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The first man to hit 10 homers in a season and 100 in his career, Harry Stovey was one of baseball’s brightest stars in its earliest professional era.

Born in Philadelphia before the start of the US Civil War, Harry’s ancestors migrated to North America as English colonists. He is a direct descendant of John Stow who, along with his partner John Pass, recast the Liberty Bell after it cracked. The inscription “Pass and Stow/Philada/MDCCLIII”, can be seen on the Bell today.

Born Harold Duffield Stow, he loved baseball at an early age – much to the chagrin of his mother. According to BaseballReference.com, Harry started playing professionally in his native Philadelphia in 1877 at age 20.

Not wanting his mom to open the newspaper and see his name, Stow changed it to Stovey to avoid detection, revealed Matt Kelly in a piece for the Hall of Fame.

By 1880 Harry was playing baseball at its highest level for the National League’s Worcester Ruby Legs. He made an immediate impact, leading the circuit in triples and home runs.

Three years later playing for the American Association’s Philadelphia Athletics, Stovey became the first big leaguer to post a double-digit home run total. Playing the full slate of games that was under 100 contests, he also led the league in runs, doubles, slugging percentage and total bases.

Due to the abbreviated schedule of his day, Stovey’s counting numbers do not measure up to today’s Cooperstown men. However, looking at the league leaderboard, it’s easy to see he was a star of his day.

Stovey consistently ranked high in major offensive categories. He topped his league in home runs and slugging percentage five times each. In 1890 he became the first man in professional baseball to total 100 career round trippers. He held the career home run record in 1885 and ’86, and from 1889-1894.

Stovey also led the league in runs scored and triples four times each. When it comes to men who played at least 1,000 MLB games, Stovey is one of three to average more than a run per game. Despite the brevity of the season schedule, Stovey topped the 100-run mark in 9 seasons. A two-time stolen base champ, Stovey set the single-season record for steals in 1886. He finished with 509 thefts despite the statistic not being recorded for his first half-dozen years in the bigs.

Stovey is also credited with baseball innovations. The purported inventor of sliding pads, he is also recognized as one of the first to slide feet first. Stovey may have also invented the pop-up slide, popularizing what’s taken for granted today.

Stovey left the game at age 36 in 1893 as the game’s career leader in home runs. Heading into the 1921 season when Babe Ruth smashed 59 homers, Stovey was still third on the all-time list. In retirement he became a police officer in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Few in town knew that officer Stow was once a Major League Baseball star.

Shown here are season passes from 1932 and 1933 issued to Stovey for admission to all Red Sox home games. Having played in Massachusetts for the Worcester team and Boston’s Players’ League Reds and National League Beaneaters, Stovey was renown in the state capital.

Notice the facsimile signatures of the Boston team presidents. In ’32 Bob Quinn ran the team before selling the club to Hall of Fame owner Tom Yawkey.

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Harry Stovey belongs in the Hall of Fame. That’s plain and simple. His statistics support his inclusion as do his innovations, inventions, and career narrative. Stovey has it all.

On BaseballReference.com’s statistical player pages, the league-leading numbers are listed in bold black ink. Near the bottom of each player’s page, there is a section called, “Hall of Fame Standards”. The first statistical measurement is called, “Black Ink“.

The formula awards points for topping the league in a statistical category. Four points are given for when a player leads his league home runs, RBI or batting average, three points for runs scored, hits or slugging percentage, two points for doubles, walks or stolen bases, and one point for games, at bats or triples.

The average Black Ink score for members already inducted into the Hall of Fame is 27. Stovey’s total is 56 which puts him 28th all-time. Among those who fall below Stovey’s score of 56 are no-doubt Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski (55), Rickey Henderson (50), Mel Ott (50), Albert Pujols (45), Miguel Cabrera (43), and a host of other Cooperstown men.

Immediately after the Black Ink listing is Gray Ink. That method takes top-ten finishes into account. Points are award similarly as the Black Ink. The average score of all hitters in the Hall is 144. Stovey far surpasses that with a 210 total. Only 45 men in history scored higher.

