Al Spalding: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1939

Born: September 2, 1850

1865: Played with the Rockford Pioneers (youth team)

1866-67: Played for the Forest Citys

1868: Joined the Chicago Excelsiors

Big league debut: May 5, 1871 (Boston Red Stockings)

1871-76: Led the league in wins each year

1872: Won 38 games

1873: Won 41 games

1874: Won 52 games

1875: Won 54 games

1876: Helped organize the National League

1876: Jumped to the Chicago Cubs

1876: Won 47 games

1876: Cubs won the pennant

1877: Began a sporting goods store in Chicago

1877: Began a baseball magazine (Baseball Guide)

1878: Retired from baseball; owned the Cubs

1888-89: Took players on a world tour

1890: Player’s League formed; Spalding worked to destroy it. He succeeded.

1900: Appointed commissioner of the Summer Olympic Games by President McKinley.

1905: Spalding involved in the commission to determine who created baseball

1907: Commission declared Abner Doubleday the founder of baseball

1908: Wrote the first history of baseball

Died: September 9, 1915

1939: Elected to the Hall of Fame by Old Timer’s Committee

Accomplishments:
252-65 record

.795 win percentage (1^st all time)

2.13 ERA

279 complete games

1.193 WHIP

Led league in wins: 6x

30+ wins: 5x

40+ wins: 4x

50+ wins: 2x

Led league in win percentage: 4x

54-5 record in 1875

Led league in games: 3x

Led league in game starts: 2x

Led league in games finished: 2x

Led league in complete games (1874): 65

Led league in innings pitched: 2x

200+ innings: 6x

400+ innings: 5x

500+ innings: 3x

617 1/3 innings in 1874

As a hitter:
.313 average (1959 at bats)