In America’s Centennial year, the Century League was born, as was the Philadelphia franchise, known then as – what else? - the Centennials. The Cents won the title in the inaugural season, sporting a 43-17 record. But, it was not without controversy. The Brooklyn Unions played six more games and had three more wins, but three more losses. Philadelphia had a better winning percentage (.717 to .697) and was awarded the championship. A 20-year-old Zebulon Banks led the team in RBI with 59, but the star player was righthanded pitcher
Paul Kennett, who went 25-8 with a 1.80 earned run average. Kennett was only 25 in 1876 and retired two years later to return to his native Saint Paul, Minnesota, and his father’s ministry.
While Philadelphia fell to a 23-37 record in 1877, they finished .500 or better for the next seven seasons, earning league championships in 1880 (59-26 record) and 1882 (61-24 record). Pitcher
Martin Tucker was a key cog in both of those championship teams, turning in a 25-10 campaign in 1880 with a 1.64 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, a league-leading 250 strikeouts and a league-leading WAR of 12.1. In 1882, the league averaged 6.1 runs per game compared to 5.0 runs per game just two years earlier. Tucker was a 30-game winner in 1882 (30-13 record) for a squad that won 71.8% of its games, still in the top-three of all-time winning percentages in FABL history. Tucker stood seventh in the “pre-play era” in WAR by a Keystones pitcher (27.7).