View source for Lip Pike

{{Short description|American baseball player and manager (1845–1893)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Lip Pike
|position=[[Outfielder]]
|image=Lip_Pike_Baseball.jpg
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{birth date|mf=yes|1845|5|25}}
|birth_place=[[New York City]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|mf=yes|1893|10|10|1845|5|25}}
|death_place=[[Brooklyn, New York]], U.S.
|debutleague=MLB
|debutdate=May 9
|debutyear=1871
|debutteam=Troy Haymakers
|finalleague=MLB
|finaldate=July 28
|finalyear=1887
|finalteam=New York Metropolitans
|statleague=MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.322
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=21
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=332
|teams=
;&nbsp; National Association of Base Ball Players
* [[Brooklyn Atlantics]] ({{baseball year|1865}})
* [[Philadelphia Athletics (1860–76)|Philadelphia Athletics]] ({{baseball year|1866}})
* Irvington of [[Irvington, New Jersey]] ({{baseball year|1867}})
* [[New York Mutuals]] ({{baseball year|1867}}–{{baseball year|1868}})
* [[Brooklyn Atlantics]] ({{baseball year|1869}}–{{baseball year|1870}})

;&nbsp; League player
: [[Troy Haymakers]] ({{baseball year|1871}})
: [[Baltimore Canaries]] ({{baseball year|1872}}–{{baseball year|1873}})
: [[Hartford Dark Blues]] ({{baseball year|1874}})
: [[St. Louis Brown Stockings|St. Louis Brown Stockings (NA)]] ({{baseball year|1875}})
: [[St. Louis Brown Stockings|St. Louis Brown Stockings (NL)]] ({{baseball year|1876}})
: [[Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879)|Cincinnati Reds]] ({{baseball year|1877}}–{{baseball year|1878}})
: [[Providence Grays]] ({{baseball year|1878}})
: [[Worcester Worcesters]] ({{baseball year|1881}})
: [[New York Metropolitans]] ({{baseball year|1887}})
;&nbsp; League manager
: [[Troy Haymakers]] ({{baseball year|1871}})
: [[Hartford Dark Blues]] ({{baseball year|1874}})
: [[Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879)|Cincinnati Reds]] ({{baseball year|1877}})
|highlights=
* 3× NA home run leader (1871–1873)<ref name="autogenerated1" />
* 1× NL home run leader (1877)<ref name="autogenerated1" />
* NA RBI leader (1872)<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web |title=Lip Pike Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pikeli01.shtml |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>
* NA doubles leader (1874)<ref name="autogenerated1" />
}}
'''Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike''' (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) the "'''Iron Batter'''",<ref name="google1">{{Cite book |last1=Boxerman |first1=Burton A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJEQTaE7JEAC&q=%22lipman+pike%22&pg=PA10 |title=Jews and Baseball: Entering the American mainstream, 1871–1948 |last2=Boxerman |first2=Benita W. |date=December 27, 2006 |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |isbn=9780786428281 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> was an American star of [[19th-century baseball]] in the [[United States]].<ref name="google1" /><ref name="google2">{{Cite book |last=Siegman |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZxnNt28DhcC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA17 |title=Jewish sports legends: the International Jewish Hall of Fame |year=2000 |publisher=Brassey's |isbn=9781574882841 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> His brother, [[Israel Pike]], played briefly for the [[Hartford Dark Blues]] during the {{baseball year|1877}} season.

