text: elmer flick elmer harrison flick ( january 11 , 1876 – january 9 , 1971 ) was an american major league baseball outfielder who played from 1898 to 1910 for the philadelphia phillies , philadelphia athletics , and cleveland bronchos / naps . in 1 , 483 career games flick recorded a .313 batting average while accumulating 164 triples , 1 , 752 hits , 330 stolen bases , and 756 runs batted in . he was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1963 . flick began his career in semi - professional baseball and played in minor league baseball for two years . he was noticed by george stallings , the manager of the phillies , who signed flick as a reserve outfielder . flick was pressed into a starting role in 1898 when an injury forced another player to retire . he excelled as a starter . flick jumped to the athletics in 1902 , but an court injunction prevented him from playing in pennsylvania . he joined the naps , where he continued to play for the remainder of his major league career , which was curtailed by a stomach ailment . flick was known predominantly for his solid batting and speed . he led the national league in rbis in 1900 , and led the american league in stolen bases in 1904 and 1906 , and in batting average in 1905 . early life flick was born on january 11 , 1876 , the third of five children of zachary and mary flick , on the family farm in bedford , ohio . his father was a farmer and mechanic who had served in the american civil war . flick attended bedford high school , where he played catcher on the school 's baseball team . he also played american football , wrestled , and boxed . flick entered semi - professional baseball by chance . when he was 15 years old , he was at a train station to support the local baseball team as it left for a road trip . only eight of the team 's players showed up at the station , so flick was recruited to go on the trip with the team . though flick did not have a uniform or shoes , he hit well in both games of the doubleheader , though bedford lost both games . he joined the bedford team on a regular basis , and he continued to play semi - pro baseball throughout his teenage years . professional career minor league baseball in 1896 , the manager of the youngstown of the interstate league signed flick . because the team had an established catcher , flick played in the outfield , where he struggled to learn the position . in 31 games , flick had a fielding percentage . however , flick had a strong performance offensively . using his father 's lathe , flick crafted his own baseball bat , which he used to hit for a .438 batting average . the next year , flick played for the dayton old soldiers , also in the interstate league , as their regular left fielder . his defense improved , as he compiled a .921 fielding percentage , and he batted .386 . he also led the league with 20 triples and 295 total bases . major league baseball george stallings , the manager of the philadelphia phillies of the national league ( nl ) , noticed flick while he played for dayton . stallings signed flick to the phillies to serve as a reserve outfielder for the team in the 1898 season . starting outfielder sam thompson injured his back after six games , forcing stallings to play flick . in his debut game , flick went 2 - for - 3 with two singles against fred klobedanz . thompson returned to the team briefly , but reinjured his back and announced his retirement in may , allowing flick to play regularly . flick proved himself a capable big leaguer , batting .302 with eight home runs , 13 triples and 81 runs batted in ( rbis ) . in the 1899 season , he batted .342 , with 98 runs scored and 98 rbis . however , he suffered a serious knee injury in august , and reinjured the knee when he returned to the game too quickly . before the 1900 season , philadelphia stars napoleon lajoie and ed delahanty held out of renewing their contracts with the team . other members of the team had grown disgruntled . amid talk of a revival of the american association , flick and several other players began to talk about not returning to the team the next year . the philadelphia inquirer reported that flick 's father was in the chair business in cleveland and that he might require flick 's help with the business . flick agreed to a contract extension before the season started . that year , he led the nl with 110 rbis . he finished second in the nl with a .367 batting average , a .545 slugging percentage , 11 home runs , 59 extra - base hits , and 297 total bases . he also engaged in a fistfight with lajoie that caused lajoie to miss five weeks due to a broken thumb . the race for the batting title came down to the end of the season . the title winner , honus wagner , later said , " i 've had a lot of thrills , but don 't think i was ever happier than in 1900 when i won after battling elmer flick to the last day of the season for the title . " flick was one of many star nl players who jumped to the fledgling american league ( al ) after the 1901 season , playing for the crosstown philadelphia athletics . flick played in 11 games for the athletics , before the phillies obtained an injunction from the pennsylvania supreme court prohibiting any player under contract with the phillies from playing for another team . though this injunction named lajoie , bill bernhard , and chick fraser only , it still applied to flick as well . as a recourse , flick and teammate lajoie signed instead with the cleveland naps , as the pennsylvania injunction could not be enforced in ohio . the two players often traveled separately from their teammates for the next year , never setting foot in pennsylvania in order to avoid a subpoena . flick spent the remainder of his career in cleveland , and the contract dispute was resolved when the leagues made peace in september 1903 with the national agreement . on july 6 , 1902 , flick hit three triples in one game . between 1900 and 2010 , 49 players accomplished that feat . by early 1904 , flick did not want to re - sign with cleveland for the offered $ 2 , 500 ( $ 65 , 843 in current dollar terms ) . plans were being made to run a railroad through a corner of flick 's farm