In terms of sheer population, the Delahantys were baseball's First Family. Though perhaps not as successful as the DiMaggios, the Alous, the Deans, the Perrys, the McRaes, the Boones or the Niekros, five Delahanty brothers -- Ed, Jim, Joe, Tom and Frank -- played in the major leagues between 1888 and 1915.

 

Ed, the eldest, was easily also the best. A husky 6-footer, "Big Ed" led the National League in hits twice, in doubles seven times, in slugging five times, and he also won three batting titles. In 1899, probably his best year, he hit .408 with 56 doubles and 137 RBIs, all league-leading totals.     But it was in 1896 that Ed Delahanty performed the feat for which he is most readily recalled today. In a game July 13 against Chicago, the great Philadelphia slugger became only the second player ever to connect for four home runs in a single game. Records detailing that event tell different tales about just how Delahanty did it: One version says all four were inside-the-park jobs, another puts three inside-the-park, a third says three left the yard, one each to left, center and right. But they concur on the essentials: the home runs came in the first, fifth, seventh and ninth innings, they amounted to 17 total bases for the day (he also singled), and they produced 7 RBIs. It's said that when he crossed the plate the fourth time, he was greeted by -- among others -- Adonis Terry, the Chicago pitcher who had given up all four blasts. Terry had some reason to be charitable: Despite the pounding he'd taken from Delahanty, the rest of the Phillies were docile all day so Chicago still won the game 9-8.             Delahanty's batting heroics were overshadowed somewhat by the circumstances of his death, which occurred in 1903 when he fell off an open bridge into Niagara Falls, apparently while intoxicated. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.

 

ELSEWHERE IN BASEBALL

 

The first Frank Merriwell story is published April 18.

The Baltimore Orioles complete a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Spiders Oct. 8 to claim the Temple Cup. However, only 1,200 fans are in attendance.     

 

IN THE WORLD

 

Gold is discovered in the Yukon August 12.