1871 Philadelphia Athletics season

With the debut of the first professional baseball league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the Athletic Baseball Club of Philadelphia was one of the first clubs to join. The Athletics had been around since 1860 as an amateur club. Led by their captain and pitcher, Dick McBride, the team went 21-7 and won the first NA title during the 1871 season. Philadelphia's third baseman, Levi Meyerle, led the league with a .492 batting average.

1871 Philadelphia Athletics
1871 National Association Champions
Major League affiliations
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (since 1871)
Location
Jefferson Street Grounds (since 1871) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (since 1860)
Other information
Manager(s)	Dick McBride
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Regular season

1871 Philadelphia Athletics

Season standings

National Association	W	L	GB	Pct.
Philadelphia Athletics	21	7	--	.750
Chicago White Stockings	19	9	2.0	.679
Boston Red Stockings	20	10	2.0	.667
Washington Olympics	15	15	7.0	.500
New York Mutuals	16	17	7.5	.485
Troy Haymakers	13	15	8.0	.464
Fort Wayne Kekiongas	7	12	9.5	.368
Cleveland Forest Citys	10	19	11.5	.345
Rockford Forest Citys	4	21	15.5	.160

Record vs. opponents

1871 National Association Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CHI	CLE	FW	NY	PHI	ROC	TRO	WSH
Boston	—	1–3	3–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	3–0	3–2	3–1–1
Chicago	3–1	—	2–1	2–0	3–1	2–3	3–0	1–1	3–2
Cleveland	1–3	1–2	—	0–3	3–2	0–3	3–1	2–2	0–3
Fort Wayne	0–2	0–2	3–0	—	1–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–2
New York	2–2	1–3	2–3	2–1	—	2–3	3–1	1–3	3–1
Philadelphia	1–3	3–2	3–0	2–0	3–2	—	3–0	3–0	3–0
Rockford	0–3	0–3	1–3	1–1	1–3	0–3	—	1–2	0–3
Troy	2–3	1–1	2–2	1–1	3–1	0–3	2–1	—	2–3–1
Washington	1–3–1	2–3	3–0	2–1	1–3	0–3	3–0	3–2–1	—

Roster

1871 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Dick McBride		Catchers Fergy Malone Infielders Wes Fisler Levi Meyerle Tom Pratt John Radcliff Al Reach		Outfielders George Bechtel Nate Berkenstock Tom Berry Ned Cuthbert George Heubel Count Sensenderfer		Manager Dick McBride

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Fergy Malone	27	134	46	.343	1	33
1B	Wes Fisler	28	147	41	.279	0	16
2B	Al Reach	26	133	47	.353	0	34
SS	John Radcliff	28	145	44	.303	0	22
3B	Levi Meyerle	26	130	64	.492	4	40
OF	Count Sensenderfer	25	127	41	.323	0	23
OF	Ned Cuthbert	28	150	37	.247	3	30
OF	George Heubel	17	75	23	.307	0	13

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
George Bechtel	20	94	33	.351	1	21
Tom Pratt	1	6	2	.333	0	1
Nate Berkenstock	1	4	0	.000	0	0
Tom Berry	1	4	1	.250	0	0

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dick McBride	25	222	18	5	4.58	15
George Bechtel	3	26	1	2	7.96	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Levi Meyerle	1	1	0	0	9.00	0

References

• 1871 Philadelphia Athletics season at Baseball Reference