Pike was one of professional baseball's first great sluggers, leading early professional leagues in [[home run]]s four times.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Pike possessed "great speed, a powerful, if erratic, throwing arm, and enormous power."<ref name="Kerr">{{cite book |last1=Kerr |first1=Roy |title=Buck Ewing: A Baseball Biography |date=10 January 2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9011-0 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRknr2WtRvcC&pg=PA19 |access-date=4 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

Pike was also the first [[Jewish]] baseball star and [[Manager (baseball)|manager]] in America.<ref name=sabr-bio /><ref name="Kerr" />

==Early and personal life==
Pike was Jewish and was born in New York into a Jewish [[Dutch people|Dutch]] family, and grew up in [[Brooklyn]].<ref name="JSR">{{Cite journal |date=January–February 2020 |title=Big League Jews |journal=[[Jewish Sports Review]] |volume=12 |issue=137 |page=20}}</ref><ref name="google1" /> His father Emanuel was a [[haberdasher]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisenbath |first=Mike |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hymGG28xYcoC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA8 |title=Cardinals Encyclopedia |year=1999 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=9781566397032 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> His mother was Jane, his brothers were Boaz, Israel, and Jacob, and he had a sister Julia.<ref name=sabr-bio>Robert H. Schaefer, [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/lip-pike/ Lip Pike | Society for American Baseball Research]</ref> His family moved to Brooklyn when he was very young.<ref name=sabr-bio /> Several of Pike's ancestors were Jewish rabbis who emigrated from [[Portugal]] to the [[Netherlands]].

==Baseball career==
Pike began in baseball when he was 13.<ref name="google4">{{Cite book |last=Ribowsky |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NiKyPk3hHyAC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA17 |title=The Complete History of the Home Run |publisher=Citadel Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780806524337 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> Pike first rose to prominence playing for the [[Philadelphia Athletics (1860–1876)|Philadelphia Athletics]], whom he joined in 1866.<ref name="google2" /> He brought an impressive blend of power and speed to the team, hitting many [[home run]]s as well as being one of the fastest players around. On one occasion he hit five home runs in one game.<ref name="google1" />

However, it was soon brought to light that he and two other Philadelphia players were being given $20 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|20|1866|r=-1}}}} in current dollar terms) a week<!--compared to how much for a factory worker? How much for a typical house?--> to play.<ref name="google2" /><ref name="google3">{{Cite book |last=Siegman |first=Joseph M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qpiphgls99IC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA27 |title=The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame |publisher=SP Books |year=1992 |isbn=9781561710287 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> Since all baseball players were ostensibly amateurs (though many were, like Pike, accepting money under the table), a hearing was set up by the sport's governing body, the [[National Association of Base Ball Players]]. In the end, no one showed up to the hearing, and the matter was dropped. By {{baseball year|1869}}, the [[Cincinnati Red Stockings]] became the first openly professional team, and Pike's hearing, farcical as it seems to have been, paved the way for [[Harry Wright]]'s professionalization of baseball. The Athletics were very successful, but Pike was dropped from the team in 1867, because he was from New York, and thus a 'foreigner,' calling his loyalty into question.

He moved on to the [[Irvington, New Jersey]] club and later in 1867 to the [[New York Mutuals]], always a leading team, where he returned for 1868, having caught the eye of [[Boss Tweed]]. In 1869 he moved to the [[Brooklyn Atlantics]], another perennial leader, where he hit .610. In {{baseball year|1870}}, the Atlantics, with Pike manning [[second base]], finally ended Cincinnati's 93-game winning streak.

===National Association===
In {{baseball year|1871}}, the [[National Association of Professional Base Ball Players|National Association]] was formed as the first professional baseball league, and Pike joined the [[Troy Haymakers]] for its inaugural season.  He was their star and for 4 games was the captain and [[manager]],<ref name="google2" /> [[batting average (baseball)|batting]] .377 (6th best in the league) and hitting a league-leading 4 home runs.<ref name="autogenerated1" />  He also led the league in  [[extra base hits]] (21), and was 2nd in [[slugging percentage]] (.654) and [[double (baseball)|double]]s (10), 4th in [[Run batted in|RBI]]s (39), 5th in [[triple (baseball)|triple]]s (7), 6th in [[on-base percentage]] (.400), 9th in [[hit (baseball)|hit]]s (49), and 10th in [[run (baseball)|run]]s (43).<ref name=autogenerated1 /> The Haymakers only finished 6th, though, and the team's captaincy switched to [[Bill Craver]].

