SABR All-Time Eras Teams:
19th Century Era (1876-1900)
Throughout the 2026 season, SABR members will have a chance to vote on SABR’s All-Time Eras Teams as we celebrate the 150 years of baseball and American history since the founding of the National League in 1876.
The All-Time Eras Teams project is an interactive opportunity for all SABR members to participate in, debate with one another, and learn more about the iconic players and figures from different eras.
Voting for the 19th Century Era took place between April 17–May 4, 2026, and the team was revealed in an online webinar on May 13 with a presentation by Brian M. Ingrassia of West Texas A&M University. More than 650 SABR members cast a vote on this ballot. The top vote recipients at each position were selected for the first team. Click here to view the full list of players included on the ballot.
Each of the six All-Time Eras Team ballots will be released throughout the baseball season. SABR members will be able to vote for players at every position on the diamond, as well as the top manager and executive from that era.
Learn more about the 19th Century Era team selected by SABR members below.
Outfielders
Ed Delahanty
Billy Hamilton
Willie Keeler
Infielders
Buck Ewing (C)
Cap Anson (1B)
Bid McPhee (2B)
John McGraw (3B)
George Davis (SS)
Pitchers
Cy Young
Kid Nichols
Old Hoss Radbourn
Tim Keefe
Pud Galvin
Manager/Executive
Harry Wright
Al Spalding
Second Team
- Outfielders: King Kelly, Jesse Burkett, Hugh Duffy
- Infielders: Lave Cross (3B), Hughie Jennings (SS), Bud Fowler (2B), Dan Brouthers (1B), Deacon White (C)
- Pitchers: John Clarkson, Amos Rusie, Al Spalding, Candy Cummings, Clark Griffith
- Manager: Ned Hanlon
- Executive: Chris von der Ahe
Third Team
- Outfielders: Sam Thompson, Pete Browning, Tip O’Neill
- Infielders: Arlie Latham (3B), John Ward (SS), Ross Barnes (2B), Roger Connor (1B), Charlie Bennett (C)
- Pitchers: Mickey Welch, Bob Caruthers, Tommy Bond, Tony Mullane, George W. Stovey
- Manager: Cap Anson
- Executive: William Hulbert
Team Reveal and Video Presentation
Click here to watch the unveiling of the 19th Century Era team and a presentation by Brian M. Ingrassia of West Texas A&M University.
More about the 19th Century Era (1876-1900)
As MLB Official Historian John Thorn wrote in his introduction to SABR’s Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century, “Early baseball, however you define or pinpoint it in the years before 1901, was indeed different from the game we see on the field today, yet there can be no doubt that it was baseball. Players in the big-league parks of the 1880s, packed with thousands of paying spectators, knew they were playing the same game that had been staged for free at the Elysian Fields of Hoboken decades earlier.
“These players deserve to be recalled by all baseball fans of today in their greatest moments, in the glory of our times as well as theirs. To know that Albert Pujols and Derek Jeter are part of a seamless web with Roger Connor and John Ward makes the experience of today’s games richer than merely to compare our stars with those since 1901.”
SABR’s Nineteenth Century Committee encourages research on all facets of baseball before 1901. The committee organizes an annual conference each April at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; all baseball fans are welcome to attend. In a nod to technology in this century, the committee also hosts a monthly speaker series on Zoom.
The 19th Century League and Team Resources collection at SABR.org aims to collect all available pre-1900 baseball documents and make them available online to future researchers. The collection includes dozens of documents from the National League’s founding in 1876 to the NL’s final season as a sole major league in 1900.
Further Reading
