Reach, Al

Reach, (Alfred James) Al

(1840–1928) baseball player/manager; born in London, England. After immigrating to the U.S.A at an early age, he played baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics (1871–72) and served as player-manager during the latter two years. In the 1870s he founded a sporting goods company that manufactured equipment used in professional baseball.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.