The Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia (also known as the Philadelphia Athletics) was a prominent National Association, and later

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 ...

, professional baseball team that played in the second half of the 19th century.

Forming and success (1860–1875)

Early history

The city of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

"had been a baseball town from the earliest days of the game", fielding amateur teams since at least the early 1830s. In 1860, James N. Kerns formed a club, simply named "Athletic Base Ball Club", that soon dominated amateur play in the area (Jordan 1999). '' Harper's Weekly'' chronicled a match between Athletic and Atlantic of Brooklyn for the baseball championship in 1866. A famous ''Harper''s illustration shows the Athletic players in uniforms with the familiar blackletter "A" on front. When newspapers developed stand-alone game scores and league standings, the club was termed ''Athletic'' (''Base Ball Club'' being dropped in any case). In prose the team was commonly called ''the Athletics'', plural, and later generations have usually called both club and team the "Philadelphia Athletics".

National Association

The Athletics turned professional in the late 1860s and helped establish the first league,

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

(NA), which began play in 1871. Their home field had been at 15th and Columbia, an otherwise unnamed venue informally called "the Athletic grounds." For 1871 they relocated to

Jefferson Street Grounds Jefferson Street Grounds was a baseball field located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was also known as Jefferson Park and Athletics Park. It was home to three different professional baseball teams, competing in three different leagues. Notably ...

, playing most of their home games there until being expelled from the major leagues after the 1876 season. The Athletics were one of the most successful National Association teams, winning the first pennant with a record of 21 wins and 7 losses (.750), two games ahead of the Boston Red Stockings and Chicago White Stockings. Actually, the race was much closer: the primary official criterion then was neither games nor winning percentage, but wins, and the three clubs finished in the order given with 21, 20, and 19 victories. The final game of the season, played on October 30 in Brooklyn, saw Athletic defeat Chicago, 4–1, clinching the title. Chicago had become a road team following the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

. (

Nate Berkenstock Nathan "Nate" Berkenstock (September 17, 1832 – February 23, 1900) is believed to be the earliest-born professional baseball player, three years older than the next-"oldest" player, Hall of Famer Harry Wright, who was born in 1835. (Original ...

, a 40-year-old amateur who played right field for Philadelphia that day due to injuries, made his only big-league appearance in that game.) While Boston dominated the NA, winning the other four pennants, the Athletics and New York Mutuals also fielded teams every year, with Philadelphia winning a few more games overall but never challenging Boston. Dick McBride served as regular pitcher for more than a decade and as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

throughout the NA seasons, which gives him

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

credit today. Other star players include Al Reach in the 1860s and Cap Anson, who played from 1872 to 1875 (Anson took over as captain near the very end of the 1875 season). The Athletics also played one game in

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...

on June 24, 1875. They played at Fairview Park Fair Grounds. During their five-year existence the Athletics won 165 games and lost only 86 for a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of .657. Notable players on their roster included

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Cap Anson,

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Ezra Sutton Ezra Ballou Sutton (September 17, 1849 – June 20, 1907) was an American third baseman in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1888. Sutton collected 1,574 hits during this time period; he had a lifetime batting avera ...

, and

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 ...

Dick McBride.

National League (1876)

During the summer of 1875, the Chicago White Stockings moved decisively to improve its team by recruiting six stars then playing in Boston and Philadelphia. Four Red Stockings players (

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

s Cal McVey and Ross Barnes, and

Al Spalding) and Philadelphia Athletics

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Cap Anson would play for Chicago in 1876, with

remaining in Philadelphia for the Athletics' final season. Chicago's William Hulbert, assisted by player Albert Spalding and sportswriter

Lewis Meacham Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, moved at the same time to organize a new league. Hulbert recruited first the

St. Louis Brown Stockings The St. Louis Brown Stockings were a professional baseball club based in St. Louis, Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most ...

of the National Association, independent clubs from Louisville and Cincinnati (the Louisville Grays and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

), and four eastern clubs: the Athletics, the New York Mutuals, the Hartford Dark Blues, and the Boston Red Stockings. Three NA clubs still in business were excluded: the

Philadelphia Whites 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, Jimm ...

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 ...

, and the

New Haven Elm Citys The Elm City baseball club, or New Haven Elm Citys in modern nomenclature, were a professional baseball team based in New Haven, Connecticut ("The Elm City"). They existed for one season, in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players ...

. The Athletics and Mutuals were selected rather than the Whites and Atlantics, as the new National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs granted exclusive territories to all member clubs. New Haven was too small a city and the club had declined to travel west in 1875, playing only three home games apiece with Chicago and St. Louis. On Saturday, April 22, 1876, the Athletics played in the first game in the history of

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), ...

, losing to the

Boston Red Caps The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

, 6–5. After having spent 15 years as a strong and stable club, the Athletics fared poorly in the new National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, finishing seventh with 14 wins in 60 games, 38 wins behind Chicago. Near the end of the season, the financially troubled team refused to make a western road trip, finishing with 35 games played at home and 25 away.The Athletic "owed" each of the four western teams two games at its home ballpark, having played only three each. It played only three games in New York, and the Mutuals played only four in Philadelphia, another symptom of the Mutual–Athletic decline. But the league would not have expelled two clubs for shirking on their visits to each other. Mutual of New York also refused, owing the western teams nine home games. Both clubs were expelled from the National League, which simply contracted from eight to six for the

1877 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sio ...

season. The 1876 Athletics were managed by Al Wright and played their home games at the

. Their top-hitting regular was

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

George Hall George Hall may refer to: People The arts * George Hall (actor) (1916–2002), Canadian-American actor * George Hall (musician) (c. 1893 – c. 1989), American bandleader * George Hall (cartoonist) (born 1960), Australian comic book writer and ...

, who batted .366 with a slugging percentage of .545. Another strong batter on the team was

Levi Meyerle Levi Samuel Meyerle (July 1849 – November 4, 1921) was an American Major League Baseball player who played for eight seasons in organized professional league play. During his career he played for the Philadelphia Athletics of the National A ...

, who hit .340. The best

on the team was Lon Knight, who won 10 games, lost 22, and had an ERA of 2.62.

Record

Championship matches with professional teams (1869–1870) and with professional leagues (1871–1876) Source for season records: Wright (2000) has published records for dozens of NABBP teams each season, relying on a mix of game and season records in contemporary newspapers and guides. Dozens of leading clubs by number of matches are included, as are many others. The records do not consistently cover either all games played or all championship matches between NABBP members.

Notes

References

*Baseball-Reference
"Philadelphia Athletics Team Index" (1871–1875)
Retrieved 2006-09/17. *Baseball-Reference
"Philadelphia Athletics Team Index" (1876)
Retrieved 2006-09-07. *Jordan, David M (1999). ''The Athletics of Philadelphia: Connie Mack's White Elephants, 1901–1954''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. *Retrosheet

Retrieved 2006-08-30. *Wright, Marshall (2000). ''The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857–1870''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Philadelphia Athletics (1860-1876) National Association of Base Ball Players teams Defunct Major League Baseball teams Defunct National Association baseball teams Defunct sports teams in Pennsylvania Athletics (1860-1876) Baseball teams established in 1860 Sports clubs disestablished in 1876 1860 establishments in Pennsylvania Defunct baseball teams in Pennsylvania Baseball teams disestablished in 1876