Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty
He Was a Philadelphia Phillies Great Who Suffered a Mysterious Death
Feb 19, 2007
A Brilliant Career
Edward James Delahanty played from 1888 through 1903. For an entire decade, Delahanty was the most feared hitter in the game. From 1893 through 1902, he batted over .400 three times (1894, '95 and '99). "Big Ed" joins Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby as the only players to surpass that magical number in three different seasons. He is also the only player ever to win a batting title in each circuit.
Ed Delahanty was also the game's first true power hitter. In 1896, he became only the second player in professional baseball history to hit four Home Runs in a single game. That feat would not be equaled for almost another forty years, when Lou Gehrig did it in 1932. Three years earlier, Delahanty had set the National League record for Home Runs when he hit 19 round-trippers for the season.
In his career, Delahanty led the National League in Slugging 5 Times, Doubles 5 times, RBI 4 times and Extra Base Hits 4 times. Oh, and he had great speed, as well. He stole 455 bases in his career. The guy was awesome. His final career numbers: a .346 Average; almost 2,600 hits; 552 Doubles; 185 Triples, 101 Home Runs, and 1,464 RBI.
Delahanty's Death is Still a Mystery
There is only one way to describe the untimely death of Ed Delahanty: bizarre. The first account of his death is from a Niagara Falls reporter from more than 100 years ago.
"On July 2, 1903, he received word that teammate George Davis had jumped to New York, and Delahanty was set to join him there. The Senators were in Detroit at the time, and the disgruntled outfielder hopped on an east bound train destined for New York.
On that fateful trip, Delahanty drank heavily and acted erratically. His condition deteriorated to the point that he reportedly pulled a woman out of her berth by the ankles and began threatening passengers while brandishing a straight razor.
When it became apparent that there was no reasoning with Delahanty, the conductor ejected him from the train near a bridge on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
After being thrown off the train, Delahanty began walking across the International Bridge, which led to Buffalo, NY. Meanwhile, a night watchman was making his rounds when he spotted Big Ed on the bridge leaning against a pillar. The watchman approached Ed and shined a lantern in Delahanty's face, which caused the baseball star to threaten him. At some point thereafter, Delahanty fell into the river to his death."
But that is not the whole story. While the railroad wanted the Niagara Falls reporter to believe that Delahanty had either drunkenly slipped or jumped to his death, investigations into the incident have led to many other plausible conclusions.
Some believe to this day that Ed Delahanty was set upon by gamblers who tossed him off the bridge because he refused to throw a game a few days earlier. There does not seem to be much factual support for this claim.
Others claim that the night watchman had actually pushed Delahanty to his death into the falls below. This view is supported by Jerold Caswell, in his remarkable book: The Mysterious Death of Ed Delahanty.
Regardless of the true cause of his death, baseball historians agree that Big Ed Delahanty was the best hitter of his time, and that he most likely had several more good years of baseball left before he met his premature end.
Ed Delahanty was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.
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