Brian McKenna
02-14-2006, 04:46 PM
Al Reach
Al Reach was an acclaimed fielder and base runner of the 1860s and ‘70s. He was a lefthanded second baseman in an era when that was not so unusual. As such, he was one of the earliest men paid to play the game.
In retirement Reach achieved his greatest fame and financial rewards. In 1875 he opened a cigar store in Philadelphia. It quickly became a hangout for local players and cranks. Eventually, Reach turned it into a company that manufactured and sold sporting equipment.
One of his original clients was the Philadelphia Pythians, one of the early successful black teams. This relationship opened the door to numerous opportunities for Reach’s company to supply goods throughout black baseball. In turn, the business possibilities here have led some historians to suggest that fellow sporting goods mogul Albert Spalding, to combat Reach’s growth potential, used his influence as a National League official to curtail efforts to form black leagues. Specifically, Spalding may have used his position to threaten black teams by eliminating lucrative contests against white clubs within organized baseball.
Ben Shibe, the inventor of the cork-centered baseball, later joined Reach in the venture. In 1883 they landed a contract with the American Association to supply its game balls. Together, they attained riches by adapting mass production methods and mail order sales to the emerging sporting goods industry. The pair became millionaires by the time they sold out to Spalding in 1891. Shibe would later use his wealth to finance the upstart American League’s Philadelphia entry.
Reach began publishing Reach’s Official Baseball Guide in 1883, as a competitor to Spalding’s annual report of statistics and essays. Suddenly, the nation couldn’t get enough of the sport, information or supplies. Men like Reach and Spalding were there to sell it to them.
The magnate later bought the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League and built the famed bandbox, the Baker Bowl. Later, as a member of the ill-advised Mills Commission in 1907, Reach signed the proclamation claiming General Abner Doubleday as the founder of the sport, a myth concocted to legitimize the game as a purely American creation.
Al Reach was an acclaimed fielder and base runner of the 1860s and ‘70s. He was a lefthanded second baseman in an era when that was not so unusual. As such, he was one of the earliest men paid to play the game.
In retirement Reach achieved his greatest fame and financial rewards. In 1875 he opened a cigar store in Philadelphia. It quickly became a hangout for local players and cranks. Eventually, Reach turned it into a company that manufactured and sold sporting equipment.
One of his original clients was the Philadelphia Pythians, one of the early successful black teams. This relationship opened the door to numerous opportunities for Reach’s company to supply goods throughout black baseball. In turn, the business possibilities here have led some historians to suggest that fellow sporting goods mogul Albert Spalding, to combat Reach’s growth potential, used his influence as a National League official to curtail efforts to form black leagues. Specifically, Spalding may have used his position to threaten black teams by eliminating lucrative contests against white clubs within organized baseball.
Ben Shibe, the inventor of the cork-centered baseball, later joined Reach in the venture. In 1883 they landed a contract with the American Association to supply its game balls. Together, they attained riches by adapting mass production methods and mail order sales to the emerging sporting goods industry. The pair became millionaires by the time they sold out to Spalding in 1891. Shibe would later use his wealth to finance the upstart American League’s Philadelphia entry.
Reach began publishing Reach’s Official Baseball Guide in 1883, as a competitor to Spalding’s annual report of statistics and essays. Suddenly, the nation couldn’t get enough of the sport, information or supplies. Men like Reach and Spalding were there to sell it to them.
The magnate later bought the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League and built the famed bandbox, the Baker Bowl. Later, as a member of the ill-advised Mills Commission in 1907, Reach signed the proclamation claiming General Abner Doubleday as the founder of the sport, a myth concocted to legitimize the game as a purely American creation.