 Dennis Joseph " Dan " Brouthers ( / <unk> / ; May 8 , 1858 – August 2 , 1932 ) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896 , with a brief return in 1904 . Nicknamed " Big Dan " for his size , he was 6 feet 2 inches ( 1 @.@ 88 m ) and weighed 207 pounds ( 94 kg ) , which was large for 19th @-@ century standards . 
