Allison began his career with the Geary of Philadelphia squad in 1868 before becoming one of the legendary members of the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869, who went undefeated and put baseball on the map as the burgeoning sport of America.
An innovator of the sport, he is the first known player to use a glove, in his case buckskin mittens in 1870, and is credited as being the first catcher to stand right behind the batter to help prevent base runners from stealing a base.
He played all five of the National Association seasons, with no less than SIX organizations, before ending up with the Hartford team in 1875, a team he’d play for the next three seasons, the latter two being the first two years of the newly formed Major League.
His professional career would span 1869 through 1883 (not playing 1880-1882), and would retire with a .271 lifetime average over 318 games.