GEORGE EDWARD MARTIN VAN HALTREN
George Van Haltren was the first great baseball star to come out of the Bay Area. He moved from St. Louis to Oakland with his family at the age of eight, and began his baseball career in the 1880's as the pitcher and leading hitter for the "Greenhood & Morans," a team sponsored by Jacob Greenhood and James T. Moran, owners of an Oakland clothing store. He continued to play for the Oakland team for several years after it was acquired by promoter Colonel Tom Robinson.
He acquired the nickname "Rip" from Rip Van Winkle, maybe because of his last name and maybe because of his flowing mustache, which he kept throughout his career.
He made his National League debut at the age of 21 on June 27, 1887 with Chicago.
In his first outing, the highly touted California hurler
tied the all-time undesired record by walking 16
batters while losing to Boston 17-11. Chicago manager Cap Anson immediately
began to use
the swift youngster in the outfield.
Van Haltren threw a six-inning no-hitter against Pittsburgh on June 21, 1888 (he also pitched a hitless seventh inning, but since the Colts could not complete their half before the rain, the official score reverted to six innings). But he didn't pitch at all in 1889, and hit .300 for the first of 12 seasons. He jumped to the Players' League in 1890 and went 15-10 for Brooklyn, while batting .335. He played for and briefly managed two Baltimore clubs, and on July 27, 1892, after collecting four straight hits the day before, Van Haltren went 5-for-5 against St. Louis.
In 1894 he joined the New York Giants. For a time, he roomed with pitcher Christy
Mathewson. He became a star attraction himself at the Polo Grounds for a team that had
fallen considerably since winning championships in 1888 and 1889. He was a
center fielder and left handed lead off hitter who played with the kind of elan New
Yorkers appreciated. His graceful, far-ranging, strong-armed outfield play set a
high standard. In a contest sponsored by the New York Mirror in 1894, fans voted
Van Halten the most popular player in New York and Brooklyn. The prize a silver bat. In 1896
he batted a career-high
.351 and tied for the NL lead with
21 triples. His 45 stolen bases in 1900 tied him for the league lead; he had 583
steals lifetime. Between 1897 and 1901 he played in 454 straight games.
Until his major league career was curtailed by a broken ankle sustained while sliding into secondbase in May of 1902, Van Haltren played in a total of 1,984 games, with a career batting average of .316. As a pitcher, he struck out a total of 281 batters, and had a career ERA of 4.05.
In 1904 manager McGraw let Van Haltren go to Seattle in the Pacific Coast League. He hit .269
and set a permanent PCL record by coming to bat
941 times that season.
In 1905, Van Haltren came back home to Oakland to replace Pete Lohman as the Oaks' (then known as the Oakland "Commuters") second manager . Despite his age, as well as managing the team Van Haltren played center field, leading in total chances each year. He generally batted in the lead off position and was near the top in fielding percentage. Even as a playing manager, he always put the team first, however, not hesitating to bench himself in favor of a pinch hitter when necessary.
The 1905 season lasted eight long months, reaching an all time low on November 8, 1905, when the Oaks drew a paid attendance of 1 (that's right, one fan), due poor weather, the fact that a game was being played in San Francisco at the same time, and loss of fan interest because Oakland was out of contention.
Van Haltren kept the job through four more discouraging seasons, until June 6, 1909, when between games of a
double-header against Sacramento, he was replaced as manager by pitcher Bill Reidy. Nine days
later, he returned to the PCL as an umpire. He went on to umpire in the Northwestern League in
1912 and later to scout for Pittsburgh.
