A younger brother of Lipman Pike, Israel began his baseball career in 1875 as an umpire in the National Association. In his only game as a player for the Hartford Dark Blues on Aug. 27, 1877 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Pike played right field and went 1-for-4 in a 5-1 victory over Lipman Pike’s Cincinnati Red Stockings. For years, he was misidentified as “Jay,” because a newspaper box score of his game listed him as J. Pike.

Copy link to Pike’s SABR biography: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/israel-pike/