The Haymakers revamped their roster for the {{baseball year|1872}} season, and Pike headed for [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], where he played for the [[Baltimore Canaries]]. Pike had another excellent season, leading the league in home runs again (with 6), RBIs (60), and games (56), and coming in 2nd in [[total bases]] (127) and extra base hits (26), 3rd in [[at bat]]s (288), 5th in doubles (15) and triples (5), 9th in slugging percentage (.441) and [[stolen base]]s (8), and 10th in hits (84).<ref name=autogenerated1 />

In {{baseball year|1873}}, Pike led the league in home runs for the 3rd consecutive season, hitting 4, and was 2nd in triples (8), 4th in total bases (132), stolen bases (8), and extra base hits (26), 7th in slugging percentage (.462), 8th in doubles (14), RBIs (50), and at bats (286), 9th in hits (90), and 10th in games (56).<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Pike was also one of the fastest players in the league.  He would occasionally race any challenger for a cash prize, routinely coming out the winner.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arcidiacono |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axNYROJTahwC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA103 |title=Major League Baseball in Gilded Age Connecticut: The Rise and Fall of the Middletown, New Haven and Hartford Clubs |date=December 3, 2009 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786436774 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> On August 16, 1873, he raced a fast [[trotting horse]] named "Clarence" in a 100-yard sprint at Baltimore's [[Newington Park]], and won by four yards with a time of 10 seconds flat, earning $250 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|250|1873|r=-2}}}} today).<ref name="google2" />

Baltimore went [[bankrupt]] after the season, so Pike headed off to captain the [[Hartford Dark Blues]] for the 1874 season. The Dark Blues were a poor team, but Pike had another fine season, slugging .574 to lead the league, and coming in 2nd with an [[on-base percentage]] of .368.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Pike abandoned the weak Hartford team after a single season, switching to the [[St. Louis Brown Stockings]].<ref name=autogenerated1 /> For the first time in his professional career, Pike failed to hit a home run, although he stole 25 bases.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> He also hit 12 triples and 22 doubles (leading the league) in what was probably his finest offensive season.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

In all, Lip Pike has the National Association career home run (15) and extra base hits (135) records.

===National League===
[[File:1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings.jpg|280px|thumb|1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings, with Lip Pike in the second row, 4th from the left]]
In {{baseball year|1876}}, when the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] replaced the National Association, Pike stuck with St. Louis. The Brown Stockings turned in a very good season, finishing a solid 2nd to the [[Chicago White Stockings (1870–89)|Chicago White Stockings]]. Pike continued to produce offensively, notching totals of 133 total bases (5th in the league) and 34 extra-base hits (2nd).<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Seemingly never content to stay with a team very long, Pike headed to the [[Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879)|Cincinnati Reds]] for the {{baseball year|1877}} season. The Reds finished last. Pike was still a top-quality player, leading the league in home runs for the 4th time in the 1870s.<ref name="google4" /> However, age was starting to catch up with the 32-year-old Pike.  He began the season as the 8th-oldest player in the league, and was the 4th-oldest player of the 1878 season. The 1878 Reds played very well, though. They finished 2nd, but Pike was replaced by [[Buttercup Dickerson]] halfway through the season and forced to look elsewhere for a team. He ended up playing a few games for the [[Providence Grays]], and spent the next two years playing for minor league teams.

''[[Sporting Life (American newspaper)|Sporting Life]]'' subsequently named him an outfielder on its 1870–1880 All-Star team.<ref name="google1" />

Pike got a brief call-up in 1881 to play for the [[Worcester Worcesters]],<ref name="google5">{{Cite book |last=Brody |first=Seymour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LADOUweLXPsC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA80 |title=Jewish heroes & heroines of America: 151 true stories of Jewish American heroism |date=2004 |publisher=Frederick Fell Publishers |isbn=9780883910269 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> but the 36-year-old Pike could no longer play effectively, hitting .111 and not managing a single extra base hit in 18 [[at-bat]]s over 5 games.<ref name=autogenerated1 />  His play was so poor as to arouse suspicions, and Pike found himself banned from the National League that September. He was added to the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] blacklist in 1881.  He turned to [[haberdashery]],<ref name="google5" /> the vocation of his father, and spent another 6 years playing only amateur baseball.  He was reinstated in 1883.

