1876 Philadelphia Athletics season

After five seasons in the National Association, the 1876 Philadelphia Athletics finished the first season of the National League with a record of 14–45, good for 7th place. It would prove to be their only season in the league, as they were expelled from the league as punishment for refusing to make a late-season road trip.

1876 Philadelphia Athletics
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Jefferson Street Grounds (since 1871) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (since 1860)
Other information
Owner(s)	Thomas J. Smith
Manager(s)	Al Wright
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Regular season

• April 22, 1876: The Athletics played in the first game in National League history, losing to the Boston Red Caps, 7–6.[1]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago	52	14	0.788	—	25–6	27–8
Hartford	47	21	0.691	6	23–9	24–12
St. Louis	45	19	0.703	6	24–6	21–13
Boston	39	31	0.557	15	19–17	20–14
Louisville	30	36	0.455	22	15–16	15–20
Mutual	21	35	0.375	26	13–20	8–15
Athletic	14	45	0.237	34½	10–24	4–21
Cincinnati	9	56	0.138	42½	6–24	3–32

Record vs. opponents

1876 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CHI	CIN	HAR	LOU	NY	PHI	STL
Boston	—	1–9	10–0	2–8	5–5	8–2	9–1	4–6
Chicago	9–1	—	10–0	6–4	9–1	7–1	7–1	4–6
Cincinnati	0–10	0–10	—	1–9	2–8	1–7	3–5	2–7
Hartford	8–2	4–6	9–1	—	9–1–1	4–4	9–1	4–6
Louisville	5–5	1–9	8–2	1–9–1	—	5–3–1	6–2–1	4–6
New York	2–8	1–7	7–1	4–4	3–5–1	—	3–4	1–6
Philadelphia	1–9	1–7	5–3	1–9	2–6–1	4–3	—	0–8
St. Louis	6–4	6–4	7–2	6–4	6–4	6–1	8–0	—

Roster

1876 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Lon Knight Flip Lafferty George Zettlein Catchers Doc Bushong John Curran Fergy Malone John Mullen Lou Paul Nealy Phelps Jim Ward		Infielders Wes Fisler Davy Force Bill Fouser Levi Meyerle Ezra Sutton		Outfielders John Bergh William Coon Dave Eggler George Hall Whitey Ritterson Fred Warner		Manager Al Wright

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Fergy Malone	22	96	22	.229	0	6
1B	Ezra Sutton	54	236	70	.297	1	31
2B	Wes Fisler	59	278	80	.288	1	30
3B	Levi Meyerle	55	256	87	.340	0	34
SS	Davy Force	60	284	66	.232	0	17
OF	George Hall	60	268	98	.366	5	45
OF	Dave Eggler	39	174	52	.299	0	19
OF	William Coon	54	220	50	.227	0	22

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Bill Fouser	21	89	12	.135	0	2
Whitey Ritterson	16	52	13	.250	0	4
Doc Bushong	5	21	1	.048	0	1
John Curran	3	12	4	.333	0	2
Lou Paul	3	12	2	.167	0	0
John Bergh	1	4	0	.000	0	0
Nealy Phelps	1	4	0	.000	0	0
Jim Ward	1	4	2	.500	0	1
John Mullen	1	3	0	.000	0	0
Fred Warner	1	3	0	.000	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
Lon Knight	34	282	10	22	2.62	12
George Zettlein	28	234	4	20	3.88	10
Levi Meyerle	2	18	0	2	5.00	0
Flip Lafferty	1	9	0	1	0.00	0

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
William Coon	2	0	0	0	5.14	0

Notes

1. Events of Saturday, April 22, 1876 (from Retrosheet)

References

• 1876 Philadelphia Athletics team page at Baseball Reference