# 1871 Philadelphia Athletics season

With the debut of the first professional baseball league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the Athletic Baseball Club of Philadelphia was one of the first clubs to join.
The Athletics had been around since 1860 as an amateur club. Led by their captain and pitcher, Dick McBride, the team went 21–7 and won the first NA title during the 1871 season. Philadelphia's third baseman, Levi Meyerle, led the league with a .492 batting average.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1871 National Association Recordsvte Sources: :
| 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
## 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 | Fergy Malone | 27 | 134 | 46 | .343 | 1 | 33 |
| 1B | Wes Fisler | 28 | 147 | 41 | .279 | 0 | 16 |
| 2B | Al Reach | 26 | 133 | 47 | .353 | 0 | 34 |
| SS | John Radcliff | 28 | 145 | 44 | .303 | 0 | 22 |
| 3B | Levi Meyerle | 26 | 130 | 64 | .492 | 4 | 40 |
| OF | Count Sensenderfer | 25 | 127 | 41 | .323 | 0 | 23 |
| OF | Ned Cuthbert | 28 | 150 | 37 | .247 | 3 | 30 |
| OF | George Heubel | 17 | 75 | 23 | .307 | 0 | 13 |

#### 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 |
| George Bechtel | 20 | 94 | 33 | .351 | 1 | 21 |
| Tom Pratt | 1 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Nate Berkenstock | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Berry | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 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 |
| Dick McBride | 25 | 222.0 | 18 | 5 | 4.58 | 15 |
| George Bechtel | 3 | 26.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.96 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Levi Meyerle | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |