MLB Forgotten Greats: Remembering Al Spalding

These days, Al Spalding is remembered for co-founding Spalding with his brother. However, in the early days of MLB, Spalding was the greatest pitcher in the game.

Al Spalding was a star in the days before MLB existed. Born on this day in 1850, he grew up in Rockford, Illinois, one of the early hotbeds of baseball, Spalding became enamored with the game. He ended up pitching for the Rockford Forest Citys, and jumped into the national consciousness in 1870, when he defeated the famous Cincinnati Reds.

The following year, the National Association, the first true MLB organization, came into being. At 21 years old, Spalding was ready to take advantage of the league. He quickly became the league’s top pitcher, leading the league with 19 wins and firing a shutout. In those early days of baseball, when scoring runs was commonplace, that shutout was an impressive accomplishment.

Spalding continued to dominate in the NA. When the Boston Red Stockings won the pennant in 1872, Spalding was again the top pitcher in the league. He led the league with 38 wins and three shutouts, posting a 1.85 ERA. And yet, as impressive as he was that year, the Red Stockings pitcher was only getting started.

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Over the next four years, which included the end of the National Association and the beginning of the National League, Spalding led the league in wins each season. He won over 40 games each year, and twice won over 50 games. Pitching for the Chicago White Stockings in 1876, he guided the team to the inaugural pennant, winning the league by six games.

However, it was his performance in the 1875, the final year of the NA, that was his greatest year. He was 54-5, with a league leading 72 appearances, seven shutouts, and nine saves. Despite that usage, he posted a 1.59 ERA and a 1.036 WHiP in his 570.2 innings, utterly dominating the competition that he faced.

His career would essentially be over after that 1876 campaign. Spalding only appeared in four games, earning a win and a save. He ended his career with a 252-65 record, with a MLB record .795 winning percentage. That mark is even more impressive when one considers that almost all of those wins came in a six year span. Spalding also posted a 2.13 lifetime ERA, still the eighth best mark in baseball history. He would later be a manager and a front office executive, entering the Hall of Fame in 1939 for his accomplishments to the game.

For as dominant as Spalding was in the game, he is best remembered for his business exploits. Together with his brother, he founded the Spalding Brothers Company, making sporting goods. He was a tireless promoter of the game of baseball, organizing tours and working closely with the NL to expand the game. Until 1977, Spalding created the official baseballs for MLB, an arrangement that existed for decades until Rawlings took over. The company still exists to this day, although it is now called Spalding, and is more closely aligned with the NBA than MLB currently.

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Al Spalding had quite the legacy, both inside and outside the game. A stellar business man, he was also the greatest pitcher in the early days of baseball history.