Sleeper Sullivan

Thomas Jefferson Sullivan (Old Iron Hands)

Positions: Catcher and Rightfielder
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 7", Weight: 175 lb.

Born: 1859 in Ireland (All Transactions)
Debut: May 3, 1881 (Age 22)
Teams (by GP): BrownStockings/Bisons/Browns/Maroons/Eclipse 1881-1884

Final Game: May 29, 1884 (Age 25)
Died: October 13, 1909 in St. Louis, MO
Buried: Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, MO
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Standard Batting

More Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	HBP	SH	Pos	Awards
1877	18	LOW,EVN	N/A																						LOW,EVN · NENL,LGAL
1878	19	LYN	N/A																						LYN · INTA
1879	20	DBQ	N/A																						DBQ · NWES
1881	22	NYM	N/A																						NYM · ECAS
1881	22	BUF	NL	35	122	121	13	23	4	0	0	15		1	21	.190	.197	.223	.420	32	27	0		2/O
1882	23	STL	AA	51	191	188	24	34	3	3	0	0		3		.181	.194	.229	.422	40	43	0		2
1883	24	TOT	AA	9	29	29	2	6	0	1	0	0		0		.207	.207	.276	.483	51	8	0		/2O
1883	24	STL	AA	8	27	27	2	6	0	1	0	0		0		.222	.222	.296	.519	62	8	0		/2O
1883	24	LOU	AA	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0		0		.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0		/2
1884	25	SLM	UA	2	9	9	0	1	0	0	0	0		0		.111	.111	.111	.222	-25	1	0		/2O1
1886	27	MDN,HFD	N/A	88	344	344	46	84	14	2	0		6			.244	.244	.297	.541		102				MDN,HFD · EL
1887	28	DBY,REA	N/A	64	280	280	59	87	6	0	1		0			.311	.311	.343	.654		96				DBY,REA · EL,PASA
1889	30	NHV	N/A																						NHV · ATLA
1890	31	WMT,NWK	N/A	105	394	373	45	87	7	3	0		21			.233	.233	.268	.501		100		21		WMT,NWK · ATLA
1891	32	LYN	N/A																						LYN · NENL
1892	33	ROC	N/A	50	152	152	17	41	3	2	0		11			.270	.270	.316	.586		48				ROC · EL
4 Yrs				97	351	347	39	64	7	4	0	15		4	21	.184	.194	.228	.421	36	79	0
162 Game Avg.				162	586	580	65	107	12	7	0	25		7		.184	.194	.228	.421	36	132	0

STL (2 yrs)				59	218	215	26	40	3	4	0	0		3		.186	.197	.237	.434	43	51	0
LOU (1 yr)				1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0		0		.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0
SLM (1 yr)				2	9	9	0	1	0	0	0	0		0		.111	.111	.111	.222	-25	1	0
BUF (1 yr)				35	122	121	13	23	4	0	0	15		1	21	.190	.197	.223	.420	32	27	0

AA (2 yrs)				60	220	217	26	40	3	4	0	0		3		.184	.195	.235	.430	41	51	0
NL (1 yr)				35	122	121	13	23	4	0	0	15		1	21	.190	.197	.223	.420	32	27	0
UA (1 yr)				2	9	9	0	1	0	0	0	0		0		.111	.111	.111	.222	-25	1	0

Player Value--Batters

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	Rbat	Rbaser	Rdp	Rfield	Rpos	RAA	WAA	Rrep	RAR	WAR	waaWL%	162WL%	oWAR	dWAR	oRAR	Pos
1881	22	BUF	NL	35	122	-10	0	0	-9	2	-17	-1.7	4	-14	-1.3	.452	.490	-0.4	-0.7	-5	2/O
1882	23	STL	AA	51	191	-12	0	0	-11	3	-20	-1.9	3	-17	-1.5	.463	.489	-0.5	-0.7	-6	2
1883	24	STL	AA	8	27	-1	0	0	1	0	0	-0.0	0	0	0.0	.500	.500	-0.1	0.1	-1	/2O
1883	24	LOU	AA	1	2	-0	0	0	0	0	-0	-0.0	0	-0	0.0	.464	.500	0.0	0.0	-0	/2
1884	25	SLM	UA	2	9	-1	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	0	-1	-0.1	.453	.499	-0.1	0.0	-1	/2O1
4 Seasons				97	351	-25	0	0	-19	5	-39	-3.7	7	-32	-2.9	.462	.495	-1.1	-1.3	-13