Detractors of Stovey’s Hall of Fame case point to his career counting numbers and WAR total. However, context always matters, and in Stovey’s case more than most.

WAR and career totals heavily depend on the number of games played. During his day, teams played an abbreviated schedule. In the first four years of his career, Stovey’s teams never played in as many as 100 games. Over the course of his 14-year big league career, Stovey’s teams averaged less than 120 games per season.

Stovey’s squads played 73.9% of the games of the modern schedule. Looking at it another way, in 14 seasons of today’s schedule, he would’ve appeared in 26.1% more games – that’s about 3 2/3 more seasons.

Additionally, Stovey’s 509 steals are among the most of his era despite the statistical lapses that keep him from getting credit for even a single stolen base in his first six seasons. Those numbers simply aren’t available.

Stovey’s case for Cooperstown is buoyed by his innovations regarding the foot-first and pop-up slides as well as the invention of the sliding pads worn under the uniform. Establishing MLB’s single-season home run mark and holding the career record for 8 seasons round out his narrative. Harry Stovey is one of a handful of men to retire as the game’s all-time home run leader.

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) agrees. In 2009 the organization began identifying the most under-appreciated men from the 1800s. Their choice for Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend for 2009 was Pete Browning who has quite a case for the Hall himself. In 2010 they selected Deacon White who was voted into Cooperstown three years later. Choosing from all the players from the 19th century not in Cooperstown, SABR chose Stovey as their man in 2011.

Harry Stovey clearly performed at a Hall of Fame level throughout his career. He dominated the game, set records, and contributed innovations and invention in the game’s earliest professional days.

His omission from Cooperstown needs to be rectified.

Here is the back of the passes from the previous image. The 1932 pass shows the facsimile signature of Red Sox team president Bob Quinn in his final year as owner of the team. The pass below that shows Quinn’s successor, 30-year old Tom Yawkey in his first year at the helm of the Sox. Both passed are adorned with the exceedingly rare signature of 1800s home run king Harry Stovey

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In 1883 Harry Stovey hit 14 home runs to shatter Charley Jones’ single-season mark of 9. Stovey held it for less than one season.

Chicago’s Ned Williamson took control in 1884 when he slugged 27. It was quite a feat despite his Lakefront Field flaunting the shortest distances from home plate to the outfield fences in big league history.

The right-handed hitting Williamson needed to drive the ball just 180′ to clear the left field fence. Center was 300′ from home, while the barrier in right was 196′ away.

Stovey need not be disappointed by yielding to Williamson. The 1884 mark stood the test as Williams held it for 35 seasons.

Shown here is a lineup card from the June 21, 1881 contest between Williamson’s Chicago team and the Providence Grays.

Williamson went 1-for-4 in the White Stockings 8-2 victory. Notice two Cooperstown men in the Chicago lineup. Outfielder Mike “King” Kelly bats third followed by Cap Anson, the first man to amass 3,000 hits. The 7th player on the order is winning pitcher Fred Goldsmith who claimed to have invented the curveball.

More scorecards from Harry Wright’s personal collection can be seen by clicking here.

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Harry Stovey is one of the under-appreciated greats in baseball history. A four-time home run champion, Stovey held Major League Baseball’s career mark for 8 seasons.

Perhaps his finest campaign came in 1889. Playing for the American Association’s Philadelphia Athletics, Stovey put up career highs in hits, runs, homers, RBI, and total bases. He topped his circuit in roundtrippers, extra-base hits, runs batted in and slugging percentage. The slugger placed second in OPS, third in WAR among position players, and fourth in triples.

Shown here is a box score from the August 3rd contest that year against the Louisville Colonels. Athletics pitcher Gus Weyhing twirled a complete-game shutout in the 3-0 victory.

The Athletics gave Weyhing all the support he needed in a three-run fourth inning. Stovey capped the scoring with a homer over the head of leftfielder Pete Browning.

In the box score notice the listing of umpire Fred Goldsmith. The self-professed and now-debunked inventor of the curveball was in his third and final season as a big league arbiter.