Sparky Adams

Earl John "Sparky" Adams (August 26, 1894, Zerbe, PA –February 24, 1989, Pottsville, PA) was a professional baseball player with the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds.

Adams was a dependable leadoff man and good fielding second and third baseman. He was also speedy for his day, usually fininshing in the top ten in stolen bases. Highlights of his career included leading the National League in at bats three times (1925, 1926, and 1927) and in doubles once (1931), scoring 100 runs once (1927), scoring ninety or more runs an additional five times (1925, 1926, 1928, 1930, and 1931), and playing regularly on two pennant winners in St. Louis (1930 and 1931).

YEAR TEAM        AGE    G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR    HR%  RBI   BB   SO   SB  CS   AVG   SLG   OBA   OPS
1922 Cubs         27   11    44    5   11   0   1   0   0.00    3    4    3    1   2  .250  .295  .313  .608 
1923 Cubs         28   95   311   40   90  12   0   4   1.29   35   26   10   20  19  .289  .367  .346  .713 
1924 Cubs         29  117   418   66  117  11   5   1   0.24   27   40   20   15  17  .280  .337  .344  .682 
1925 Cubs         30  149   627   95  180  29   8   2   0.32   48   44   15   26  12  .287  .368  .341  .709 
1926 Cubs         31  154   624   95  193  35   3   0   0.00   39   52   27   27   0  .309  .375  .367  .742 
1927 Cubs         32  146   647  100  189  17   7   0   0.00   49   42   26   26   0  .292  .340  .335  .675 
1928 Pirates      33  135   539   91  149  14   6   0   0.00   38   64   18    8   0  .276  .325  .357  .682 
1929 Pirates      34   74   196   37   51   8   1   0   0.00   11   15    5    3   0  .260  .311  .316  .627 
1930 Cardinals    35  137   570   98  179  36   9   0   0.00   55   45   27    7   0  .314  .409  .365  .774 
1931 Cardinals    36  143   608   97  178  46   5   1   0.16   40   42   24   16   0  .293  .390  .340  .730 
1932 Cardinals    37   31   127   22   35   3   1   0   0.00   13   14    5    0   0  .276  .315  .352  .667 
1933 Cardinals    38    8    30    1    5   1   0   0   0.00    0    1    3    0   0  .167  .200  .219  .419 
     Reds         38  137   538   59  141  21   1   1   0.19   22   44   30    3   0  .262  .310  .320  .631 
     TOTALS           145   568   60  146  22   1   1   0.18   22   45   33    3   0  .257  .305  .315  .620 
1934 Reds         39   87   278   38   70  16   1   0   0.00   14   20   10    2   0  .252  .317  .307  .623 
     TOTALS          1424  5557  844 1588 249  48   9   0.16  394  453  223  154  50  .286  .353  .343  .695 
     LG AVERAGE            5618  796 1638 281  77  80   1.43  731  475  406   83  22  .291  .412  .350  .762 
     POS AVERAGE           5545  796 1577 262  69  57   1.03  632  460  396   99  21  .284  .387  .342  .729 

YEAR TEAM           RC RCAA RCAP   OWP   RC/G   TB  EBH   ISO   SEC   BPA IBB HBP SAC  SF GIDP OUTS    PA POS
1922 Cubs            4   -3   -3  .265   2.89   13    1  .045  .114  .333   0   0   1   0   0    36    49  2B
1923 Cubs           37  -15   -4  .345   3.79  114   16  .077  .164  .420   0   1  14   0   0   254   352  SS
1924 Cubs           48  -17   -4  .367   3.76  141   17  .057  .148  .392   0   1  14   0   0   332   473  SS
1925 Cubs           81  -17  -24  .413   4.50  231   39  .081  .174  .437   0   7   9   0   0   468   687  2B
1926 Cubs           88   -2    9  .490   5.08  234   38  .066  .192  .467   0   5  19   0   0   450   700  2B
1927 Cubs           75  -15  -18  .415   4.11  220   24  .048  .153  .418   0   0  16   0   0   474   705  2B
1928 Pirates        66  -24  -21  .362   4.18  175   20  .048  .182  .414   0   4  21   0   0   411   628  2B
1929 Pirates        20  -16   -6  .258   3.47   61    9  .051  .143  .377   0   1   5   0   0   150   217  SS
1930 Cardinals      86  -17  -15  .417   5.51  233   45  .095  .186  .464   0   1  15   0   0   406   631  3B
1931 Cardinals      81   -8    7  .457   4.83  237   52  .097  .192  .456   0   2   6   0   0   436   658  3B
1932 Cardinals      15   -3    0  .415   4.24   40    4  .039  .150  .387   0   1   0   0   0    92   142  3B
1933 Cardinals       1   -4   -3  .060   1.00    6    1  .033  .067  .188   0   1   0   0   2    27    32  SS
     Reds           56  -13   -9  .408   3.58  167   23  .048  .136  .353   0   2  15   0  10   422   599  3B
     TOTALS         57  -17  -12  .388   3.43  173   24  .048  .132  .344   0   3  15   0  12   449   631 
1934 Reds           29  -14   -3  .331   3.71   88   17  .065  .144  .367   0   2   1   0   2   211   301  3B
     TOTALS        687 -168  -94  .401   4.31 1960  306  .067  .167  .419   0  28 136   0  14  4169  6174 
     LG AVERAGE    835    0    0  .500   5.24 2313  438  .120  .216  .467   0  30 145   0  21  4169  6268 
     POS AVERAGE   762  -77    0  .455   4.78 2148  387  .103  .200  .446   0  23 159   0  21  4169  6187 

SPARKY ADAMS LEAGUE LEADERSHIP RANKINGS

1923 NL STOLEN BASES 8TH 20; CAUGHT STEALING T3RD 19

1924 NL CAUGHT STEALING T6TH 17

1925 NL GAMES 9TH 149; AT BATS 1ST 627; SINGLES 5TH 141; STOLEN BASES 3RD 26; CAUGHT STEALING T6TH 12; WORST OPS 4TH .709; WORST RCAP 5TH -24; HIT BY PITCHES T5TH 7; PLATE APPEARANCES 2ND 687; OUTS 1ST 468

1926 NL GAMES T7TH 154; AT BATS 1ST 624; HITS 3RD 193; SINGLES 2ND 155; DOUBLES T4TH 35; STOLEN BASES 2ND 27; HIT BY PITCHES T7TH 5; PLATE APPEARANCES 1ST 700; OUTS 2ND 450

1927 NL AT BATS 1ST 647; RUNS 9TH 100; HITS T7TH 189; SINGLES 3RD 165; STOLEN BASES 4TH 26; WORST OPS 6TH .675; WORST RCAP 8TH -18; PLATE APPEARANCES 2ND 705; OUTS 1ST 474

1928 NL SINGLES 10TH 129; WORST OPS 8TH .682; WORST RCAA T7TH -24; WORST RCAP T5TH -21; HIT BY PITCHES T10TH 4

1931 NL AT BATS 9TH 608; RUNS 6TH 97; DOUBLES 1ST 46; STOLEN BASES T3RD 16; WORST OPS 9TH .730; PLATE APPEARANCES 8TH 658; OUTS 5TH 436

1933 NL WORST OPS 6TH .620; WORST RCAA T10TH -17; SACRIFICES T10TH 15; OUTS 9TH 449