Steve Libby

Stephen Augustus Libby

• Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown
• Height 6' 0½", Weight 168 lb.

• Debut May 10, 1879
• Final Game May 10, 1879
• Born December 8, 1853 in Scarborough, ME USA
• Died March 31, 1935 in Milford, CT USA

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Biographical Information

"Libby struck the ball squarely and it went on a beeline to the leftfield corner. For a few seconds the crowd did not comprehend the magnitude of the hit. Suddenly the fans became frantic and the applause was the loudest ever heard here, lasting several minutes. Several ladies threw bouquets at the blushing Libby." - from a SABR research article called The First Great Minor League Club, about the 1878 Buffalo Bisons and Steve Libby, who hit one of the team's two homers that season (quoting the Buffalo Express)

Steve Libby played one game for the Buffalo Bisons in 1879. He was also a National League umpire in 1879 and 1880.

Libby was a star on the 1878 Bisons, a minor league club, but unlike several other members of the team, did not go on to play the full 1879 season. Pud Galvin was his most famous teammate.

In a Baseball Digest article about early spring training practices, it was said:

"Steve Libby of the Buffalo Club went hunting, worked out with seven-pound Indian clubs, went skating, and took daily walks of three to six miles during the off-season, according to a letter he wrote his club in 1878."

Related Sites

• Steve Libby on Retrosheet.org