1871 Boston Red Stockings season

The 1871 season was the first season of the Boston Red Stockings franchise, now known as the Atlanta Braves. They were formed in 1871 by Boston businessman and Ashburnham native Ivers Whitney Adams. The team was composed of former players of the defunct Cincinnati Red Stockings franchise, who were brought to Boston and kept the name with them. Led and managed by baseball pioneer Harry Wright, the new Boston team would join the newly formed National Association of Professional Base Ball Players for the 1871 season and finish the year in third place with a record of 20–10.

1871 Boston Red Stockings
LeagueNational Association of Professional Base Ball Players
BallparkSouth End Grounds
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record20–10 (.667)
League place3rd
OwnersIvers Whitney Adams
ManagersHarry Wright
1872 →

Pitcher Al Spalding started all 31 of the Red Stockings' games and led the NA with 19 wins. Catcher Cal McVey finished second in the league batting race with a .431 average. From this team, Harry Wright, Al Spalding, and shortstop George Wright have all been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Regular season

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Season standings

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Pos Team Pld W L T RF RA RD PCT GB
1 Philadelphia Athletics (C) 28 21 7 0 376 266 +110 .750
2 Chicago White Stockings 28 19 9 0 302 241 +61 .679 2
3 Boston Red Stockings 31 20 10 1 401 303 +98 .661 2
4 Washington Olympics 32 15 15 2 310 303 +7 .500 7
5 New York Mutuals 33 16 17 0 302 313 −11 .485 7.5
6 Troy Haymakers 29 13 15 1 351 362 −11 .466 8
7 Fort Wayne Kekiongas 19 7 12 0 137 243 −106 .368 9.5
8 Cleveland Forest Citys 29 10 19 0 249 341 −92 .345 11.5
9 Rockford Forest Citys 25 4 21 0 231 287 −56 .160 15.5
Source: Baseball Reference
(C) Champions

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Team BOS CHI CLE FW NY PHI ROC TRO WSH
Boston 1–3 3–1 2–0 2–2 3–1 3–0 3–2 3–1–1
Chicago 3–1 2–1 2–0 3–1 2–3 3–0 1–1 3–2
Cleveland 1–3 1–2 0–3 3–2 0–3 3–1 2–2 0–3
Fort Wayne 0–2 0–2 3–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–2
New York 2–2 1–3 2–3 2–1 2–3 3–1 1–3 3–1
Philadelphia 1–3 3–2 3–0 2–0 3–2 3–0 3–0 3–0
Rockford 0–3 0–3 1–3 1–1 1–3 0–3 1–2 0–3
Troy 2–3 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 0–3 2–1 2–3–1
Washington 1–3–1 2–3 3–0 2–1 1–3 0–3 3–0 3–2–1


Roster

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1871 Boston Red Stockings
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Cal McVey 29 153 66 .431 0 43
1B Charlie Gould 31 151 43 .285 2 32
2B Ross Barnes 31 157 63 .401 0 34
SS George Wright 16 80 33 .413 0 11
3B Harry Schafer 31 149 42 .282 0 28
OF Fred Cone 19 77 20 .260 0 16
OF Dave Birdsall 29 152 46 .303 0 24
OF Harry Wright 31 147 44 .299 0 26

Other batters

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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
Frank Barrows 18 86 13 .151 0 11
Sam Jackson 16 76 17 .224 0 11

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Al Spalding 31 257.1 19 10 3.36 23

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Harry Wright 9 18.2 1 0 6.27 0

References

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  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1871 Boston Red Stockings season at Baseball Reference