1872 Season Leaders
Top performers from the 1872 baseball season. Click column headers to sort.
These are the 1872 Major League Baseball season leaders in batting and pitching. Lip Pike led with 7 home runs, Lip Pike led with 60 RBI, and Ross Barnes led with 99 hits. Batting average, OBP, SLG and OPS list qualified hitters only — 3.1 plate appearances per team game, which is 89 plate appearances at 29 team games; ERA and WHIP require one inning per team game (29 innings). Lines below those thresholds are shown and marked unqualified.
- AVG (Batting Average):
- Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
- HR (Home Runs):
- Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
- RBI (Runs Batted In):
- Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
- ERA (Earned Run Average):
- Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
Data updated
Batting Leaders
Qualified: 3.1 plate appearances per team game — 89 plate appearances at 29 team games. 34 of the 34 hitters listed qualify; the rest cleared 200+ plate appearances and are marked UNQ. Rate columns (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS) rank qualified hitters first.
Every qualified batter that season, plotted as a histogram. The highlighted bin contains the league leader.
Complete Statistics
| Player | Team | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Barnes | BS1 | 45 | 239 | 230 | 81 | 99 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 12 | 9 | 4 | .430 | .452 | .583 | 1.034 |
| Davy Force | 2 teams | 44 | 227 | 225 | 69 | 94 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 7 | 2 | 0 | .418 | .423 | .493 | .916 |
| Cap Anson | PH1 | 46 | 233 | 217 | 60 | 90 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 6 | 16 | 3 | .415 | .455 | .525 | .980 |
| Mike McGeary | PH1 | 47 | 227 | 225 | 68 | 81 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 13 | 2 | 1 | .360 | .366 | .418 | .783 |
| Al Spalding | BS1 | 48 | 240 | 237 | 60 | 84 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 47 | 3 | 3 | 1 | .354 | .362 | .447 | .810 |
| Andy Leonard | BS1 | 46 | 241 | 241 | 57 | 84 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 8 | 0 | 2 | .349 | .349 | .411 | .759 |
| Wes Fisler | PH1 | 47 | 248 | 244 | 49 | 85 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 3 | 4 | 4 | .348 | .359 | .426 | .785 |
| Dick Higham | BL1 | 50 | 247 | 245 | 72 | 84 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 4 | 2 | 3 | .343 | .348 | .416 | .765 |
| Ned Cuthbert | PH1 | 47 | 266 | 260 | 83 | 88 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 14 | 6 | 10 | .338 | .353 | .388 | .742 |
| George Wright | BS1 | 48 | 258 | 255 | 87 | 86 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 35 | 14 | 3 | 1 | .337 | .345 | .471 | .816 |
| George Hall | BL1 | 53 | 253 | 250 | 69 | 84 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 37 | 8 | 3 | 1 | .336 | .344 | .464 | .808 |
| Dave Eggler | NY2 | 56 | 298 | 290 | 94 | 97 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 9 | .334 | .352 | .403 | .756 |
| John Hatfield | NY2 | 56 | 297 | 288 | 76 | 93 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 12 | 9 | 6 | .323 | .343 | .399 | .743 |
| Cal McVey | BS1 | 46 | 238 | 237 | 56 | 76 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 6 | 1 | 1 | .321 | .324 | .380 | .703 |
| Nat Hicks | NY2 | 56 | 273 | 267 | 54 | 82 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 3 | 6 | 3 | .307 | .322 | .367 | .689 |
| George Bechtel | NY2 | 51 | 254 | 247 | 61 | 74 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 9 | 7 | 3 | .300 | .319 | .368 | .687 |
| Lip Pike | BL1 | 56 | 289 | 285 | 68 | 85 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 60 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .298 | .308 | .460 | .768 |
| Everett Mills | BL1 | 55 | 269 | 266 | 55 | 79 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .297 | .305 | .365 | .669 |
| John Radcliff | BL1 | 56 | 297 | 297 | 70 | 86 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .290 | .290 | .370 | .660 |
| Denny Mack | PH1 | 47 | 228 | 205 | 68 | 59 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 9 | 23 | 9 | .288 | .360 | .341 | .701 |
| Harry Schafer | BS1 | 48 | 226 | 226 | 51 | 65 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 8 | .288 | .288 | .381 | .668 |
| Dick McBride | PH1 | 47 | 261 | 258 | 57 | 74 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 2 | .287 | .295 | .318 | .613 |
| Fergy Malone | PH1 | 41 | 217 | 213 | 46 | 60 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 3 | 4 | 5 | .282 | .295 | .333 | .628 |
| Fred Treacey | PH1 | 47 | 241 | 236 | 53 | 65 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 7 | 5 | 10 | .275 | .290 | .356 | .646 |
