Harry Wright

Positions: Centerfielder and Pitcher
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
5-9, 157lb (175cm, 71kg)
Born: January 10, 1835 in Sheffield, United Kingdom gb
Died: October 3, 1895  in Atlantic City, NJ
Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Debut: May 5, 1871 (19th in major league history)
Last Game: September 29, 1877
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Pioneer/Executive in 1953. (Voted by Veteran’s Committee)
View Harry Wright’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: William Henry Wright
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Relatives: Brother of George Wright, Sam Wright

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Baseball Hall of Famers

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1871

Cap Anson
Al Spalding
Bobby Mathews
Deacon White
Ezra Sutton
Ross Barnes
George Wright
Harry Wright
Levi Meyerle

Notable Events and Chronology

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

April 17, 1869

The Cincinnati Red Stockings defeat the rival Amateurs, 24-15, in baseball’s first professional game. Team captain Harry Wright had put all of his players under contract, making the club, that will become known as the Reds, the first pro team in sports history.

June 14, 1870

1870 – In what is considered by many historians the greatest baseball game of the 19th century, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball’s first all-professional team see their winning streak stopped at 89 in a wild 11-inning battle with the Atlantic of Brooklyn team, 8 – 7. The game is tied 5 – 5 after nine innings of play, and the Atlantic players are happy to have a draw but Cincinnati captain Harry Wright insists that the game be played to a decision. The Red Stockings score twice in the 11th inning, but the Atlantic come back with three in their half to win. The game is notable as being the first extra-inning game between professional clubs, and as one of the lowest-scoring games of its day. As is the practice of the day, Atlantic continues to bat after having clinched the game, but no further runs are scored.

January 20, 1871

Boston Red Stockings, the league’s charter franchise is born

March 17, 1871

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players is founded

July 10, 1871

Albert Spalding is relieved by Harry Wright in the Boston Red Stockings 21–12 victory over the Rockford Forest Citys after both Boston catchers develop sore hands from Spalding’s fast pitching.

December 21, 1871

1871 – The National Association’s Boston Red Stockings meet and elect a new board of directors, who will retain Harry Wright as manager. The club reports an operating surplus of $75 on home attendance of around 35,000.

June 12, 1875

Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Stockings at the South End Grounds

July 20, 1875

The Chicago Tribune states that the Bostons will disband at the end of the season‚ with the Wrights going to Cincinnati

March 19, 1876

The Boston Herald reports the first practice of the Red Caps under the direction of George Wright. Manager Harry Wright is still in Florida‚ recuperating from a severe cold. The team has been weakened considerably by the loss to the Chicago White Stockings of Al Spalding‚ Cal McVey‚ and Ross Barnes.

December 22, 1881

Longtime Boston Red Stockings/Boston Red Caps manager Harry Wright signs a contract to manage the Providence Grays 

September 2, 1891

Pittsburgh when they had two players called out for batting out of turn

May 5, 1892

5/5/1892 – The Phillies were in Pittsburgh. Before the game, a preprinted scorecard from the previous day was posted in the Philadelphia dugout showing Lave Cross batting sixth and Joe Mulvey batting seventh. However, the two had been switched by manager Harry Wright. The two players batted in the order specified on the scorecard (out of turn). In the top of the fourth, Mulvey singled and was called out. The Pirates won the contest, 5-2.

March 5, 1894

1894 – St. Louis Browns owner Chris Von der Ahe, unable to hire either Harry Wright or Phil Powers as manager, announces that he will manage the club himself. Von der Ahe will eventually name starting infielder George (Doggie) Miller as manager.

July 27, 1953

Dizzy Dean and Al Simmons top the list of eight new members in the Hall of Fame

Biography

Wright was born in England and came to America when his father, a famous cricket player, was hired by the fashionable St. George Cricket Club in New York. Harry and brothers George and Sam scandalized their father by taking up the new American game of baseball. Harry became baseball’s most innovative proponent and most influential force, shaping a Hall of Fame career as a pioneer and manager.

Wright joined the Knickerbockers, a club of young New York City sportsmen that included Alexander Cartwright, who had laid out the first diamond and constructed the game’s first rules. He played wherever he could and became the recognized leader of others who took up the game. When Cincinnati’s city fathers decided after the Civil War that a winning ballclub would put their town on the map, they hired Wright and gave him free rein to recruit the first openly paid baseball team. The result was the undefeated 1869 Red Stockings, whose 56-game nationwide tour helped spread the popularity of baseball.

Wright and Albert Spalding led a tour to England in 1874 to demonstrate the game. The British were indifferent to baseball, but were mildly impressed when the Americans, few of whom had ever seen cricket, took some tips from Wright and won a few matches.

Wright managed the National Association Boston Red Stockings in 1871-75, winning the pennant the last four years. He started an 18-year career in the National League when the circuit formed in 1876, taking the helm of the Boston Red Caps, winning titles his second and third years but never again. His brother George, who became a Hall of Famer, was an infielder on Harry’s NA club and his NL Boston and Providence teams. An early student of statistics, Harry kept his own detailed box scores and studied them so avidly that he lost his sight for a year in 1890 and had to temporarily relinquish the reins of the Phillies. He is credited with introducing the practice of one fielder backing up another. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball Veterans in 1953.

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