Bobby Wallace (1953)


Date of Birth: 11/4/1873
Date of Death: 11/3/1960
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Bobby Wallace started his baseball career as a pitcher. In 1893, he got his first paying job with an independent league team in Pennsylvania.

Cleveland Spiders (NL)

Wallace started his major league career in 1894 with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League. He played in just four games with them that year. He pitched 26.0 innings and he had a 5.19 ERA. The next year, he pitched in 30 games and he had 12 wins and 14 losses and a 4.09 ERA in 228.2 innings. He struck out 63 batters and walked 87.

Wallace pitched in 22 games in 1896. He had a 3.34 ERA, 10 wins and 7 losses, and 46 strikeouts to 49 walks in 145.1 innings. As a batter in 45 games, he had 35 hits and a .235 batting average.

Wallace was moved out of the pitcher's spot in 1897, and he became a full-time batter. In 130 games, he had 173 hits, 33 doubles, and career highs in triples with 21 and in batting average with .335. His batting average dropped to .270 in 1898. He finished that season with 160 hits, 25 doubles, and 13 triples. Defensively, he was moved from the outfield to third base in 1897.

St. Louis Perfectos (Cardinals)

During the 1899 season, Wallace moved to the St. Louis Perfectos. He finished that season with 170 hits, 28 doubles, 14 triples, 12 home runs, 17 stolen bases, and a .295 batting average in 151 games. He played well also defensively, leading the NL in assists with 536.

Wallace played in 126 games in 1900, and he batted .268 with 130 hits and 25 doubles. He had a better season in 1901, batting .324 in 134 games. He had career highs in hits (178) and doubles (34). He again led the NL in assists with 542, and he led all NL shortstops in double plays with 67.

St. Louis Browns

In 1902, Wallace joined the St. Louis Browns (modern day Baltimore Orioles) and he finally found some stability, playing for the Browns from 1902 through 1916.

In his first season with the Browns, Wallace batted .285 in 133 games. He had 141 hits and 32 doubles in 1902. The next year, his batting average dropped to .266. He had 136 hits and 21 doubles in 135 games in 1903. Defensively, he led the AL in assists with 468.

In 1905, Wallace led the AL in games played with a career high of 156. He had 159 hits, 25 doubles, and a .271 batting average. He struggled the next season and his batting average dropped to .258. In 1907, he batted .257 with 138 hits in 147 games. But he played well defensively that year, again leading the AL in assists with 517.

Wallace continued to struggle offensively, with his batting average dropping to .253 in 1908, and to .238 in 1909. He improved in 1910, batting .258 with 131 hits in 138 games. He batted just .232 in 125 games in 1911, and .241 in 100 games in 1912. In 1911, he was named player-manager of the team and he stayed in that position for two seasons.

Wallace played in just 104 games over his last four seasons (1913-1916) with the Browns. He batted just .211 in 55 games in 1913. His playing time continued to drop, with just 26 games in 1914, 9 games in 1915, and 14 games in 1916.

Return to Cardinals

In 1917, Wallace returned to the Cardinals, playing in just eight games in 1917, and in 32 games in 1918, his last season as a major league player. In 1917, in addition to playing with the Cardinals, Wallace managed a minor league team.

MLB Records

  • Led NL in assists (2 times)
  • Led AL in assists (2 times)

Career Statistics

Wallace played in over 100 games in each of 16 seasons (1897-1912). His statistics during that time include:

  • 5 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 178 in 1901
  • 3 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 34 in 1901
  • 4 seasons with over 10 triples, with a high of 21 in 1897

Career batting statistics for Wallace include:

  • 2,383 games played
  • 2,309 hits
  • 391 doubles
  • 143 triples
  • 201 stolen bases
  • .268 batting average
  • .332 on-base percentage
  • .690 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Wallace at shortstop include:

  • 1,826 games played
  • 6,303 assists
  • 640 double plays
  • 4,142 putouts
  • 685 errors
  • .938 fielding percentage

Post Playing Career

Wallace played in the Southwestern League (minors) in 1921. He made a brief comeback in the major leagues in 1937 as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He led the Reds to just 5 wins and 20 losses.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Bobby Wallace
ESPN - Bobby Wallace
Baseball Reference - Bobby Wallace

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