| Fraley Rogers | BS1 | 45 | 205 | 204 | 39 | 56 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .275 | .278 | .333 | .611 |
| Joe Start | NY2 | 54 | 277 | 277 | 60 | 75 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .271 | .271 | .289 | .560 |
| Tom York | BL1 | 51 | 253 | 250 | 66 | 66 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 6 | 3 | 1 | .264 | .273 | .336 | .609 |
| Harry Wright | BS1 | 48 | 217 | 208 | 39 | 53 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 9 | 2 | .255 | .286 | .288 | .574 |
| Charlie Gould | BS1 | 45 | 214 | 212 | 40 | 54 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .255 | .262 | .373 | .634 |
| John McMullin | NY2 | 54 | 247 | 236 | 47 | 60 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 8 | 11 | 6 | .254 | .287 | .288 | .576 |
| Cherokee Fisher | BL1 | 46 | 227 | 225 | 39 | 52 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .231 | .238 | .316 | .553 |
| Bobby Mathews | BL1 | 50 | 225 | 222 | 36 | 50 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 2 | .225 | .236 | .234 | .470 |
| Candy Cummings | NY2 | 55 | 253 | 249 | 37 | 52 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 4 | 14 | .209 | .221 | .269 | .490 |
| Dickey Pearce | NY2 | 44 | 210 | 206 | 32 | 39 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 1 | .189 | .205 | .223 | .428 |
Pitching Leaders
Qualified: 1 inning pitched per team game — 29 innings at 29 team games. 15 of the 15 pitchers listed qualify; the rest cleared 50+ innings and are marked UNQ. ERA and WHIP rank qualified pitchers first.
Complete Statistics
| Player | Team | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee Fisher | BL1 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 110.0 | 93 | 22 | 11 | 20 | 1.80 | 0.95 |
| Al Spalding | BS1 | 38 | 8 | 48 | 48 | 41 | 3 | 0 | 404.2 | 417 | 83 | 27 | 28 | 1.85 | 1.10 |
| George Zettlein | 2 teams | 15 | 16 | 34 | 31 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 263.0 | 313 | 75 | 14 | 25 | 2.57 | 1.24 |
| Dick McBride | PH1 | 30 | 14 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 419.1 | 508 | 133 | 26 | 44 | 2.85 | 1.27 |
| Candy Cummings | NY2 | 33 | 20 | 55 | 55 | 53 | 3 | 0 | 497.0 | 604 | 166 | 31 | 45 | 3.01 | 1.28 |
| Bobby Mathews | BL1 | 25 | 18 | 49 | 47 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 406.0 | 480 | 144 | 52 | 57 | 3.19 | 1.31 |
| Phonney Martin | 2 teams | 3 | 9 | 18 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 122.1 | 213 | 57 | 11 | 5 | 4.19 | 1.83 |
| Frank Buttery | MID | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 59.0 | 94 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 4.27 | 1.64 |
| Jim Britt | BR2 | 9 | 28 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 336.0 | 568 | 169 | 21 | 13 | 4.53 | 1.75 |
| Al Pratt | CL1 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 105.2 | 150 | 68 | 14 | 7 | 5.79 | 1.55 |
| Cy Bentley | MID | 2 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 144.0 | 259 | 97 | 12 | 5 | 6.06 | 1.88 |
| Rynie Wolters | CL1 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 75.1 | 115 | 51 | 7 | 4 | 6.09 | 1.62 |
| Bill Stearns | WS4 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 99.0 | 193 | 68 | 3 | 2 | 6.18 | 1.98 |
| Asa Brainard | 2 teams | 2 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 87.0 | 161 | 61 | 5 | 1 | 6.31 | 1.91 |
| James McDermott | BR1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 63.0 | 143 | 57 | 14 | 1 | 8.14 | 2.49 |
Reading the 1872 leader tables
The 1872 batting table lists 34 hitters, of whom 34 qualify for the rate columns. Ross Barnes tops the qualified hitters in batting average (.430); Davy Force is second at .418. Lip Pike has the most home runs in the table, 7. Players who changed clubs during 1872, such as Davy Force, appear once with their stints added together. Of 15 pitchers shown for 1872, the ERA and WHIP races include 15. First among qualified pitchers by ERA is Cherokee Fisher, 1.80. The counting columns are topped by Al Spalding in wins (38) and Bobby Mathews in strikeouts (57).
1872 Season Leaders: Frequently Asked Questions
- Who led MLB in home runs in 1872?
- Lip Pike led with 7 home runs in 1872.
- Who led MLB in RBI in 1872?
- Lip Pike led with 60 RBI in 1872.
- Who led MLB in hits in 1872?
- Ross Barnes led with 99 hits in 1872.
- Who led MLB in batting average in 1872?
- Ross Barnes led at .430 in 1872, among qualified hitters (3.1 plate appearances per team game).
- Who led MLB in wins in 1872?
- Al Spalding led with 38 wins in 1872.
- Who led MLB in strikeouts in 1872?
- Bobby Mathews led with 57 strikeouts in 1872.