dark Blues.[9] The family's observance of Jewish traditions was evident in Pike's bar mitzvah around age 13 in 1858, a rite of passage that marked his formal entry into Jewish adulthood.[1][7] The Pikes relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn during Lipman's early childhood, a move that strengthened their ties to the burgeoning Jewish community in the borough and shaped his formative years.[1] Later in life, Pike followed in his father's footsteps by working as a haberdasher after retiring from baseball.[1][6]Youth and early interests in Brooklyn
Lipman Emanuel Pike, born on May 25, 1845, in New York City to Dutch Jewish immigrants Emanuel and Jane Pike, relocated with his family to Brooklyn at a very young age.[1] The Pike family settled in a neighborhood where Brooklyn's Jewish population remained relatively small during the early 19th century, immersing young Lip in a close-knit community shaped by his parents' traditions from Holland.[10] This environment, including religious observances, fostered his Jewish identity from childhood.[7] Details on Pike's formal education are scarce, reflecting the era's limited schooling opportunities for immigrant families, but he contributed early to the household by working in his father's haberdashery business, a shop selling men's clothing and accessories in Brooklyn.[1] Alongside his older brother Boaz, Pike assisted with tasks such as fetching supplies, which honed his sense of responsibility and physical activity from a young age.[11] Pike's early athletic interests centered on baseball, though he also enjoyed running as a youth.[12] Following his bar mitzvah in 1858, he engaged in his first organized baseball involvement, playing amateur games with local junior clubs that included his brother Boaz. One week after the ceremony, Pike appeared in his debut recorded amateur match at first base while Boaz played shortstop, marking the beginning of his exposure to the sport in Brooklyn's burgeoning baseball scene in 1858.[13]Professional baseball career
Amateur and early professional years (1866–1870)
Lipman Pike, at the age of 21, debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1866, becoming one of the earliest documented paid players in baseball history by receiving $20 per week under the table—a compensation that violated the era's strict amateur ideals and sparked backlash from purists who viewed professionalism as a corruption of the sport.[1][14] Despite his Jewish heritage occasionally serving as a subtle barrier to full acceptance in the predominantly Protestant baseball community of the 1860s, Pike quickly proved his value on the field with his powerful hitting.[7] Pike's slugging prowess was immediately evident in a remarkable performance on July 16, 1866, when, playing for the Athletics against the Alert Club of Philadelphia, he hit five consecutive home runs in a single game, powering his team to a lopsided 67–25 victory and cementing his reputation as a premier power hitter at a time when home runs were rare and celebrated feats.[3] This outburst, played under hot summer conditions at a Philadelphia ballpark, highlighted his ability to dominate amateur competition and drew widespread attention to the young outfielder's talents. Following his stint with the Athletics, Pike moved to the Irvington club of New Jersey in 1867 before joining the New York Mutuals later that year, where he remained through the 1868 season amid the growing tensions of semi-professional play.[14] In 1869, he signed with the Brooklyn Atlantics, batting an extraordinary .610 over 48 games with a slugging percentage of .883, though such inflated averages were common due to rules allowing batters to call fair or foul on bunts.[1] He continued with the Atlantics into 1870, renowned for prodigious long-distance hits, including a legendary drive at New York's Union Grounds that struck and bent an iron rod atop the pagoda structure, estimated at around 360 feet from home plate.[1] At 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing approximately 160 pounds, Pike was compact yet explosive, batting and throwing left-handed while demonstrating versatility across outfield positions, second base, and shortstop, though he primarily patrolled the outfield during these years.[2][1] His physical style—combining speed, a strong arm, and raw power—made him a standout in the transition from amateur sandlot games to organized professional baseball.National Association (1871–1875)
Lip Pike began his professional baseball career in the inaugural season of the National Association (NA), the first professional league, debuting with the Troy Haymakers on May 5, 1871, in a game against the New York Mutuals where he recorded six hits in a 25-10 victory.[1][2] As captain of the Haymakers, Pike batted .377 that year, tying for the league lead with four home runs while finishing second in slugging percentage (.654) and fourth in RBIs (39).[2][15] In 1872, Pike joined the Baltimore Canaries, where he led the NA in home runs with seven and in RBIs with 60, batting .298 and ranking second in total bases.[2] He remained with Baltimore in 1873, again leading the league in home runs with four while hitting .316 and contributing 51 RBIs.[2] Pike moved to the Hartford Dark Blues in 1874, posting a .355 batting average and leading the NA in doubles (22) and slugging percentage (.504).[2] His final NA season came in 1875 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, where he batted .346, finished second in slugging (.494), and topped the league in adjusted OPS+ (203).[2][16] Over his five NA seasons, Pike maintained a .346 batting average, hit 16 home runs (leading the league in 1871–1873), and amassed 244 RBIs, establishing himself as the era's premier power hitter.[2][1] Pike's playing style combined raw power with exceptional speed, allowing him to excel as an outfielder and infielder while covering vast center field territory; he often raced fans or animals for wagers, including a 1873 exhibition at Newington Park in Baltimore where he outran a horse named Clarence over 75 yards in 10 seconds flat.[1] Despite his success, Pike endured the rigors of early professional travel, including long train journeys and inconsistent scheduling across the nine-team league.[1] By the end of the NA era, his 16 home runs represented over two-thirds of his career total of 21 in professional play.[2] His older brother, Israel Pike, later made a brief appearance with the Hartford Dark Blues in the National League in 1877, though the siblings never played together professionally.[1]| Year | Team | G | BA | HR | RBI | 2B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 | Troy Haymakers | 28 | .377 | 4 | 39 | 10 |
| 1872 | Baltimore Canaries | 56 | .298 | 7 | 60 | 15 |
| 1873 | Baltimore Canaries | 56 | .316 | 4 | 51 | 15 |
| 1874 | Hartford Dark Blues | 52 | .355 | 1 | 50 | 22 |
| 1875 | St. Louis Brown Stockings | 70 | .346 | 0 | 44 | 22 |