The
next player featured in my ongoing 100th anniversary of Major League
baseball is Levi Meyerle, who suited up for the Philadelphia club in the
new league’s inaugural season:
Meyerle was already a veteran of the National Association, playing all five seasons of the leagues existence.
In the first year of the league, Meyerle hit an incredible .492 to lead
the league in that department along with home runs with four.
Granted, he attained that lofty batting average in only 26 games of
play, but it was still a torrid 64 hits over 130 at-bats for the third
baseman.
In the National League’s inaugural season, Meyerle was still a hot
hitter as he finished with a .340 average with 87 hits over 256 at-bats
in 55 games, and it was a common thread for the player through his
8-year career.
After a few games with the Philadelphia club of the Union Association,
Meyerle’s playing days were over and he finished with an eye-popping
.356 career average over 307 games with 513 hits over 1443 at-bats.
He would win two batting titles (1871 and 1874 where he hit .394 for the
Chicago club), and score almost a run a game for his career, with 306
in those 307 games.