George Zettlein (July 12, 1844 – May 22, 1905) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played six seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from 1871 to 1876 for the Chicago White Stockings,

Troy Haymakers The Troy Haymakers were an American professional baseball team. History Established in 1860 as the Union Base Ball Club Lansingburgh, located in neighboring Lansingburgh, New York, the Haymakers participated in the first professional pennant ra ...

, Brooklyn Eckfords,

Philadelphia White Stockings The Philadelphia White Stockings were an early professional baseball team. They were a member of the National Association from 1873 to 1875. Their home games were played at the Jefferson Street Grounds. They were managed by Fergy Malone, Jimmy ...

of the National Association (NA), and the

Philadelphia Athletics (1860–1876) The Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia (also known as the Philadelphia Athletics) was a prominent National Association, and later National League, professional baseball team that played in the second half of the 19th century. Forming and su ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

."George Zettlein Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022. Zeittlein served in the

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 th ...

, in both the Army and Navy. He began playing baseball in 1865 for

Eckford of Brooklyn Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs cal ...

in the

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...

, the amateur-only predecessor to the NA. He joined the

Brooklyn Atlantics The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn ("Atlantic" or the "Brooklyn Atlantics") was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty. The team was also the first baseball club to visit the White House in 1865 at the invitation of President And ...

in 1866, and remained with the team until 1870. In 1871, Zettlein joined the professional White Stockings of the NA, and in May 1871 he gave up the new league's first

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. He gave up the league's first

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in September. He had a record of 18–9 with a league-leading 2.73

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

that year. The following season, Zettlein played for the

and Brooklyn Eckfords, combining for 15 wins and 16 losses between the two teams. He won 36 games for the

in 1873, then returned to the Chicago White Stockings for two seasons. Partway through the 1875 season, Zettlein rejoined the Philadelphia White Stockings, and ended his career in 1876 with the Philadelphia Athletics. He finished his major league career with 129 wins, 112 losses, and a 2.55 ERA. Zettlein had an overpowering

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

and was regarded as one of the best pitchers of his era.McNeil, William F. (2006). ''The Evolution of Pitching in Major League Baseball''. pp. 22–26.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zettlein, George 1844 births 1905 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Eckfords (NABBP) players Brooklyn Atlantics (NABBP) players Chicago White Stockings players Philadelphia Athletics (NL) players Troy Haymakers players Brooklyn Eckfords players Philadelphia White Stockings players Baseball players from New York (state) People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn Burials at the Cemetery of the Evergreens

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References

External links