Jack Dalton

Tolbert Percy Dalton

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10½", Weight 145 lb.
• School University of Virginia
• Debut June 20, 1910
• Final Game May 17, 1916
• Born July 3, 1885 in Henderson, TN USA
• Died February 17, 1950 in Pittsburgh, PA USA

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Biographical Information

Jack Dalton played four years in the majors, having an excellent season with the Brooklyn Robins in 1914.

Per the SABR biography, he was coached in college at the University of Virginia by Tom Brown (presumably the long-time player Tom Brown), and after graduating played semi-pro ball in 1907 and 1908. Doc White took an interest in him, and gave him the nickname "Jack". After his time in the majors and minors, he again played semi-pro ball. In his second major league game, on June 21, 1910, he had a five-hit game against the New York Giants. He held the record for quickest five-hit game for over 110 years, until Yermín Mercedes tied him in 2021.

For a number of years Jack Dalton' was one of the few 20th Century major leaguers whose whereabouts or date of death were not known. Dalton disappeared from Emmitsburg, Maryland in the early summer of 1948 and never again made contact with any of his associates or relatives. At the time of his disappearance, he was a part-time preacher for the Columbia Primitive Baptist Church in Burtonsville, MD; he disappeared on July 4, 1948, a Sunday morning, leaving home to attend a church service, but never arrived there and was never heard from again. He was listed as a missing person by the state of Maryland. In 2012, researchers using death records newly opened to the public by the state of Pennsylvania determined that Dalton died of a heart ailment in Allegheny Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA on February 17, 1950. That still did not provide an explanation for his disappearance, however.

Further Reading

• "Jack Dalton Found", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, March/April 2012, p. 1.

Related Sites

• Jack Dalton at the SABR Bio Project

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