Robert Reach (August 28, 1843 – May 19, 1922) was an American professional baseball player born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

in three games during a two season span in the National Association, from 1872 to 1873. Reach had previously played for the 1869 Olympics, and the 1868

Philadelphia Keystones The Philadelphia Keystones (also known as the Keystone Club of Philadelphia) were a professional baseball franchise. In 1884, they were a member of the short-lived Union Association. The team was owned by former player Tom Pratt. The Keystones w ...

teams when they were in the amateur National Association. He played two games for the 1872

Washington Olympics The Olympic Club of Washington, D.C., or Washington Olympics in modern nomenclature, was an early professional baseball team. When the National Association of Base Ball Players permitted openly professional clubs for the 1869 season, the Olympic ...

, collecting two hits in eight at bats, and scored one run. Then, in 1873, he played one game for the

Washington Blue Legs The Washington Nationals of the 1870s were the first important baseball club in the capital city of the United States. They competed briefly in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (commonly referred to as the National Associ ...

, collecting one hit in five at bats, while scoring one run. In total, he batted 13 times, had three hits, scored two runs, and had a .231

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. His brother,

Al Reach Alfred James Reach (May 25, 1840 – January 14, 1928) was an Anglo-American sportsman who, after becoming one of the early stars of baseball in the National Association, went on to become an influential executive, publisher, sporting goods manuf ...

, played five seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics of the National Association. It is very likely that Reach was an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

veteran. Reach died in Springfield, Massachusetts at the age of 78, and is interred at Oak Grove Cemetery.

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1843 births 1922 deaths Baseball players from New York (state) Major League Baseball shortstops Philadelphia Keystones (NABBP) players Washington Olympics (NABBP) players Washington Olympics players Washington Blue Legs players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Baseball players from New York City 19th-century baseball players {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub