Topper Rigney

Emory Elmo Rigney

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 150 lb.
• School Texas A&M University
• Debut April 12, 1922
• Final Game August 26, 1927
• Born January 7, 1897 in Groveton, TX USA
• Died June 7, 1972 in San Antonio, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Emory "Topper" Rigney played shortstop for six years in the major leagues. He drew walks well, hit triples, stole some bases, and hit lots of sacrifice hits. The similarity scores method comes up with a surprise comparision as the most similar player to Rigney - David Eckstein, a recent player. Eckstein, however, didn't draw nearly as many walks.

His highest batting average was .315 in 1923, a year when his teammate Harry Heilmann hit .403.

His main teammates included Harry Heilmann (1670) and Ty Cobb (1488).

Thorne Smith's popular novel "Topper" came out in 1926, during Rigney's career, so it would be logical to suppose Rigney was given his nickname from the popular book, which later was made into a movie and television series. However, the SABR biography indicates that he had received that nickname by 1920, years before the book came out.

He was at Texas A&M University at the same time as Rip Collins.

Related Sites

• Topper Rigney at the SABR Bio Project
• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Topper Rigney