Editing Joe Start (section)

==Professional era==

In 1871, Start joined the new—and fully professional—[[National Association of Professional Base Ball Players|National Association]] (NA), playing for the [[New York Mutuals]] and, at age 28, hitting a career-high .360, second highest on the team. He also hit the team's only home run that season.<ref>[https://sportsecyclopedia.com/nl/ny71/mutuals.html Sportsencylopedia.com: The New York Mutuals]</ref> In 1873 he served as the Mutuals' field leader (a pre-managerial position) for 25 games.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/startjo01.shtml Joe Start managerial stats at Baseball-reference.com]</ref>

[[File:Joe_Start_of_the_Providence_Grays_baseball_team_in_1879.png|left|200px|thumb|Start as a member of the 1879 National League champs the Providence Grays]]The NA failed after five years. When the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) was formed in 1876, the Mutuals joined, and Start remained with the team. However, the Mutuals were a poor team in 1876, and after refusing to finish their season schedule because of a financial shortfall, they were expelled from the NL.<ref>[https://www.retroseasons.com/teams/new-york-mutuals/ New York Mutuals History at Retroseasons.com]</ref> The following year Start joined the [[Hartford Dark Blues]], and in 1878 moved over to the [[History of the Chicago Cubs|Chicago White Stockings]]. 1878 was possibly Start's best season with the bat.  He led the league with 100 [[hit (baseball statistics)|hits]] and 125 [[total bases]]. He came close to the league lead with 12 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], 5 [[triple (baseball)|triples]], and one [[home run]].  His 58 [[run (baseball statistics)|runs]] that year were second in the league. These statistics came in only 285 [[at bat]]s, and at the age of 35, long after most players have begun to decline.

From 1879 until 1885, when he was 42, Start held down first base for the [[Providence Grays]] and continued to hit well; he also served as team captain,<ref>[https://baseballhistorydaily.com/tag/joe-start/ Karmik, Thom, “Sweeney Was Drunk, But I Didn’t Know It”, ''Baseball History Daily'']</ref> a role that provided field leadership before the establishment of team managers. Start's 1879 Providence team won the NL flag,<ref>[https://www.threadsofourgame.com/1879-providence/ 1879 Providence (Grays), National League], at Craig Brown's ''Threads of Our Game''</ref> and in [[1884 Providence Grays season|1884]] they won what is considered the first [[1884 World Series|inter-league championship]], beating the [[New York Metropolitans]] of the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]].

After Providence left the NL following the 1885 season, in 1886 Start signed with the [[Washington Nationals (1886–1889)|Washington Nationals]] for what proved to be his final season.  He only played 31 games for the Nationals, did not hit well, and retired from professional play. After this final sub-par season, his lifetime Major League batting average dipped below .300, to .299. For the final nine seasons of Start's career, he was the oldest player on any major league roster. Start played the final game of his professional career on July 9, 1886.<ref name="Chusid" />

Over his full major league career Start amassed 1,417 hits, 852 runs, and 544 [[run batted in|RBI]] in NL and NA play.  He logged a .299 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], a .322 [[on-base percentage]], and a .367 [[slugging percentage]].  These totals do not include his first twelve pre-league years, during which cumulative player statistics were not recorded. In addition, since Start's lifetime totals were achieved in much shorter seasons than today's professionals play, they tend to under-represent his sustained quality as a ballplayer.<ref name="Chusid" />