Frederick C. "Sure Shot" Dunlap (May 21, 1859 – December 1, 1902) was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball from 1880 to 1891. He was the highest paid player in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1889. He has also been rated by some contemporary and modern sources as the greatest overall second baseman of the 19th century. He earned the nickname "Sure Shot" for the strength and accuracy of his throws to first base, and was also sometimes referred to in the 1880s as the "King of Second Basemen."
Dunlap played for the Cleveland Blues from 1880 to 1883, where he secured his reputation as one of the best players in the game. As a rookie in 1880, he led the National League in doubles and ranked second in extra base hits. While playing for Cleveland, he also compiled batting averages of .325 and .326 in 1881 and 1883 and led the league in assists by a second baseman and range factor. When the Union Association was formed in 1884, Dunlap was lured to play for the St. Louis Maroons where he became the highest paid player in baseball. His .412 batting average in 1884 was the highest ever recorded to that time in Major League Baseball and 56 points higher than any other player in the major leagues in 1884 due to the lack of talent in the UA.
After three years in St. Louis, Dunlap was sold to the Detroit Wolverines and helped that team win the 1887 National League pennant. Dunlap's baseball career ended in 1891 when he broke his leg sliding into a base. He went into the construction business and bet on horses in the 1890s. At the time of his death in 1902, Dunlap was penniless and living in a rundown boarding house.
Early years Dunlap was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1859. Both of his parents died when he was 10 years old. Dunlap did not attend school after his parents died and spent his youth playing baseball. Lacking formal education, Dunlap remained illiterate throughout his life.
Dunlap began playing semi-pro baseball at age 15 in 1874 for the Gloucester Club in Gloucester City, New Jersey. In 1875, he started the season with the Greighers of Camden, New Jersey, then joined the Kleinz Club of Philadelphia. He played for Chester at the start of the 1876 season before joining the Quicksteps of Wilmington, Delaware, as a pitcher. In 1877, he began playing professional baseball as a second baseman for the Auburns of Auburn, New York. In 1878, he played for teams in Hornellsville and Albany, New York. He remained with Albany in 1879.
Major League Baseball Cleveland Blues In May 1880, Dunlap began a 12-year career in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Blues. In his first season, Dunlap immediately established himself as one of the game's best players. For the 1880 season, Dunlap led the National League (NL) in doubles (27) and ranked second in extra base hits (40) and times on base (132) while serving as the team's leadoff hitter. He also made a strong debut on defense, leading the National League in assists by a second baseman (290). Dunlap remained with the Blues for four seasons and consistently ranked as one of the leading hitters and defensive second basemen in the National League. In 1881, he compiled 156 total bases, the second most in the NL, and had a .325 batting average and .444 slugging percentage, ranking fifth in the NL in both categories. In 1882, he led the NL's second basemen with 297 assists and a range factor of 6.73.
In his final year in Cleveland, Dunlap had a .326 batting average, .361 on-base percentage, and .452 slugging percentage, ranking among the league's leaders in each of those categories. Defensively, he led the league's second basemen in putouts (304) and ranked third in assists (290) and fielding percentage (.911). Dunlap was the star of the Cleveland team in the early 1880s. So key was he to the Blues that one writer observed, "The Maroons without Dunlap are like the play of Hamlet without the melancholy Dane."
"Sure Shot" Dunlap was known during his baseball career by the nicknames "Sure Shot" and "King of Second Basemen".(accessible through newspapers.com) Most accounts indicate that the "Sure Shot" nickname arose from Dunlap's powerful and accurate throws to first base. King Kelly reportedly gave Dunlap the "Sure Shot" nickname after watching him throw. One account described Dunlap's throwing prowess as follows: "[E]ndless practice made him adept as a monkey at grabbing a sizzling ground ball in either hand and firing it off from the very spot he seized it. His whistling throws, which seemed to clear the grass by no more than half a foot, never seemed to lose more than an inch or two."
Alfred Henry Spink, who saw Dunlap play, wrote that Dunlap could chase down a ball in the outfield and throw it to home plate "with such fearful speed and accuracy that the ball seemed to sing as it flew." Dunlap was known for his range in getting to balls that others of his era could not, and he was reportedly able to dive for a ball and throw while lying on the ground with enough velocity to sting the first baseman's hand. Dunlap was ambidextrous and was able to catch and throw a baseball with the same skill and accuracy with either hand. Moreover, Dunlap reportedly never wore a glove.
One source gives an entirely different account of how Dunlap obtained the "Sure Shot" nickname. In his book on the history of the home run, Mark Ribowsky wrote that the nickname dated back to a game against the Chicago White Stockings on July 10, 1880. The White Stockings had won 21 straight games until Dunlap hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. According to Ribowsky, "For this Shot Heard 'Round Cleveland, Dunlap won the nickname 'Sure Shot.'"
