MLB / Players

Al Spalding

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right

Listed at6 ft 1 in · 170 lb

BornSeptember 2, 1850 · Byron, IL, USA

MLB debutMay 5, 1871

Final gameAugust 31, 1878

Seasons8 (1871–1878)

Boston Red Stockings 1871–1875; Chicago White Stockings 1876–1878

Percentile snapshot

1877 season — qualified batters

61.4

257

43.2

254

47.7

29.5

45.5

68.2

RBI

77.3

18.2

22.7

.256

29.5

OBP

.265

27.3

SLG

.331

47.7

OPS

.595

36.4

wRC+

88.9

36.4

OPS+

85.8

36.4

wOBA

.273

36.4

sWAR

0.2

11.4

of 45 qualified 1877 batters (min 186 PA) · 2 stats not shown: every qualified player held the same value, so a percentile there carries no information

1876 season — qualified pitchers

84.6

100

61.5

76.9

SHO

92.3

542

15.4

103

23.1

38.5

76.9

7.7

528.7

84.6

ERA

1.75

69.2

WHIP

1.074

69.2

K/9

0.66

23.1

FIP

2.38

53.8

FIP-

103.2

53.8

ERA+

131.6

69.2

sWAR

9.0

84.6

of 14 qualified 1876 pitchers (min 66 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

ERA+

132.0

97.1

sWAR

49.3

98.8

ERA+ measured against qualified careers (1,000+ IP), 1,334 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1871	31	152	144	43	39	10	1	1	31	8	1	2	0	.271	.309	.375	.684	98.0	95.2	.308	3.8
1872	48	240	237	60	84	12	5	0	47	3	1	3	0	.354	.363	.447	.810	124.4	147.9	.370	9.6
1873	60	326	323	83	106	15	1	1	71	3	2	9	0	.328	.334	.390	.724	107.3	113.4	.331	7.5
1874	71	365	362	80	119	13	1	0	54	3	0	2	1	.329	.334	.370	.704	114.2	125.0	.322	8.8
1875	74	346	343	68	107	15	3	0	56	3	3	2	2	.312	.318	.373	.691	122.3	137.8	.315	10.4
1876	66	298	292	54	91	14	2	0	44	6	3	0	0	.312	.326	.373	.699	120.7	131.6	.324	9.0
1877	60	257	254	29	65	7	6	0	35	3	16	0	0	.256	.265	.331	.595	88.9	85.8	.273	0.2
1878	1	4	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	193.3	229.1	.464	0.1

Pitching

Season	G	GS	W	L	SV	CG	SHO	H	ER	BB	SO	HR	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	FIP	FIP-	ERA+	sWAR
1871	31	31	19	10	0	22	1	333	96	38	23	2	257.3	3.36	1.442	0.80	3.95	93.5	125.7	3.8
1872	48	48	38	8	0	41	3	417	83	27	28	0	404.7	1.85	1.097	0.62	3.49	95.5	198.1	9.6
1873	60	54	41	14	3	46	1	643	165	36	50	5	496.7	2.99	1.367	0.91	3.25	95.6	113.6	7.5
1874	71	69	52	16	0	65	4	755	132	19	31	1	617.3	1.92	1.254	0.45	2.08	94.9	113.8	8.8
1875	72	62	54	5	9	52	7	573	101	18	75	1	570.7	1.59	1.036	1.18	2.09	94.1	139.7	10.4
1876	61	60	47	12	0	53	8	542	103	26	39	6	528.7	1.75	1.074	0.66	2.38	103.2	131.6	9.0
1877	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	17	4	0	2	0	11.0	3.27	1.545	1.64	2.48	88.2	85.8	0.2

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

411

1,988

1,959

417

613

RBI

338

.3129

OBP

.3229

SLG

.3793

OPS

.7022

Pitching

G (P)

347

325

281st-most career GS

251

47th-most career W

279

52nd-most career CG

SHO

189th-most career SHO

2,886

159th-most career IP

SO (P)

248

BB allowed

164

ERA

2.133

8th-lowest career ERA

WHIP

1.1932

152nd-lowest career WHIP

K/9

0.77

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Honors

Hall of Fame, 1939 (Old Timers)

Major awards only — the awards table also records Player of the Week, and forty of those would bury seven MVPs. Hover for the years.