Recognized as the first great slugger in baseball history, and among the greatest sluggers of his era, he held the record for career home runs from to , with his final total of 106 tying for the fourth most of the 19th century. His career slugging percentage of .519 remained the Major League record for a player with at least 4,000 at bats until Ty Cobb edged ahead of him in 1922. At the time of his initial retirement, he also ranked second in career triples (205), and third in runs batted in (1,296) and hits.