Spotlight on the Hall of Fame: The Often-Overlooked “Sunny Jim” Bottomley

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Spotlight on the Hall of Fame: The Often-Overlooked “Sunny Jim” Bottomley

“I don’t have a regret in the world. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve loved every minute of it.” -“Sunny Jim” Bottomley, talking about his baseball career.

An interesting trade occurred on December 17, 1932, 84 years ago yesterday. The Cardinals traded former National League MVP “Sunny Jim” Bottomley to the Reds for two relative unknowns. The deal appeared to be a steal for the Reds. Although past his prime, Bottomley was a nine-time .300 hitter and future Hall-of-Famer who still had some productive years left. Bottomley was noted for his light-hearted, sunny disposition, hence his nickname, “Sunny Jim.” He was also known for the cocky way in which he wore his baseball cap, with a characteristic tilt to the side, making him easy to identify in old photos.

Jim Bottomley is a Hall-of-Famer who doesn’t get a lot of attention. He played 16 seasons in the major leagues (1922-37), for the Cardinals (1922-32), Reds (1933-35), and Browns (1936-37), serving as player-manager for the Browns in 1937. Over his career, Jim hit .310, with 219 home runs, 1422 RBIs, 465 doubles, 151 triples, .369 on-base percentage, and .500 slugging average. His career 125 OPS+ rates him well above the average major leaguer. As a rookie in 1923, Bottomley hit .371, second in the league to Rogers Hornsby’s .384. His .425 on-base percentage was also second to Hornsby.

Jim led the league twice in doubles, RBIs, and total bases; and once in hits, triples, and home runs. On September 16, 1924, he set the all-time record for RBI in a single game with 12, which stood for 69 years until tied by Mark Whitten in 1993. In 1931, Bottomley finished with a .3482 batting average, placing third behind his teammate Chick Hafey’s .3489 and Bill Terry’s .3486, the closest batting average finish in major league history.

The Nokomis, Illinois native was a member of four pennant winners (1926, ’28, ’30, ’31), and two World Series championships (1926 and ’31). His best season was 1928 when he won the National League MVP award. That year, Jim hit .325, and led the league in home runs (31), RBIs (136), triples (20), and total bases (362). He also hit 42 doubles, .402 on-base percentage, and .628 slugging average. Jim did not fare well in 24 post season games, hitting only .200 with one home run, and 10 RBIs. His best performance by far was with the World Series champion Cardinals in 1926 when he hit .345 with five RBIs.

After retiring from the game, Bottomley served as a scout and minor league manager for the Cubs. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974, amid charges of “cronyism” leveled at the Veteran’s committee, which included Frankie Frisch and Bill Terry, known for selecting former teammates.

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from the Jim Bottomley Wikipedia page.

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