Albert Wright Atkinson (March 9, 1861 – June 17, 1952) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played three seasons; one in the

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

and parts of three seasons in the American Association. He became the first player to desert his existing contract to jump over to the Union Association. He is one of the few pitchers in Major League history to throw two

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

Career

Atkinson was born in

Clinton, Illinois Clinton is the largest city and the county seat in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,898 at the 2023 census. The city and the county are named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, 1817–1823. Clinton Nuclear ...

, and he began his Major League career with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

in , pitching in 22

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...

11 and losing 11. Later in the season, Al jumped to the new

, remaining there until season's end. With that move, Al became the first player to desert his existing contract and join the Union Association. He played for two teams during his time in the Union Association, a league that folded following the season. He began play with the Chicago Browns and later played for the Baltimore Monumentals and had a combined record of 20 wins and 26 losses during the 1884 season. On May 24, 1884, he pitched his first no-hitter. He tossed his gem against the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s–1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association An early mention of "base ball" in the region is found in an issue of t ...

in a 10–1 victory. This no-hitter is also notable for the fact that Al allowed the first batter of the game on base with a

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provide ...

and then retired the next 27 batters in a row. The only run scored when

Ed Swartwood Cyrus Edward Swartwood (January 12, 1859 – May 15, 1924) was an American professional baseball player and umpire. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as a right fielder and first baseman. Swartwood play ...

, the player hit by the pitch, stole

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

‚ took

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

on a

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base (a tag ...

‚ and then scored on a

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a run ...

. He played for an independent minor league team, the Chicago Blues, during the season, but returned the Athletics for the season. He pitched his second no-hitter on May 1, 1886, against the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York M ...

in a 3–2 victory.

Post-career

After his career, he became a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

. Al died at the age of 91 in

McDonald County, Missouri McDonald County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,303. and was estimated to be 24,054 in 2024, Its county seat is Pineville. History The county was org ...

, and is interred at the Macedonia Cemetery in Stella, Missouri.baseball-almanac
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Al 1861 births 1952 deaths Baseball players from DeWitt County, Illinois 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies players Baltimore Monumentals players Lincoln Tree Planters players Toronto Canucks players Rochester Flour Cities players People from Clinton, Illinois

Career

Post-career

See also

References

External links