Career

Esterbrook played for seven different teams during his 11-year career, and had his biggest success in 1884, while playing for the New York Metropolitans, when he batted.314, and was among the leaders in many other batting categories. In 1889, Esterbrook was named the manager, or "Captain" as it was known then, of the Louisville Colonels. After only ten games, and only two wins, the team owner determined that due to the team"s record and his manager"s confrontational behavior, Esterbrook would be fired and replaced by Jimmy Wolf.

Esterbrook died at the age of 43 when he leaped from a train, in Middletown, New York, that was transporting him to a mental hospital.

He is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New New York