Hick Carpenter

Warren William Carpenter

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 186 lb.

• Debut May 1, 1879
• Final Game July 31, 1892
• Born August 16, 1855 in Grafton, MA USA
• Died April 18, 1937 in San Diego, CA USA

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Biographical Information

"...no better behaved or more popular player ever lived... There are few Hick Carpenters in the base ball profession or any other profession for that matter. In all his long career before the public there is not a flaw. It stands out clear and distinct a straight line of honesty and good faith." - Sporting Life of August 27, 1892, on the occasion of Hick Carpenter's retirement

"I do not see where there is any more brilliant individual play now than there was thirty years ago. But the game has certainly been developed from a scientific standpoint. The team work is much improved over what it used to be when I was playing ball." - Hick Carpenter in 1910

Third baseman Hick Carpenter played 12 seasons in the big leagues. In an otherwise fairly ordinary career as a hitter, he had a great season with the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1882, hitting .342 (second in the league) and leading the American Association in hits (120 and RBI (67). The Red Stockings won the pennant in the first year of the American Association and Carpenter played in all 80 games Although he threw left-handed, Carpenter played over a thousand games at third base: this is about 900 more than any other left-hander, ever.

He may have been one of the reasons why the American Association developed a reputation as being an easier league than the National League. When Carpenter played in the National League in 1881, he hit just .216 for the Worcester Ruby Legs. The next year, playing in the American Association, he hit .342. Gradually over the years, his offensive performances did drop down to the level where they had been in the National League, so it is possible that he just came to the American Association when he was ready to blossom.

He and teammate Jimmy Macullar of the Syracuse Stars in 1879 are the first two players to have played winter ball. The two joined the Colon Club of Cuba for the 1879-1880 season; Steve Bellan played for another team in that league, Habana, but he had last played in the major leagues in 1873.

Sporting Life in 1892 stated that Carpenter started playing professionally "early in the seventies". He was with Brockton before he came to Syracuse. He was always called "Hick" by Sporting Life and never "Warren". It was announced in 1902 that Carpenter, who had been working as a train conductor, would be assistant collector of the port of Ocala, FL. In 1910 he was working for the Customs Service in Arizona.

Notable Achievements

• AA Hits Leader (1882)
• AA Singles Leader (1882)
• AA RBI Leader (1882)
• 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 1 (1888)

Related Sites

• Hick Carpenter at the SABR Bio Project