joining the Quicksteps of Wilmington, Delaware, as a pitcher. In 1877, he began playing professional baseball as a second baseman for the Auburns of Auburn, New York. In 1878, he played for teams in Hornellsville and Albany, New York. He remained with Albany in 1879. Major League Baseball Cleveland Blues In May 1880, Dunlap began a 12-year career in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Blues. In his first season, Dunlap immediately established himself as one of the game's best players. For the 1880 season, Dunlap led the National League (NL) in doubles (27) and ranked second in extra base hits (40) and times on base (132) while serving as the team's leadoff hitter. He also made a strong debut on defense, leading the National League in assists by a second baseman (290). Dunlap remained with the Blues for four seasons and consistently ranked as one of the leading hitters and defensive second basemen in the National League. In 1881, he compiled 156 total bases, the second most in the NL, and had a .325 batting average and .444 slugging percentage, ranking fifth in the NL in both categories. In 1882, he led the NL's second basemen with 297 assists and a range factor of 6.73. In his final year in Cleveland, Dunlap had a .326 batting average, .361 on-base percentage, and .452 slugging percentage, ranking among the league's leaders in each of those categories. Defensively, he led the league's second basemen in putouts (304) and ranked third in assists (290) and fielding percentage (.911). Dunlap was the star of the Cleveland team in the early 1880s. So key was he to the Blues that one writer observed, "The Maroons without Dunlap are like the play of Hamlet without the melancholy Dane." "Sure Shot" Dunlap was known during his baseball career by the nicknames "Sure Shot" and "King of Second Basemen". Most accounts indicate that the "Sure Shot" nickname arose from Dunlap's powerful and accurate throws to first base. King Kelly reportedly gave Dunlap the "Sure Shot" nickname after watching him throw. One account described Dunlap's throwing prowess as follows: "[E]ndless practice made him adept as a monkey at grabbing a sizzling ground ball in either hand and firing it off from the very spot he seized it. His whistling throws, which seemed to clear the grass by no more than half a foot, never seemed to lose more than