STL (2 yrs)				59	218	-13	0	0	-10	4	-20	-1.9	3	-16	-1.5	.468	.494	-0.6	-0.6	-6
LOU (1 yr)				1	2	-0	0	0	0	0	-0	-0.0	0	-0	0.0	.464	.500	0.0	0.0	-0
SLM (1 yr)				2	9	-1	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	0	-1	-0.1	.453	.499	-0.1	0.0	-1
BUF (1 yr)				35	122	-10	0	0	-9	2	-17	-1.7	4	-14	-1.3	.452	.490	-0.4	-0.7	-5

Standard Pitching

More Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1884	25	SLM	UA	1	0	1.000	4.50	1	1	0	0	6.0	10	6	3	0	0	3		0	29	73	1.667	15.0	0.0	0.0	4.5
1886	27	HFD,MDN	N/A	0	1	.000	3.38	2	0			2.2	3	6	1		2	1	2	2			1.875	10.1		6.8	3.4	0.50	HFD,MDN · EL
1887	28	REA	N/A	0	0		0.00	1	0			2.0	3	0	0		0	0	0	0			1.500	13.5		0.0	0.0		REA · PASA
1 Yr				1	0	1.000	4.50	1	1	0	0	6.0	10	6	3	0	0	3		0	29	73	1.667	15.0	0.0	0.0	4.5
162 Game Avg.				34	0	1.000	4.50	34	34	0	0	204	340	204	102	0	0	102		0	986	73	1.667	15.0	0.0	0.0	4.5

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	IP	G	GS	R	RA9	RA9opp	RA9def	RA9role	PPFp	RA9avg	RAA	WAA	gmLI	WAAadj	WAR	RAR	waaWL%	162WL%	Salary	Awards
1884	25	SLM	UA	6.0	1	1	6	9.00	5.31	0.61	0.00	99.0	4.65	-3	-0.2		-0.0	-0.2	-3	.287	.499
1 Season				6.0	1	1	6	9.00	5.31	0.61	0.00	99.0	4.65	-3	-0.2		-0.0	-0.2	-3	.287	.499

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Year	Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/9	RF/G	lgFld%	lgRF9	lgRFG	G	PB
1881	BUF	NL	22	C	31		163	108	31	24	1	.853		4.48	.912		6.21		49
1881	BUF	NL	22	OF	5		8	3	2	3	0	.625		1.00	.871		2.06	0-2-4
1882	STL	AA	23	C	51		331	232	46	53	4	.840		5.45	.880		6.31		97
1883	TOT	AA	24	C	7		52	36	12	4	1	.923		6.86	.890		6.69		5
1883	STL	AA	24	C	6		49	35	11	3	1	.939		7.67	.890		6.68		4
1883	STL	AA	24	OF	2		5	3	1	1	0	.800		2.00	.852		1.80	0-1-1
1883	LOU	AA	24	C	1		3	1	1	1	0	.667		2.00	.890		6.70		1
1884	SLM	UA	25	C	1		5	3	1	1	0	.800		4.00	.896		8.40		1
1884	SLM	UA	25	OF	1		0	0	0	0	0			0.00			1.50	0-0-1
1884	SLM	UA	25	P	1	6.0	4	3	0	1	0	.750	4.50	3.00	.845	2.55	2.50
	4 Seasons			C	90		551	379	90	82	6	.851		5.21	.891		6.33		152
	3 Seasons			OF	8		13	6	3	4	0	.692		1.13	.864		1.92	0-3-6
	1 Season			P	1	6.0	4	3	0	1	0	.750	4.50	3.00	.845	2.55	2.50
	4 Seasons			TOT	99	6.0	568	388	93	87	6	.847	4.50	4.86	.890	2.55	5.93	0-3-6	152

Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.

View Complete Notes on Fielding Data

Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.

Pre-1945 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
From 1945 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1945 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1916 on.
Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1945 to 1973 and complete from then on.
Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1916) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1945 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Def. Games as C s c a p y 1882 AA 51 (4th)	Putouts as C s c a p y 1882 AA 232 (4th)	Assists as C s c a p y 1882 AA 46 (5th)	Errors Committed as C s c a p y 1882 AA 53 (3rd)
Double Plays Turned as C s c a p y 1882 AA 4 (2nd)	Passed Balls s c a p y 1882 AA 97 (2nd) Career 152 (66th)	Range Factor/Game as C s c a p y 1882 AA 5.45 (5th)	Fielding % as C s c a p y 1882 AA .840 (4th)

Transactions

August, 1883: Loaned to the Louisville Eclipse by the St. Louis Browns.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

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Viewed 3,816 times through February 12, 2013.
Name and misspellings: Old Iron Thomas Hands Jefferson Sleeper Sullivan

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