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Merkle923 · 07-14-2015, 08:26 PM

Hard to believe this amounts to Spalding's "rookie card" - the future team owner and sporting goods mogul was already a star pitcher who had beaten Harry Wright's Cincinnati Red Stockings when Wright recruited him to go to Boston in 1871.

Spalding merely led his league in wins in all six of his full seasons as a professional, and, using statistics he couldn't have imagined, produced a WAR of 52.5 in that same span, and twice led in Fielding-Independent Pitching. He was also a career .313 hitter with an OPS+ of 116 - and he's 20 years old in this photo.

07-14-2015, 08:26 PM	#25689
Merkle923 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 2,185	Al Spalding 1871 Hard to believe this amounts to Spalding's "rookie card" - the future team owner and sporting goods mogul was already a star pitcher who had beaten Harry Wright's Cincinnati Red Stockings when Wright recruited him to go to Boston in 1871. Spalding merely led his league in wins in all six of his full seasons as a professional, and, using statistics he couldn't have imagined, produced a WAR of 52.5 in that same span, and twice led in Fielding-Independent Pitching. He was also a career .313 hitter with an OPS+ of 116 - and he's 20 years old in this photo. Last edited by Merkle923; 08-01-2017 at 11:05 PM.