Henry Kessler (1847 – January 9, 1900) was an American

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), ...

player who played mainly

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 ...

for 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 An ...

of the National Association and the Cincinnati Reds 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 ...

. Kessler was born in

Brooklyn, New York 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 ...

sometime in 1847. He made his National Association debut on August 4, , and played in his only game of the season on the date. He collected one

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in five at bats, also getting a

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. The Atlantics defeated the

Elizabeth Resolutes The Elizabeth Resolutes were a 19th-century professional baseball team based in Elizabeth, New Jersey. They were a member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players for the 1873 season, and played their home games at Waverly ...

16–8 in that game. He played in 14 games in . On September 30, he broke his thumb while playing catcher. His team had to continue the game with only 8 players (their centerfielder came in to play catcher.) In spite of all this, the Atlantics actually won the game 9-8. Kessler finished the 1874 season with a .304

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 ...

and four runs batted in. In , Kessler played in 25 of the Atlantics' 44 games. He batted .248 with 26 hits in 105 at bats. The Atlantics went 2–42 in 1875, and Brooklyn and the National Association folded after the season. After 1875, Kessler played for the Cincinnati Reds of the

in both and . He finished with a .246 batting average in his two seasons in Cincinnati, playing in 59 games in 1876 and 6 games in 1877. His 47 errors at shortstop in 1876 were the second most in the league. The Reds were losing teams in each of Kessler's two years, placing 8th in the National League standing in 1876, and 6th in 1877. Kessler would not play in the majors after 1877. He played for several minor league teams until the late 1880s. In , he played for both Franklin of the Iron & Oil Association and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

in the

Ohio State League The Ohio State League was a minor league baseball league that operated in numerous seasons between 1887 and 1947, predominantly as a Class D level league. League franchises were based in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Histo ...

. Kessler also played with the

Columbus Senators The Columbus Senators Minor league baseball team was created in as a founding member of the Tri-State League. After that, the Senators played in the Western League (1897-1899), Interstate League (1900), Western Association (1901), and Americ ...

in the

Tri-State League The Tri-State League was the name of six different circuits in American minor league baseball. History The first league of that name played for four years (1887–1890) and consisted of teams in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. The second leagu ...

in . On January 9, 1900, Kessler died in

Franklin, Pennsylvania Franklin is a city and the county seat of Venango County, Pennsylvania. The population was 6,097 in the 2020 census. Franklin is part of the Oil City, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. Franklin is known for its three-day autumn festival in Oc ...

at the age of 53. As of 2012, he is the only former major league player to die in Franklin.Pennsylvania deaths at Baseball-Reference
/ref> He was buried at County Poor Farm Cemetery in Sugar Creek, Pennsylvania.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Henry 19th-century baseball players Brooklyn Atlantics players Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879) players Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from New York City 1847 births 1900 deaths Rhode Islands players Elizabeth Resolutes players Franklin (minor league baseball) players Hamilton (minor league baseball) players Columbus Senators players