Hellings

Hellings

• Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown

• Debut July 19, 1875
• Final Game July 19, 1875

BR page

Biographical Information

A player named Hellings was one of four men quickly rounded up by the Brooklyn Atlantics on July 9, 1875 for a game in Philadelphia, PA. Four regular members of the team did not show up for the game, and the Atlantics had to use local amateur players as fill-ins. In addition to Hellings, who played second base and went 1 for 4, those were Doc Bushong, Harry Arundel and Washington Fulmer. No first name was recorded at the time for Hellings, who went down in the record books with only his last name.

Further research as established that there was an infielder named Hellings who was active in Philadelphia at the time, playing for West Philadelphia and the Olympic club alongside some well-known figures such as Al Reach and Count Sensenderfer. However, all reports about him only called him by his last name. Finally, researcher Justin McKinney was able to find a mention of a J. Hellings playing second base for the American club in 1876. Looking at city directories from the time, the only candidate in the right age range is one Jonathan William Hellings, born in 1847 and who died in 1900, who worked as a cooper and lived only minutes away from the Jefferson Street Grounds where the missing ballplayer played his only game. That is fairly strong circumstantial evidence, but there is still no definitive proof that Jonathan Hellings was actually the ballplayer.

Further Reading

• "Hellings", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, July/August 2021, pp. 1-2.