1871 Cleveland Forest Citys season

1871 Cleveland Forest Citys
Major league affiliations
Location
1871 Information
Owner(s)
Manager(s) Charlie Pabor
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The Cleveland Forest Citys played their first season in 1871 as a charter member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. They finished eighth in the league with a record of 10-19. Pitcher Al Pratt led the NA in strikeouts, with 34.

Contents

First game

The honor of playing the first game of the newly-organized National Association of Professional Baseball Players was decided by coin flip.

Bobby Mathews, 5'5", 140 lbs, and 20 years old, hurled a 2-0 shutout for the Kekiongas. Deacon White, catcher for the Cleveland Forest Citys got 3 hits in 4 at-bats; the other Cleveland players only shared 2 hits among them. Deacon White scored the first hit, the first extra-base hit (a double) and was the first to hit into a double-play.

The game was rained out in the top of the 9th inning. Attendance was 200.

Bobby Mathews, who went on to play five seasons each in the National Association, National League, and American Association, is the only player ever to pitch 100 games or to win at least 50 in three different major leagues. He is credited with inventing the spitball and the out-curve. Deacon White was another historic player, ending his 22-year career as playing owner of Buffalo's Brotherhood team.

Regular season

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

Roster

1871 Cleveland Forest Citys
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

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 White, DeaconDeacon White 29 146 47 .322 1 21
1B Carleton, JimJim Carleton 29 127 32 .252 0 18
2B Kimball, GeneGene Kimball 29 131 25 .191 0 9
SS Bass, JohnJohn Bass 22 89 27 .303 3 18
3B Sutton, EzraEzra Sutton 29 128 45 .352 3 23
OF Pabor, CharlieCharlie Pabor 29 142 42 .296 0 18
OF White, ElmerElmer White 15 70 18 .257 0 9
OF Allison, ArtArt Allison 29 137 40 .292 0 19

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
Johnson, CalebCaleb Johnson 16 67 15 .224 0 7
Quest, JoeJoe Quest 3 13 3 .231 0 2
Battin, JoeJoe Battin 1 3 0 .000 0 0
Ewell, GeorgeGeorge Ewell 1 3 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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
Pratt, AlAl Pratt 28 224.2 10 17 3.77 34

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
Pabor, CharlieCharlie Pabor 7 29.1 0 2 6.75 0

References