Harry Wright

Harry Wright
Center fielder / Manager
Born: (1835-01-10)January 10, 1835
Sheffield, England
Died: October 3, 1895(1895-10-03) (aged 60)
Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 5, 1871, for the Boston Red Stockings
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1877, for the Boston Red Caps
MLB statistics
Batting average.272
Home runs4
Runs batted in111
Managerial record1225–885–35
Winning %.581
Teams
  National Association of Base Ball Players
  League player
  League manager
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1953
VoteVeterans Committee

William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. He is credited with introducing innovations such as backing up infield plays from the outfield and shifting defensive alignments based on hitters' tendencies. For his contributions as a manager and developer of the game, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953 by the Veterans Committee.

Wright was the first to make baseball into a business by paying his players up to seven times the pay of the average working man. He is the oldest former professional player in the Hall: a few other inductees were born before him, but none of them played professionally. His younger brother George Wright is also in the Hall. The Wrights are one of only two pairs of brothers in the Hall, alongside Paul and Lloyd Waner.