| Hall of Fame |
Class of 1917
Joe Start has been elected to the BBC Hall of Fame. Start is one of the baseball pioneers, a New York native who began playing on city clubs when baseball was still a "gentleman's game" and first base a key defensive position. He gained fame in baseball circles as a member of the Mutuals club, and was with that team when it joined the National Association both as an amateur league and later as a professional loop. Start was 28 in 1871, the first year of the pro NA. When the Mutuals were dispatched from the National League (successor to the NA) in 1876 for not completing their last road trip, Start elected to stay in the league battles, moving to Hartford. He then played a year for Chicago, and several seasons for Providence. He played a final year in 1886 for Washington at age 42, then left the big leagues. Start, called "Old Reliable" of course, led the NL in hits in 1878, and from 1879 on was the oldest player in the league. His election is more for his status as a pioneer player than overwhelming statistical evidence, as his record is good though not impressive. It is his time spent through the development of the game as a weekend and after-work endeavor of city-dwellers, to a professional sport played by well-paid athletes. Oh, to have an interview of this man who died in 1927 in Providence, witness to so much of baseball history. Voting Results 10 ballots cast: