Albert Spalding

Albert Goodwill Spalding (1850 to 1915) was an American pitcher, manager and executive from the early years of professional baseball, and a co-founder of the Spalding sporting goods company. Born and raised in Byron, Illinois, he played major league baseball from 1871 to 1878, first with the Boston Red Stockings and from 1876 with the Chicago White Stockings, for whom he won 47 games in 1876 and who took the first National League pennant that year. He was called the premier pitcher of the 1870s, and his career winning percentage is the highest recorded for any pitcher. After retiring as a player at 27 he stayed on as president and part owner of the Chicago club, helped William Hulbert organize the National League, took players on baseball's first world tour in the 1880s, and later called for the commission that wrongly credited Abner Doubleday with inventing the game. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.