Poster: Levi Meyerle

 

Levi Meyerle was one of the most exciting hitters in the early years of professional baseball, and his name deserves to be remembered alongside the pioneers of the game. Known as “Long Levi,” Meyerle starred in the first great wave of organized baseball, when the sport was still forming its identity and the stars of the day were helping define what pro baseball would become.

Meyerle’s biggest season came in 1871, the first year of the National Association, when he hit an astonishing .492 for the Philadelphia Athletics. He also led the league in home runs that season, and many baseball historians have long considered him one of the best hitters of that early era. In a time before modern ballparks, modern gloves, or modern stats, Meyerle still stood out as one of the game’s true offensive forces.

What makes Meyerle so interesting is how much of baseball history he represents. He played for teams like the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Reds, and Philadelphia Keystones during a period when the professional game was still young and constantly changing. Players from this era often get overlooked, but Meyerle’s career reminds us that baseball greatness existed long before the sport became what we know today.

This poster is a tribute to one of the early stars of the game, designed to honor a player whose impact reaches all the way back to baseball’s beginnings. Download the free Levi Meyerle poster above and celebrate one of the forgotten greats from the earliest days of professional baseball.