Dutch Eagle
by William Bowen
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Dutch Shotgun Eagle was a model of consistency. The stalwart center fielder played on a series of Detroit Wolverines teams which made multiple World Series appearances.
Dutch Eagle prided himself on being out on the field. From an early age, young Dutch could be found on the nearest baseball diamond nearly any time the sun was up. Athletic but undersized as a teenager, Eagle traveled around attending major league tryouts but was turned down by teams who were impressed with his baseball instincts but thought he was too short and too skinny to cut it in the major leagues.
Dutch eventually caught on with an independent league team as an outfielder and experienced a late growth spurt, sprouting to just under six feet and packing on significant muscle thanks to an offseason job as a hired laborer on a farm. Its said that his teammates hardly recognized him upon his return.
The most stunning thing about Eagles transformation was his throwing arm. He had been wiry and strong, but now he had a truly elite arm. His manager wanted to try him as a pitcher, but Dutch couldnt stand the prospect of not playing every day. The team tried him at third base as well, but Dutch insisted on staying in the outfield, where he could better use his speed. His powerful arm earned him the nickname Shotgun, which stuck for the rest of his career.
In addition to his throwing arm, Dutchs newfound strength gave him the ability to drive the ball with authority. Eagle was a slap hitter as a young player, but the added muscle gave him the ability to drive balls into the gaps. He began to do so with authority and regularity, then using his speed to stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples.
Predictably, major league teams began to catch wind of the transformed Dutch Eagle. After a dominant stretch in the independent leagues, the Detroit Wolverines inked the 23-year-old Eagle to a minor league contract in January 1896. In Spring Training that year, Eagle met Wolverines farmhand Tug Appel, sparking a friendship that would last for the rest of their careers.
The Wolverines had been a largely mediocre team for their history leading up to that point, but they had finally put the pieces together. Dutch and Appel debuted in 1896, with Appel taking left field and Dutch joining Hall of Famers Jason Saal and Monroe Jamison up the middle. The ever-durable Virgil Hancock tossed hundreds of innings a year and anchored the rotation.
Eagle got a cup of coffee in 1896 and an extended look in 1897, flashing gap power and stealing 53 bases in only 119 games. His friend Appel established himself as a bonafide star. The pair became notorious in the clubhouse for skipping workouts after nights out drinking, and the Wolverines veteran players often had to reel them in from becoming distracted. Both men later credited longtime Wolverines center fielder Hans Miles with instilling a more businesslike attitude in the young Detroit phenoms, although they remained close friends.
In 1898, Eagle was ready. The team shipped Miles to Cleveland and Eagle took over as the teams starting center fielder, beginning a run of sustained excellence which would last him a decade. He posted 6.7 WAR and a 140 WRC+ with solid defense in center field, peppering the gaps of Wolverine Field with doubles and triples. The Wolverines added pitching phenom Luther Root to the rotation and had their best season ever, winning the division before faltering in the World Series to the Brooklyn Bluebirds.
In 1899, Eagle led the league in runs and triples. The Wolverines won 100 games for the first time, but they again fell in the World Series, losing a seven game series to Philadelphia.
The Wolverines had arrived, with Eagle manning center field every day and posting consistently excellent numbers. Dutch was somewhat overshadowed by his friend Appel offensively, but posted back-to-back 7+ WAR seasons in 1901 and 1902. The Wolverines played in the World Series once again in 1902, only to fall short to the Quakers once again.
After staying on the field for every game early in his career, Eagle suffered injuries and missed a few weeks in 1903 and 1904. However, while injuries are frequently a harbinger of things to come as players age, Dutchs incredible durability bounced back. He later revealed that after his 1904 injury he began stretching before games, something he had never done before.
As Eagle passed age 30, both Dutch and the Wolverines slowed down. His stolen bases and triples dipped, but he continued to hit very well, even as the league transitioned to the Deadball Era. After two down years, the Wolverines once again made it to the World Series in 1905, but they lost once more, this time to the Knickerbockers.
Dutch continued to post more than 5 WAR every year, a stretch which lasted from his first full season in 1898 until 1908. He provided consistent value on both sides of the ball, doing a bit of just about everything, well into his 30s.
The Wolverines fortunes, however, continued to decline. After a decade of excellence from both players, Tug Appel was traded in 1908, and a year later the Wolverines shipped the 37-year-old Dutch Eagle to Cincinnati. He could still hit a bit, and he stayed healthy as always, but Dutch was a shadow of himself in the outfield. Eagle called it quits that offseason, but returned to independent ball, where its said he played well into his 50s.
Eagle led the league in runs twice (1899, 1901), triples (1899) and plate appearances (1901). He won Player of the Week four times and Batter of the Month once. Eagle made the World Series four times with the Detroit Wolverines (1898, 1899, 1902, 1905). Eagle spent the latter half of his career in the Deadball Era. Even so, he hit .290 for his career, accumulating 2,519 hits, including 303 doubles and 209 triples. He swiped 511 bases and posted a +97.9 Zone Rating in center field.
In 1956, Dutch Eagle was inducted into the Hall of Fame.