===American Association===
In 1887, the [[New York Metropolitans]] of the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] gave Pike another chance.  At 42, he was the oldest player in baseball.  The only game he played was more of a sending off than a new start, though, and Pike headed back to his haberdashery once more.

==Death==
Pike died suddenly of [[heart disease]] at the age of 48 in 1893.<ref name="google1" /> ''[[The Brooklyn Eagle]]'' reported that "Many wealthy Hebrews and men high in political and old time baseball circles attended the funeral service."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Terry |first=James L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4qOXgcdTaUC&q=%22lip+pike%22&pg=PA147 |title=Long before the Dodgers: baseball in Brooklyn, 1855–1884 |year=2002 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786412297 |access-date=February 1, 2011}}</ref> He was interred in the [[Salem Fields Cemetery]] in [[Brooklyn, New York]].

==Legacy==
In 1936, decades after he died, Pike received one vote in the veterans election for the [[1936 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting]]. He was not included on any further ballots.<ref name="google1" />

Pike was inducted into the [[International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1985.<ref name=sabr-bio />

Pike was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2016.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Pike was inducted into the [[National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]] in 2024.

Pike was the first Jewish manager in major league history and one of only seven all-time.<ref name="PhillyVoice">{{Cite web |last=Lawrence |first=Ryan |date=2017-10-31 |title=Who is Gabe Kapler? A dozen fun facts about the new Phillies manager |url=https://www.phillyvoice.com/who-gabe-kapler-dozen-fun-facts-about-new-phillies-manager/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=PhillyVoice |language=english}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[Major League Baseball titles leaders]]
* [[List of Jewish Major League Baseball players]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball player-managers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*{{baseballstats |br=p/pikeli01 |brm=pike--001lip |retro=P/Ppikel101}}
*{{sabrbio|lip-pike}}
*{{find a Grave|7567241}}
*[http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/LipmanPike.htm Lipman Pike] at the [[International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box | before = none | title = [[List of Major League Baseball progressive career home runs leaders|Career home run record holder]]<br>shared with<br>[[Levi Meyerle]] & [[Fred Treacey]] | years = 1871 | after = self }}
{{succession box | before = shared with<br>[[Levi Meyerle]] & [[Fred Treacey]] | title = [[List of Major League Baseball progressive career home runs leaders|Career home run record holder]]| years = 1872–1879| after = [[Charley Jones]] }}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box | title=[[Cincinnati Reds (1876–1880)|Cincinnati Reds (1876–1880) Managers]] | before=[[Charlie Gould]] | years=1877| after=[[Bob Addy]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{NL home run champions}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Lip}}
[[Category:1845 births]]
[[Category:1893 deaths]]
[[Category:Albany (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Baltimore Canaries players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Atlantics (minor league) players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Atlantics (NABBP) players]]
[[Category:Burials at Salem Fields Cemetery]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879) players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds (1876–1880) managers]]
[[Category:Hartford Dark Blues players]]
[[Category:Holyoke (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Jewish American baseball managers]]
[[Category:Jewish American baseball players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball center fielders]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball player-managers]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:National League home run champions]]
[[Category:New York Metropolitans players]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Athletics (NABBP) players]]
[[Category:New Jersey Irvingtons players]]
[[Category:New York Mutuals (NABBP) players]]
[[Category:Providence Grays players]]
[[Category:Rochester (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from New York City]]
[[Category:Springfield (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Brown Stockings (NA) players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Brown Stockings players]]
[[Category:Troy Haymakers managers]]
[[Category:Troy Haymakers players]]
[[Category:Worcester Worcesters players]]