and flick hoped to hire some of his horses to the construction team . " after july 4 , my farm work will be along so that i will be able to give considerable attention to independent ball " , he said . flick did return to cleveland for the 1904 season . that year , flick tied teammate harry bay for the league lead with 38 stolen bases . flick was the al batting champion in the 1905 season with a .308 average . only carl yastrzemski , who won the batting title with a .301 average in the 1968 season , led the league with a lower average . flick also led the league with a .462 slugging percentage and 18 triples in 1905 . his .383 on - base percentage trailed only topsy . during a 1905 game , cleveland fielders were charged with seven errors in a single inning , but flick committed only one of the errors . in the 1906 season , flick played a league - leading 157 games . he led the league with 700 plate appearances , 624 at - bats , 98 runs scored , 22 triples , and 39 stolen bases ( tied with john anderson ) . however , flick was " said to be dissatisfied with the team " , and the naps considered trading him to the detroit tigers for matty mcintyre . before the 1907 season , the naps turned down a trade with the tigers which would have exchanged flick for the 21 - year - old ty cobb . hughie jennings , the tigers ' manager , was tired of dealing with cobb 's abrasive behavior . the naps refused to part with flick , even in exchange for cobb . they countered with bunk , but the tigers declined . flick had been holding out but he signed a few days after the proposed trade . after cobb was nearly traded away , jennings attempted to repair the difficult relationships between cobb and the other detroit players . " cobb is too good a hitter to let get away , when a little diplomacy will get the boys together " , jennings said . in the 1907 season , flick again led the league with 18 triples . however , baseball took its toll on flick . before the 1907 season , he considered retiring to pursue other business opportunities . by 1908 , he developed stomach problems . cleveland personnel initially said that the illness was related to flick 's overeating . he left training camp that year , complaining of " train sickness " , and returned home to cleveland . he missed the majority of the 1908 season , playing in only nine games . he missed the beginning of the 1909 season as well , as a doctor recommended flick have his appendix removed . now weighing 130 pounds ( 59 kg ) , flick was afraid of a bad outcome from the surgery , which was a significant risk at the time . he kept his appendix and played in 66 games , batting .255 . he played in another 24 games in the 1910 season before he was again sidelined by his stomach ailment . the naps acquired shoeless joe jackson from the athletics in a trade and had him replace flick in the lineup . in july 1910 , the naps sold flick to the kansas city blues of the american association , but flick refused to report to kansas city , which cancelled the transaction . later career in 1911 , flick looked to continue his career . unable to find a major league team willing to sign him , he returned to the minor leagues . the toledo mud hens of the american association purchased him from cleveland . flick played for toledo in 1911 and 1912 . he batted .326 in the 1911 season and .262 in the 1912 season , but did not hit for power . the mud hens released him at the end of the 1912 season . he retired from professional baseball after being released by toledo , though he briefly played as a second baseman for a local amateur team in bedford in 1914 . flick retired without playing in a world series . as of 2003 , there were six hall of famers without a world series appearance who played most of their careers after 1903 ; three of them – flick , lajoie and addie joss – played together with cleveland from 1902 to 1910 . later life returning to bedford , flick hunted , raised horses , built buildings , and became involved in selling real estate . he also scouted for cleveland . only four 19th century baseball players , including flick , were still alive in 1970 . in his later years , flick still answered requests for autographs from his fans . proud of his longevity , flick often completed autographs by writing the date and his age above or underneath his signature . flick was married to rosa ella ( née gates ) . the couple had five daughters . flick died in his hometown of bedford in 1971 , at the age of 94 , of congestive heart failure . he also suffered from . honors when cobb died in 1961 , stories written about him mentioned the attempted trade between cleveland and detroit , which revived interest in flick . flick was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 1963 after being unanimously elected by the veterans committee ( vc ) . when he received the call from branch rickey that he had been selected , flick did not believe rickey at first . he said that he did not even realize that he was being considered for election at the time . flick 's family had to convince him that the call was real . he was the oldest living inductee in hall of fame history . at his induction , the 87 - year - old flick said , " this is a bigger day than i 've ever had before . i 'm not going to find the words to explain how i feel . " subsequent to his induction , writers have questioned the validity of flick 's hall of fame membership . james vail characterized flick and three other hall of famers as " some of the most dubious vc choices ever " . david fleitz wrote that rickey 's influence on the veterans committee led to flick 's election , as rickey was the only committee member who had seen flick play . author robert e. kelly pointed out that flick 's career was relatively short and that stronger candidates from flick 's era ( such as sherry magee ) had not been inducted . flick was enshrined in the greater cleveland sports hall of fame in 1977 , and the ohio baseball hall of fame in 1987 . a statue of flick 's likeness was created to be placed in bedford ; it was funded by donations and was dedicated in september 2013 . mike hargrove was among the baseball figures who attended the ceremony .