This Day in D.C. Baseball History – The Early Days

3 March 1877 [1]

Birthday of Arthur “Doc” Hillebrand.

Hillebrand was considered to be one of the top pitchers of his generation. He was compared to Christy Mathewson and it was an apt description. Both were strong, imposing athletes. Hillebrand was a star athlete at Princeton University and his exploits on the football gridiron, he was a tackle, put him into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was also highly respected and a public figure, well known wherever he went. Hillebrand captained the college football and baseball teams and would coach football and baseball at the US Naval Academy and at Princeton, winning the national football title for Princeton in 1903.

In 1904, Hillebrand was one of several players, his brother Homer, a slugging first baseman was among them, that Ban Johnson, League President and owner of the Washington Club, had promised the local rooters and minority stockholders of the Washington Senators. Hillebrand was on the team’s reserve list and offered a lucrative contract. For most of the spring the question, “will he sign,” hung over the club, but his father, a doctor, was adamant that his sons not play professional
baseball.

Hillebrand never did sign with Washington or any other major league club although he played for the 1902 Flandreau Indians in the Iowa-South Dakota League[1][2] and the season with Los Angeles in the Pacific National League.

How good was he? Hard to say, there is no objective way to tell how good he would have been. However even by 1908 when it was rumored he would sign with New York it was felt by some that he was one of the top pitchers in baseball. His arrival would have been a huge help to a faltering franchise that had lost their best player Ed Delahanty[2][3] the previous year. His presence would have been uplifting to a fan base that had suffered through the Wagner Years and the indifference of Ban Johnson regime. Like the fans in 1904 we can only ponder what might have been.

Born 10 October 1879  Homer Hiller Henry Hillebrand

Homer is the younger brother of Arthur Hillebrand. He has a reputation of a slugging first baseman, he was listed at 5-08, 185 1b. He batted right and three left-handed. Like his brother Arthur, Homer was on Washington’s reserve list but like his brother he never did sign with Washington. He would go on to play with the Pittsburgh Pirates for parts of three seasons.[1][4]

Homer Hillebrand batted .237 in 47 games, his slugging average was .298. he had better success on the mound, he was 8-4 with an ERA of 2.51. He died in Elsinore, California at the age of 94 in 1974.

[1]Date of Birth varies. 3 March 1877, Birthdate listed by Baseball Reference.com. 9 March 1877, Birthdate listed by College Football Hall of Fame