# 1871 Cleveland Forest Citys season

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.

## 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 ft 5 in (1.65 m), 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

| 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 | Deacon White | 29 | 146 | 47 | .322 | 1 | 21 |
| 1B | Jim Carleton | 29 | 127 | 32 | .252 | 0 | 18 |
| 2B | Gene Kimball | 29 | 131 | 25 | .191 | 0 | 9 |
| SS | John Bass | 22 | 89 | 27 | .303 | 3 | 18 |
| 3B | Ezra Sutton | 29 | 128 | 45 | .352 | 3 | 23 |
| OF | Charlie Pabor | 29 | 142 | 42 | .296 | 0 | 18 |
| OF | Elmer White | 15 | 70 | 18 | .257 | 0 | 9 |
| OF | Art 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 |
| William Johnson | 16 | 67 | 15 | .224 | 0 | 7 |
| Joe Quest | 3 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Battin | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| George 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 |
| Al 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 |
| Charlie Pabor | 7 | 29.1 | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | 0 |