Asahel "Asa" Brainard (c. 1841 – December 29, 1888), nicknamed "Count", was the ace[1] pitcher of the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional baseball team, after having pitched for the Excelsior club of Brooklyn, New York.

Led by the sensational teenage fast pitcher, Jim Creighton, the team toured New York state from Albany to Buffalo, a major event in the baseball boom.

When the NABBP permitted professionalism, the Red Stockings hired five incumbents including Brainard and five new men to complete its famous Nine, the first team on salary for a season.

In their 1869 campaign, Asa Brainard pitched more than 70% of the innings, Harry Wright more than 25%, as the team toured the continent undefeated, vanquishing all of the plausible challengers.

The other five regulars including Asa Brainard and catcher Doug Allison signed with Nick Young's Washington Olympics, an established club that also joined the new, entirely professional National Association (NA).