Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Guy Hecker is considered by some baseball historians to be the best combination pitcher and hitter to play in the 19th century. He remains as one of the only two pitchers in Major League history to hit three home runs in one game, alongside Jim Tobin and the only pitcher to win a batting title. In addition, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to get six hits in a nine-inning game.

I did not know that.
BBRef shows that his strat card year of 1882 was his rookie year. He batted .276 with 3 HR (340 AB) yet his card has him as a 1WR hitter.

Also curious why we have his 1882 card (104 IP). Hecker pitched over 400 innings each of the next 4 years and pitched 670 innings in 1884 (52 wins and a 17.8 WAR). Given his salary was $1800, he was a pretty good value by today's standards.

At $1800, he was very well paid. Teammate Pete Browning, who also debuted in 1882, made $1800 a year in 1885 and 1886. Hecker made $2800 in 1886 (although 800 of it was apparently a signing bonus) and $2000 a year for the next two years. Tim Keefe (who, along with Mickey Welch, was one of the recognizable name players for that time) made $2800 but was in his 5th year by then.

For comparison, Honus Wagner didn't get over $2000 a year until 1900, his 4th year. And this was 16 years later, although there was minimal inflation then.