Al Spalding

Pitcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1871-1878)

⭐ Hall of Fame 1939
W–L 251–65
ERA 2.13
WHIP 1.19
SO 248
Pitcher PIV 8952.4
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 170 lb
Born
9/2/1850 in Byron, IL, USA
Died
9/9/1915 in San Diego, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1871-05-05
Last Game
1878-08-31
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1939 (Veterans)

Full name: Albert Goodwill Spalding

📋 View Manager Career

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
251 65 347 325 279 24 13 2886.3 3,280 684 15 164 248 2.13 8952.4

Career ERA 2.13 vs. league average 2.79 across their career seasons — 23.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1871 BS1 19 10 31 31 22 1 0 257.3 333 96 38 23 3.36 4.22 (+20%) 1875.6
1872 BS1 38 8 48 48 41 3 0 404.7 417 83 27 28 1.85 3.66 (+50%) 1812.5
1873 BS1 41 14 60 54 46 1 3 496.7 643 165 36 50 2.99 3.40 (+12%) 2065.0
1874 BS1 52 16 71 69 65 4 0 617.3 755 132 19 31 1.92 2.19 (+12%) 1978.2
1875 BS1 54 5 72 62 52 7 9 570.7 573 101 18 75 1.59 2.23 (+28%) 2139.7
1876 CHN NL 47 12 61 60 53 8 0 528.7 542 103 26 39 1.75 2.31 (+24%) -1010.2
1877 CHN NL 0 0 4 1 0 0 1 11.0 17 4 0 2 3.27 2.81 (-17%) 91.6
Career · 7 seasons 251 65 347 325 279 24 13 2,886.1 3,280 684 164 248 2.13 — 8,952

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
411 1,959 417 613 86 19 2 338 18 29 26 .313 .323 .379 .702 3,806

Career AVG .313 vs. league average .271 across their career seasons — +15.4% above league average.

Career OBP .323 vs. league average .284 across their career seasons — +13.5% above league average.

Career SLG .379 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — +13.4% above league average.

Career OPS .702 vs. league average .619 across their career seasons — +13.4% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1871 BS1 31 144 43 39 10 1 1 31 2 8 1 .271 .286 (-5%) .311 (-1%) .383 (-2%) .695 (-2%) -21.3
1872 BS1 48 237 60 84 12 5 0 47 3 3 1 .354 .285 (+24%) .296 (+22%) .347 (+29%) .644 (+26%) 906.5
1873 BS1 60 323 83 106 15 1 1 71 9 3 2 .328 .290 (+13%) .304 (+10%) .357 (+9%) .661 (+10%) 503.5
1874 BS1 71 362 80 119 13 1 0 54 2 3 0 .329 .273 (+20%) .282 (+18%) .333 (+11%) .615 (+14%) 840.9
1875 BS1 74 343 68 107 15 3 0 56 2 3 3 .312 .253 (+23%) .260 (+22%) .309 (+20%) .570 (+21%) 1045.3
1876 CHN NL 66 292 54 91 14 2 0 44 0 6 3 .312 .265 (+17%) .277 (+17%) .320 (+16%) .598 (+17%) 742.1
1877 CHN NL 60 254 29 65 7 6 0 35 0 3 16 .256 .271 (-6%) .289 (-8%) .337 (-2%) .626 (-5%) -210.8
1878 CHN NL 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 — — — — 0.0
Career · 8 seasons 411 1,959 417 613 86 19 2 338 18 29 26 .313 — — — — 3,806

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 52 0 506 21 21 23
2B 14 0 40 50 12 6
3B 2 0 0 5 3 0
OF 64 2 32 2 11 0
P 347 148 211 648 110 29
SS 1 0 0 0 0 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1871 BS1 OF 9 0 3 0 0 0
1871 BS1 P 31 31 11 48 17 2
1872 BS1 OF 7 0 1 0 0 0
1872 BS1 P 48 48 28 101 14 2
1873 BS1 OF 14 0 5 0 1 0
1873 BS1 P 60 0 36 125 21 5
1874 BS1 OF 6 2 5 0 1 0
1874 BS1 P 71 69 38 143 31 3
1875 BS1 1B 4 0 28 0 0 0
1875 BS1 OF 18 0 11 0 6 0
1875 BS1 P 72 0 51 133 19 10
1876 CHN 1B 3 0 6 0 0 0
1876 CHN OF 10 0 7 2 3 0
1876 CHN P 61 0 45 92 7 7
1876 CHN SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1877 CHN 1B 45 0 472 21 21 23
1877 CHN 2B 13 0 37 50 8 6
1877 CHN 3B 2 0 0 5 3 0
1877 CHN P 4 0 2 6 1 0
1878 CHN 2B 1 0 3 0 4 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 347
First Base 52
Second Base 14
Third Base 2
Shortstop 1
Left Field 10
Center Field 46
Right Field 9

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Al Spalding (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Candy Cummings HOF
    145-94, 2.42 ERA
  2. 96
    Dick McBride
    149-78, 2.71 ERA
  3. 92
    George Zettlein
    129-112, 2.55 ERA
  4. 90
    Babe Adams
    194-140, 2.76 ERA
  5. 85
    Jeff Pfeffer
    158-112, 2.77 ERA
  6. 83
    Dick Rudolph
    121-108, 2.66 ERA

Compare Al Spalding

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Spalding's closest peers by position and era.

vs Tim Keefe
vs Amos Rusie
vs John Clarkson
vs Pud Galvin
vs Old Hoss Radbourn
vs Candy Cummings

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Al Spalding

What years did Al Spalding play?
Al Spalding played in Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1878.
Was Al Spalding a pitcher?
Yes. Al Spalding pitched in the major leagues, recording 251 wins and 248 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Al Spalding hit?
Al Spalding hit 2 career home runs with 613 hits.
Is Al Spalding in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Al Spalding was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.