Charles Harry "Dick" Spalding (October 13, 1893 – February 3, 1950) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played the first two games in the history of the U.S. men's national soccer team and competed in professional soccer for nearly fifteen years, primarily with teams based in Pennsylvania. Besides, Spalding spent two seasons in Major League baseball and later served as a first base coach. A lifelong resident of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he was inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

in 1951.

Soccer

Club career

Spalding attended the Northeast Manual Training School in

, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He then went on to play soccer with the Lighthouse Boys Club as well as several other local Philadelphia clubs. In 1916, when called into the U.S. men's national team, he was with the Disston A.A. In the fall of 1916, he signed with Bethlehem Steel F.C. of the

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

(NAFBL). However, he injured his knee and did not play consistently until January 1917. In November 1919, he signed with

Philadelphia Merchant Ship Philadelphia Merchant Ship F.C. was a short-lived U.S. soccer team of the early twentieth century. It spent two seasons in the National Association Football League and went to the semifinals of the 1919 American Cup. History Philadelphia Merchant ...

of the NAFBL. In 1921, he joined the Harrison S.C. of the American Soccer League (ASL). He then spent the 1924–1925 ASL season with Fleisher Yarn.

National team

In 1916, the

United States Football Association The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at ...

(USFA) recruited a team, called the All-American Soccer Football Team, to represent the U.S. on a tour of Scandinavian countries. At the time, these countries and the U.S. were all neutral during the ongoing World War I. During the six game tour, the U.S. played two recognized international games, one on August 21, 1916, against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and another on September 3, 1916, against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. There are disagreements about who scored the first national team goals. While the

lists Spalding, other sources state that

Thomas Swords Thomas Swords (October 2, 1885 – March 29, 1953) was an American Striker (association football), soccer forward, who served as captain of the United States men's national soccer team, U.S. men's national team in its first two games. He is a mem ...

scored an unassisted goal against Sweden.
/sup> After this tour, Spalding never played for the U.S. again. He was inducted into the

in 1950.

Baseball

Player

In addition to his soccer career, Spalding was also a successful baseball player. In 1916, while a member of the U.S. national soccer team, he played in a baseball game against a Swedish baseball team from

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

. In 1927, he signed as an outfielder the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. In 1928, he moved to the Washington Senators of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. Spalding also spent time in the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

where he played for the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

and the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

First base coach

Spalding's friendship with Jimmie Wilson led to two stints as a first base coach. In 1934, Wilson hired Spalding as the first base coach for the

. In 1941, he was brought into the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, again by Wilson, to become the Cubs’ first base coach. Spalding died in Philadelphia at the age of 56 after a long illness.

References

External links

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Baseball stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spalding, Dick 1893 births 1950 deaths United States men's international soccer players Lighthouse Boys Club players National Association Football League players Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Disston A.A. players Philadelphia Merchant Ship players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Harrison S.C. players Fleisher Yarn players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Baseball players from Philadelphia Major League Baseball outfielders Philadelphia Phillies players Rochester Red Wings players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Chicago Cubs coaches Philadelphia Phillies coaches Major League Baseball first base coaches Chicago Cubs scouts American men's soccer players Soccer players from Philadelphia Men's association football defenders