Somehow I’ve never written about George Gore, the only Gore ever to play major league baseball. Though you’ve probably never heard of him, Gore was pretty sweet: an outfielder who could flat-out rake, run the bases, and had some skills on defense. He was probably a five-tool player, especially early in his career, though the standards were a little different back then.
Gore played his first eight seasons (1879-1886) for the Chicago White Stockings, the team that would become today’s…wait for it…Chicago Cubs (yes, seriously). In 1880, Gore won his only batting title, hitting .360, with league-leading on-base (.399) and slugging (.463) percentages, too.
According to Wikipedia, his last two White Stockings teams won the National League pennant, then faced the St. Louis Brown Stockings, champions of the American Association, in what then passed for a World Series. The clubs tied in 1885 and St. Louis won outright in 1886; this was the foundation of today’s Cubs-Cardinals rivalry.
Gore once stole seven bases in a single game. As near as I can tell, that record has never been broken. His 1,327 career runs rank him just outside of the top 100 all-time.
Gore’s nickname, “Piano Legs”, came from his massive calf muscles, a trait he shares with my brother John. In The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James named George Gore as having the best outfield arm of the 1880s. Gore finished with a career .301 average (just above Juan Pierre) and .386 on-base percentage (a little better than Ichiro). Told ya he could play.
More information about Gore can be found on Wikipedia, Baseball-Reference.com, and Bleed Cubbie Blue.
(If my timing confuses anyone, my nephew George was born today to John and his wife Kristina. Congratulations!)
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