Jay Pike

Jacob Emanuel Pike was a right fielder who played in Major League Baseball during the 1877 season. Pike batted and threw left handed. He is credited as the first ballplayer named Jay to appear in a major league game. His brother, Lipman Emanuel Pike, had much more renown and is a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Pike was a major league player whose major league career, statistically speaking, was only slightly different than that of Red Bluhm, Eddie Gaedel, or Moonlight Graham. On August 27, 1877, he appeared in one game for the Hartford Dark Blues of the National League. Pike connected one hit in four at-bats in his only game for a .250 batting average, but he made an error in his only chance at right field.

Pike also played the outfield for the Lowell, Massachusetts team that won the 1875 state championship and claimed the New England title. That same year, he also served as a umpire in the National Association.