George Wright was an American pioneer professional baseball player in the 1860s and 1870s who became one of the first true stars of the sport. Considered one of the best players of the 19th century, Wright revolutionized the game through his skill and strategic vision. He was also influential in the development of early baseball cards featuring professional players.
Born in 1847 in Manhattan, New York, Wright grew up playing street games that would later evolve into the game of baseball. He showed an early talent for the sport and by age 16 was playing for top amateur clubs in New York. In 1868 at age 21, Wright signed with the Cincinnati Red Stockings, becoming one of the first paid professional baseball players.
The Red Stockings embarked on an unprecedented championship season in 1869, going 57-0 while outscoring opponents 17-1, a stark contrast to the haphazard play of earlier amateur teams. The performances of Wright at shortstop were a major part of Cincinnati’s dominance, demonstrating his elite batting and fielding skills that set the standard for his position. Wright utilized sliding, cutoff plays, and other strategic techniques that were ahead of their time.
Wright’s success with the Red Stockings made him one of the first true baseball celebrities. Fans wanted to know more about the lives and exploits of their favorite players. In 1869, the popular American printing company Currier and Ives produced a set of lithographed cards featuring individual players from the top professional teams, including Wright of the Red Stockings. These cardboard pieces each featured a lithographic portrait of a player and some basic stats, and are considered the earliest ancestors of modern baseball cards produced on a mass scale.
The limited production run of an estimated few hundred sets established the concept of using cards to promote professional baseball and its stars. While not as extensively collected or preserved as later card sets would be thanks to their lower print numbers, the Currier and Ives cards established Wright and others as among the first baseball celebrities promoted through cards. They provided an early model that card companies would build upon in the decades to come as baseball grew into America’s pastime.
After two undefeated seasons with the Red Stockings, Wright helped form the first all-professional team, the Boston Red Stockings, in 1871. He served as the team’s captain/manager and continued demonstrating his skills as one of baseball’s first true stars. In 1875 at the age of 28, Wright retired with a career batting average of .318 and establishment as one of the premier shortstops and strategists in baseball’s early years.
Wright became even more influential after his playing career ended, as he helped introduce baseball to the United Kingdom. He coached the English national team and organized some of the earliest pro exhibition tours to England in the 1870s. This helped spread the sport’s popularity overseas. He also co-managed the Boston Red Caps professional team alongside his brother Harry from 1878-1882, winning championships and further developing the business and strategy of the professional game.
In later life, Wright lived in Boston and continued involvement in the sporting goods industry he helped pioneer. He served as secretary and treasurer for the sporting goods company he co-founded, Wright & Ditson. The company was an early major manufacturer and supplier of baseball equipment. Wright also volunteered as an umpire and league advisor in New England well into his 60s. He passed away in 1894 at the age of 47, having established himself as a true pioneer and innovator in the early years of professional baseball.
Wright left an indelible mark on the game through his skill, accomplishments, and keen strategic mind that helped transform baseball into a more refined sport. His star performances for Cincinnati and Boston in the 1860s and 1870s made him one of the first real baseball celebrities known to thousands of fans. His inclusion in the pioneering 1869 Currier and Ives lithographed card set helped establish that baseball cards could be used to promote teams and players to even wider audiences. Though few survive today, those early Wright cards represent the beginning of how the collectible card industry would recognize and memorialize iconic ballplayers for generations of future fans. Wright thus played a seminal role in developing the professional game and its business both on and off the field through his 19th century accomplishments and notoriety. He set the standard as one of baseball’s first true stars in the sport’s formative early decades.
