Sid Farrar Stats & Facts

Sid Farrar Essentials

Positions:
Bats: Throws: R
Weight: 185
Born: August 10, 1859 in Paris Hill, ME USA
Died: May 7, 1935 in New York, NY USA
Debut: May 1, 1883
Last Game: October 4, 1890
Full Name: Sidney Douglas Farrar

Sid Farrar, one of the 19th-century’s top defensive first basemen, enjoyed a short but productive career. He played eight years in the big leagues (1883-90), with all but one of those spent with the National League’s Philadelphia Quakers. The numbers show that he was, in some respects, a decent batsman, hitting 20-plus doubles on four occasions while posting a career .253 average. However, he was an impatient hitter with little power: Farrar’s .305 on-base percentage and .342 slugging percentage each rank dead last among full-time first sackers during the 1880s. Often derided as one of the slowest baserunners in the game, his stolen base totals are likely the product of a ubiquitous running game, archaic rules that awarded steals for things such as taking extra bases on hits, and a high baseball IQ.

Farrar’s best offensive season came in 1887, when he hit nine triples, scored 83 runs, stole 24 bases, and posted career-bests in batting average (.282) and runs batted in (72). Amazingly, there are no known photographs of Farrar holding a bat and it is unknown from which side of the plate he hit. We do, however, have this tidbit that appeared in the Connecticut Western News in October 1888: “Sid Farrar has had a gigantic bat built for his use. It weighs forty-four ounces, against thirty-six ounces for the average bat.” (In case your wondering, Farrar stood 5-foot-10 and weighed around 180 pounds.)

Farrar, who never appeared at any position besides first base, statistically rated as one of the better defenders in the game during his brief career. Owner of a lifetime .974 fielding percentage, he led NL first sackers in the category in 1886 (.980) and ranked among the league leaders in each of his other seven seasons. He also finished among the circuit’s top three in putouts six times and assists on five occasions. Though supposedly slow on the bases, Farrar was quite agile in the field; according to baseball-reference.com, he posted a career 10.51 range factor per game—33rd all-time among major league first basemen.

Though only 30 years old and still productive, Farrar played his final big-league season with the 1890 Philadelphia Athletics (Players’ League). That year he hit .256 with a career-high 11 triples and paced the circuit’s first basemen with 79 double plays turned. Unwilling to call it quits, he played for the minor league New Haven Nutmegs in 1891, posting a team-best .312 average with nine triples and 40 stolen bases in only 87 games; Sporting Life called Farrar “undoubtedly the best player in the Eastern Association.” He finished out his pro career with the 1892 Providence Grays (Eastern League), hitting .284 with 25 doubles, 10 triples, and 35 steals.

Sid Farrar, himself a fine singer, made his biggest mark as the father of famed operatic soprano Geraldine Farrar. One of the most popular singers of the day, Geraldine also appeared in several movies and was linked romantically with two of the biggest celebrities of the day—conductor Arturo Toscanini and vocalist Enrico Caruso. According to historian/author David Nemec: “At the height of her career, [Farrar’s] striking beauty, enchantingly lyrical voice and faultless stage presence earned her . . . a fanatical following.”

Despite his status as a major leaguer and the father of a world-renowned entertainer, Farrar mostly avoided the press, leaving us with precious few details about his early life and personality. A native of Maine, Farrar was born in 1859 and began playing semi-pro baseball at age 17. Later newspaper accounts from his playing days often include mentions of his leadership abilities and integrity; he was named team captain on more than one occasion and was a vocal supporter of the upstart Players’ League.

One sportswriter—former big leaguer Charles “Curry” Foley—was unimpressed with the leadership style (and possible ethnicity) of the man he called “an able jackass.” In the September 9, 1889 edition of The Pittsburg Dispatch, Foley opined: “Sid would make a fine captain of a whaling vessel, his profanity being something awful when his Cuban blood is aroused from a somniferous debauch.”

Following his playing days, Farrar made a nice living selling furniture, farming, and raising turkeys. In his later years, he often accompanied his daughter on tour, though substantive mentions in the press—other than “Geraldine Farrar’s father” or “former big leaguer”—were few and far between. Farrar’s exploits as a ballplayer weren’t completely forgotten, however. In October 1928, United Press wrote of the 69-year-old:

“Veteran baseball fans still remember the great Sid Farrar, long a diamond favorite and remarkable first baseman of the Philadelphia National League team in the early ’80s. But the plaudits of the crowd have not sounded in his ears since his retirement. . . . [He] has exchanged the baseball diamond for the pleasantly secluded slopes of a Connecticut farm near Stamford, where he lives in a house built in 1780, close by his daughter’s own home, supervising the care of his orchard and fields and taking ease with his two blooded police dogs. . . . [H]e does not hesitate, when needed, to drive a tractor on six acres where he grows Golden Bantam and Country Gentleman corn.”

On May 7, 1935, Sidney Douglas Farrar, age 75, passed away at a New York City hospital due to complications following an undisclosed surgery.

✍️ Bobby King II

◾Sources: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org + https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/sid-farrar/ + https://www.baseball-reference.com + https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov + https://en.wikipedia.org + https://www.newspapers.com