Eligible: 1878
Contributions: One of the great stars of the amateur-only late-1860s, Zettlein translated well to the fledgling professional leagues, and put up 24.8 WAR, third all-time as of his retirement, despite his entire pro career being after his established prime.
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The mighty Red Stockings then turned their gaze to the East, where weather was finally warm enough for touring, and where the stiffest competition (and the most lucrative gates) were waiting. They organized a road trip from Cleveland to Washington, DC that would see them (presumably) embarrass the most renowned clubs in baseball, and they didn't disappoint. They were 80-0 by the time they arrived in New York, and punctuated that with a 16-3 drubbing of one of baseball's best clubs, the New York Mutuals. By now fans were flocking to see if any game opponent could stop the Red Stockings - 7,000 people, a massive crowd at the time, gathered to see if the Mutuals were game.
On June 14, 1870, the Red Stockings visited the Brooklyn Atlantics. The Atlantics had a deep and talented team, with several players who will appear on these pages like Dickey Pearce, Joe Start, and Fred Smith. They were perhaps the National Association's most prestigious club, with eight league pennants, including the 1869 title (the Red Stockings were ineligible for their professional status). If anybody could beat the Red Stockings, it was thought to be Brooklyn, and 12,000-15,000 (some reports saying 20,000) people showed up to see if it could be done. What followed was one of the great games of early baseball history.
Cincinnati was loaded with talent, but they had never faced Brooklyn's ace before. George Zettlein was a big righty, which wasn't special, but he was perhaps the hardest thrower they had ever faced. What proved to be a problem, though, was that he never tired. He threw hard in the 1st, but continued to throw hard as the game wound on. He was touched for three runs early, but buckled down and the Red Stockings struggled to get more (keep in mind it was normal for them to put up 70 runs against quality pitching at the time). Sloppy fielding by Cincinnati allowed Brooklyn a 4-3 lead early, though the game was tied up 5-5 at the end of 9 innings. As the rules at the time did not dictate extra innings, the teams began to walk off the field, the Red Stockings' undefeated streak safe, now at 81 games. But the damndest thing happened.
As the crowd bayed, 'Play it out! Play it out!' Harry Wright calmly walked off the field, had his players pack up their bats. Brooklyn were happy to take the tie, a mighty feat in itself, and go home, but their veteran star pitcher, who had been throwing blazing fastballs all afternoon, would not have it: "No. We will play to a finish if it takes us all night. Let it not be said that the Atlantics shirked." Insulted, Harry Wright agreed to continue the game at the other captain's challenge. Zettlein got the Red Stockings in order in the tenth, but they got him for two more runs in the top of the 11th. In the bottom of the frame all hell broke loose.
Brooklyn got the leadoff man on, and it became clear Cincinnati ace Asa Brainard (another amateur legend we'll hear more about) was beginning to tire. Joe Start took an offering over RF Cal McVey's head for an easy double. According to some reports, the ball rolled into the crowd, where the rambunctious Brooklynites jumped on McVey's back as he tried to retrieve the ball. By the time the ball got back to the infield Start was on third and the score was 7-6. The Red Stockings finally got an out on the next batter, but then Bob Ferguson singled in Start to tie the game at 7. Zettlein himself singled, bringing the winning run to second, but George Hall hit a crisp bouncer to short, setting up shortstop George Wright, widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in the first 50 years of baseball history, for an inning-ending double-play. He biffed it, throwing wide of second, and Ferguson, running hard all the way, scored the winning run and ended the Red Stockings' legendary winning streak. George Zettlein, by outduelling Brainard and limiting unstoppable Cincinnati's damage, not to mention collecting his own crucial 11th-inning hit had become a hero in his own right.
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George Zettlein was born in Williamsburgh (Brooklyn), NY, 12 July 1844. Very little is known about his early life, hampered in no small part by his German last name and the difficulties this gave records-keepers at the time, but it is believed he and his two sisters were orphaned at an early age. It is believed he enlisted in the army early in the Civil War, but found the life of a foot soldier tedious, signing up for the Navy in early 1863. No service records exist but he was able to convince the Navy to give him a pension much later in life, with a trove of evidence consisting of medical records and soldier/seaman testimonies that he was present at a number of significant battles including New Orleans, Vicksburg, and Mobil. He apparently sustained some injuries in the war and applied for and received a pension later in life.
Still just 21 years old, Zettlein returned to Brooklyn after the war and joined the Eckford club, one of baseball's best clubs. He spent one year with them then switched to the Atlantic club for 1866, turning them into a powerhouse. They won National Association championships in 1866 and 1869, and, as noted above, toppled an unbeatable Cincinnati Red Stockings club in 1870. Zettlein was regarded as the hardest thrower of the late 1860s, famously durable, and was perhaps baseball's best pitcher before the rise of Spalding. Zettlein was fantastic but not without weakness - he relied on being able to throw blistering fastballs for strikes; he never tried to adopt Candy Cummings's curveball, and he shunned the "headwork" that made later pitchers like Spalding and Mathews so successful. In 1872 the Clipper wrote that he was "a splendid army without a shrewd tactician at its head."
Once the league turned openly professional in time for the 1871 season, Zettlein (who had already jumped clubs once in his young career) was one of the game's foremost mercenaries. He left Brooklyn to sign with the Chicago White Stockings, and jumped clubs five more times in the next four years. He was no journeyman - he won the NA's first ERA title - the first professional pitcher to win an ERA crown - and put up a 135 ERA+ in almost 1000 innings over his first three seasons of professional play, third in WAR to Spalding and McBride over that time. George Zettlein was a hit man.
After 1871 Zettlein cycled through Troy (NY), the Brooklyn Eckfords, and Philadelphia before landing back with Chicago for 1874. Now 29, it looked like the thousands of competitive innings began to catch up with him as the amateur-era legend went 27-30 with a 2.43 (90 ERA+), leading the league in walks and runs allowed. He bounced back with in 1875, however, going 29-22 with a 1.59 ERA (144 ERA+), though he did defect from Chicago and play the last half of the season back with Philadelphia.
1875 would be the final season for the National Association, and it was the end of Zettlein as an effective player. He did pitch 234 sub-par innings for Philadelphia in their new National League outfit in 1876 before retiring for good, aged 31. By the end of 1876 he was notorious for betting on games, and a member of the NA Philadelphia club in 1875 was known for placing bets on his own club during the game as the odds shifted.
At the time of his retirement he was third in baseball history in WAR (just 0.2 behind McBride for second), third in innings, fifth in strikeouts, and 6th in K/9 among pitchers who threw at least 1000 innings. He ranked third all-time in ERA+ and 2nd in FIP - and remember that this was all a second career for Zettlein - he had already been an amateur-era great from 1865-1870.
It is also worth remembering that he played his entire career after a significant wartime record in which he suffered a hernia that plagued him throughout his life, and forced him to wear a truss for much of it. Zettlein often claimed the hernia was the result of being his by too many baseballs in the pitcher's box (his peers claimed this was also the cause of a low mental capacity and his lack of craftiness as a pitcher.
Ultimately Zettlein's legacy is that of a great we never really got to see at his heights. His best days were before reliable and organized leagues and records, and he played most of his career as an injured Civil War veteran. He was the best hard thrower of his generation and his contemporaries acknowledged his greatness. He was also a wonderful character and one of the best of all time as of his retirement.
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