St. Louis Maroons In November 1883, Dunlap signed a contract to play for the St. Louis Maroons in the new Union Association. He was the biggest star lured to the new league. His contract paid Dunlap a salary of $3,400 (including $1,000 paid in advance), the highest salary paid to any baseball player at that time. He remained the highest paid baseball player every year from 1884 to 1889.
Dunlap played second base for the St. Louis Maroons from 1884 to 1886 and also served as the team's manager for portions of those seasons. During the 1884 season, the Maroons and Dunlap dominated the Union Association. The team compiled a record of 94-19, and Dunlap led the new league in most significant offensive and defensive categories. His .412 batting average was 56 points higher than any other player in the Union Association, the National League, or the American Association. He also led the league in on-base percentage (.448), slugging percentage (.621), runs scored (160), hits (185), total bases (279), home runs (13), extra base hits (60), assists by a second baseman (300), putouts by a second baseman (341), range factor at second base (6.41), and fielding percentage at second base (.926). Dunlap's .412 batting average in 1884 was the highest ever recorded in any of the major leagues up to that time. His 160 runs scored in 1884 remains one of the highest single-season totals in major league history.
Some baseball historians have suggested that Dunlap's accomplishments during the 1884 season should be discounted due to the lesser talent pool in the Union Association. In 1885, the Union Association was disbanded after only one year, and the St. Louis Maroons joined the National League. Although his batting average dropped 142 points to .270 in 1885, Dunlap continued to be one of the best defensive second basemen in the major leagues. He led the National League's second basemen in 1885 with a .934 fielding percentage and ranked second in assists (374), putouts (314), and range factor (6.49). Dunlap spent a third season with the Maroons in 1886, and hit for the cycle on May 24. However, the Maroons were in financial distress, and rumors spread that the team might disband.
Detroit Wolverines
In early August 1886, Dunlap was sold to the Detroit Wolverines for $4,700, the most expensive purchase price at the time. In addition to the sum paid to the Maroons to grant the release, the Detroit team signed a contract to pay Dunlap $4,500 a season for two seasons, with an advance of $1,500 on the first day of November 1886 and 1887, respectively. The mid-season sale led to concerns about the Maroons: "The transfer of Dunlap to Detroit is a small thing in itself, but its bearing on the entire base ball world is so great as to almost revolutionize the present order of things. He was the king pin of the St. Louis Club and his sale makes a certainty of the dissolution of the Maroons." The Detroit management was praised for their "pluck and enterprise" in making the bold "business stroke." The Sporting News wrote at the time:"Dunlap has joined the Detroits and now that team will fly the League pennant just as sure as time flies and the world grows. From the day the old St. Louis Union team went out of existence Dunlap has been anything but a favorite in St. Louis. Still there was no one in the world but was willing to concede that he was the greatest second baseman America has ever known."
Dunlap, too, expressed delight at the move, noting that he had "tried for two seasons to get away from the Maroons." While the reaction to the acquisition was overwhelmingly positive in Detroit, the Detroit Free Press expressed some concern over Dunlap's reputation as a "disorganizer" and "mischief maker." For the 1886 season, Dunlap led the National League with a career high 393 assists, more than any NL player at any position. In 1887, Dunlap's defensive play at second base helped lead the Detroit Wolverines to the NL pennant with a record of 79-45. Dunlap again led the NL's second basemen in fielding percentage (.948) while also ranking second in range factor (6.72). He also played in 11 games of the 1887 World Series against the American Association champions, the St. Louis Browns. Detroit won the series 10 games to 5. At the end of the 1887 season, Sporting Life praised Dunlap's contributions to Detroit's championship team: "Dunlap is the king of second basemen, and a first-class all-round player. His fielding average in 1886 was .931, ranking third. This season he ranks first, with .949. ... Dunlap is one of the most active men on the field, and is of great value to a team on account of his ability as a kicker and coacher."
Before the last game of the World Series had been played, rumors spread that Detroit (which had amassed an all-star lineup with a commensurate payroll) was in negotiations to unload Dunlap's high salary by selling him to Pittsburgh. Dunlap announced in November 1887 that he would not consent unless the Detroit club paid him half of the sum it was to receive from Pittsburgh to secure his release. He said at the time, "I am sick and tired of being sold without gaining anything by it, and it is about time that my bank account was benefited by these transfers." He told a reporter for The New York Times that he was not penniless and would refuse to play unless his demands were met. He told the reporter that the Detroit club had three choices -- "give me half of the money secured for my release, allow me to go where I please, or fulfill the contract made with me last year."
In January 1888, Dunlap finally consented to the sale and received $2,000 of the $5,000 sales price paid to Detroit. His total annual compensation on signing with Pittsburgh was $6,000, making him the highest paid player in baseball history to that time. The Detroit Free Press congratulated the "cranks" of Pittsburgh for their team's acquisition of "no less than the king second baseman of the country."
Pittsburgh Alleghenys