Intro

Lave Cross was one of the most popular players in Philadelphia in the 1880s, 1890s and early 1900s, playing for five teams in that city in four different leagues. He was a valuable utility player for the Phillies in the 1890s before earning a starting job with St. Louis in 1898. After bouncing from one terrible team to another for three seasons, he arrived on Connie Mack's A's in 1901. As a starting third baseman for the next six seasons, Cross performed extremely well, especially considering they were his age 35-40 years. He played in 447 consecutive games for the A's, and helped Mack's teams to a pair of pennants.

Best Season

Granted, Cross was an established major leaguer and the AL, in its first few seasons, was still populated with some questionable talent. But Cross excelled, hitting .328 with 28 doubles and 12 triples in 100 games in '01. The next season he hit .342 with 108 RBI.

Factoid 1

Playing second base for the Phillies on August 5, 1897, Lave Cross recorded 15 assists, a major league record that still stands. The game went 12 innings.

Factoid 2

Lave Cross's 108 RBI in 1902 are the most ever by a player who did not hit a home run.

Feats

Lave Cross's 447 consecutive games played from April 23, 1902, through May 8, 1905, was most likely a record at the time. Games played records are sketchy going back before 1900.