Philadelphia Athletics (American Association)

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This article is about the 1882-1891 Philadelphia Athletics baseball team. See Athletic of Philadelphia for the first so-called "Philadelphia Athletics" (1860-1876) and see Oakland Athletics for the 1901-1954 Philadelphia Athletics (AL).

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The Philadelphia Athletics were one of six charter members of the American Association, a 19th-century major league, which began play in 1882 as a rival to the National League. The other teams were the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Red Stockings, Eclipse of Louisville, Pittsburgh Alleghenys, and St. Louis Brown Stockings. The team took its name from a previous team, the Athletic of Philadelphia, which played in the National Association from 1871 through 1875 and in the National League in 1876.

Over the ten years of their existence, the Athletics were generally a successful franchise, winning 633 games and losing 564, for a winning percentage of .529. The team won the AA pennant in 1883, finishing one game ahead of the St. Louis team. The same year, however, saw the National League set up its own team in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Quakers (later Phillies). The Quakers finished dead last in 1883, but soon improved on the field and at the gate.

The last straw for the AA Athletics, and several other American Association teams, was the creation of the Players League in 1890. The established leagues lost players to the upstart league, player salaries soared (by the standards of the day), and there simply were not enough fans to support three baseball leagues. Though the Players League folded after a single season, it had taken its toll.

Over the years, some of the better American Association teams had jumped to the National League. After the AA's final season in 1891, Baltimore, Louisville, St. Louis, and Washington abandoned the AA to join a 12-team NL, and the American Association folded. Because Philadelphia had an established NL team in the recently renamed Philles, the second version of the Athletics died with the collapse of the American Association. The deal was sealed when Phillies' owners John Rogers and Al Reach paid $50,000 to the owners of the A's to obtain exclusive territorial rights to Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Athletics of 1882 to 1891 were a member of the American Association, one of baseball's early major leagues. Their home games were played at Oakdale Park in 1882, at the Jefferson Street Grounds from 1883 to 1890, and at Forepaugh Park in 1891. In addition, games were also occasionally played at Gloucester Point Grounds. They had eight different managers, with Bill Sharsig having the longest tenure.