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<html> <head> <title>A. G. Spalding</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap>This is a beta version of NNDB</td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </form></td> </tr> </table>        </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/701/000160221/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0>A. G. SpaldingAKA Albert Goodwill SpaldingBorn: <a href="/lists/763/000106445/" class=proflink>2-Sep</a>-<a href="/lists/849/000105534/" class=proflink>1850</a> Birthplace: <a href="/geo/567/000147126/" class=proflink>Byron, IL</a> Died: <a href="/lists/139/000106818/" class=proflink>9-Sep</a>-<a href="/lists/425/000106107/" class=proflink>1915</a> Location of death: <a href="/geo/694/000069487/" class=proflink>San Diego, CA</a> Cause of death: unspecified Remains: Cremated (ashes scattered over Point Loma neighborhood, San Diego, CA) Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Baseball, BusinessNationality: United States Executive summary: Baseball player, owner, and manufacturerAs a teenager, Albert Goodwill Spalding learned to play a popular new game called 'baseball', and became one of the game's first stars. Known for his straight-armed, underhand pitching, he became the first big-league pitcher to win 200 games, and led the National Association's Boston Red Stockings (later known as the Boston, then Milwaukee, now Atlanta Braves) to four consecutive pennants. He left Boston to play and manage the National League's Chicago White Stockings (now called the Cubs) in 1876. In 1877 he retired from the field and began his second career, heading the A.G. Spalding & Bros company, the foremost manufacturer of baseball equipment. The company paid the National League to use its balls in games, so Spalding could advertise them as the "official ball of the National League". The company also published Spalding's Official Baseball Guide, an annual best-seller that was required reading for fans. In 1907, a time before baseball had a Commissioner, Spalding was one of the sport's most respected names. He appointed a council to 'research' <a href="/people/996/000166498/">Henry Chadwick</a>'s claim that baseball had evolved from the English games of cricket and rounders. Spalding wanted baseball to be seen as "all American", and indeed, his council reported that the sport had been invented almost from thin air by <a href="/people/443/000022377/">Abner Doubleday</a> in 1839, at Cooperstown, New York -- where the Baseball Hall of Fame was later constructed. In reality, of course, baseball was derived from cricket, and Spalding must have known it -- he played on a barnstorming team that toured England in 1874, playing both baseball and cricket in such cities as Manchester, London, and Liverpool. Spalding was President of the White Stockings from 1882-91, during which time the team won five pennants. As a team owner he was a ruthless advocate of the "reserve clause" that prevented players from jumping to other teams, as he had done. He led the National League's successful effort to crush the Player's League, which had been established by the first ballplayers' union. He also sponsored a worldwide road trip for his team between the 1888 and 1889 seasons, playing against big league all-stars in Australia, Egypt, Italy, France, England, and Ireland. In retirement he wrote America's National Game, a history of baseball's early years that somewhat exaggerated his own role. Two dozen years after his death, Spalding was inducted into the Hall of Fame when it first opened, in 1939. His nephew, <a href="/people/867/000206249/">Albert Spalding</a>, was a noted violinist and composer. Spalding's sporting goods company is now owned by the <a href="/company/908/000125533/">Russell Corporation</a>, which is in turn owned by <a href="/people/445/000022379/">Warren Buffett</a>'s <a href="/company/680/000052524/">Berkshire Hathaway</a>. Father: James Spalding (d. 1858) Mother: Harriet Spalding Brother: James Walter Spalding (co-founder, Spalding & Bros) Wife: Josie Keith Spalding (m. 1875, d. 1899, one son) Son: Keith Spalding Wife: Elizabeth Mayer Churchill Spalding (mistress 1880s-1899, dated 1899-1901, m. 1901) Son: Albert Goodwill Spalding, Jr. (born out of wedlock) Son: Durand Churchill (stepson, from Elizabeth Mayer's first marriage)     High School: Rockford High School, Rockford, IL (dropped out)     <a href="/honors/351/000044219/">Baseball Hall of Fame</a> 1939 (posthumous) Author of books: America's National Game (<tt>1911</tt>) Do you know something we don't? <a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=160221" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a> Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>