1.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
2.
1876 in baseball
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After a tumultuous five-year existence, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players folded following the 1875 season. One of the new rules put into place by the new league was that all teams had to be located in cities that had a population of 75,000 or more. The initial NL season began with eight teams, and they were asked to play seventy games between April 22 and October 21, the NL is considered to be the first major league, although it has been argued that the NA can make that claim. National League, Chicago White Stockings Champions of the West, St. Louis Brown Stockings Four premier semi-professional teams were in play in 1876 and they were the Binghamton Crickets, the Columbus Buckeyes, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and the Syracuse Stars. In competition against NL clubs these 4 semi-pro teams played 32 games – winning 16, losing 14, of the 60 players on these 4 semi-pro teams no fewer than 50 of them wound up playing in the National League over the next 5 seasons. Chicago White Stockings signed Cap Anson as a free agent, hartford Dark Blues signed Candy Cummings as a free agent. Boston Red Caps signed George Wright as a free agent, august 10,1876 – The New York Mutuals loaned Nealy Phelps to the Philadelphia Athletics. Phelps returned to the Mutuals on the same day, bryces Base Ball Guide General Ginsburg, Daniel E. The Fix Is in, A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals, reiss, Steven A. Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs, Volume 1. Specific 1876 season at baseball-reference. com Charltons Baseball Chronology at BaseballLibrary. com Year by Year History at Baseball-Almanac. com Retrosheet. org
3.
Cincinnati
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Cincinnati is a city in the U. S. state of Ohio that serves as county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the side of the confluence of the Licking with the Ohio River. With a population of 298,550, Cincinnati is the third-largest city in Ohio and its metropolitan statistical area is the 28th-largest in the United States and the largest centered in Ohio. The city is part of the larger Cincinnati–Middletown–Wilmington combined statistical area. In the 19th century, Cincinnati was an American boomtown in the heart of the country, it rivaled the larger cities in size. Throughout much of the 19th century, it was listed among the top 10 U. S and it was by far the largest city in the west. By the end of the 19th century, with the shift from steamboats to railroads drawing off freight shipping, trade patterns had altered and Cincinnatis growth slowed considerably. Cincinnati is home to two sports teams, the Cincinnati Reds, the oldest franchise in Major League Baseball. The University of Cincinnati, founded in 1819, is one of the 50 largest in the United States, Cincinnati is known for its historic architecture. In the late 1800s, Cincinnati was commonly referred to as Paris of America, due mainly to such ambitious projects as the Music Hall, Cincinnatian Hotel. The original surveyor, John Filson, named it Losantiville, in 1790, Arthur St. Ethnic Germans were among the early settlers, migrating from Pennsylvania and the backcountry of Virginia and Tennessee. General David Ziegler succeeded General St. Clair in command at Fort Washington, after the conclusion of the Northwest Indian Wars and removal of Native Americans to the west, he was elected as the mayor of Cincinnati in 1802. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819, exporting pork products and hay, it became a center of pork processing in the region. From 1810 to 1830 its population tripled, from 9,642 to 24,831. Completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1827 to Middletown, Ohio further stimulated businesses, the city had a labor shortage until large waves of immigration by Irish and Germans in the late 1840s. The city grew rapidly over the two decades, reaching 115,000 persons by 1850. Construction on the Miami and Erie Canal began on July 21,1825, the first section of the canal was opened for business in 1827. In 1827, the canal connected Cincinnati to nearby Middletown, by 1840, during this period of rapid expansion and prominence, residents of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the Queen City
4.
Cal McVey
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Calvin Alexander McVey was a professional baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. McVeys importance to the stems from his play on two of the earliest professional baseball teams, the original Cincinnati Red Stockings and the National Association Boston Red Stockings. He also played on the inaugural National League pennant-winning team, the 1876 Chicago White Stockings and he has the NA record for most career RBIs. With McVey usually pitching, the Actives in 1868 defeated local rivals, despite a lopsided 7–54 defeat by the Cincinnati Red Stockings, that club later hired him to play in 1869 for $700 and he served as the regular right fielder for both of its storied seasons. The Cincinnati Daily Times described Cal McVey in this way, He is powerfully built, with shoulders and barrel chest. handsome though shy. He is very conscientious and a hard worker. a good fielder, McVey was directly in the middle of the most controversial game of the Red Stockings reported 84-game winning streak,1869 and 1870. Playing the Troy Haymakers, with the game tied 17 to 17 and that would have been an out but the umpire disagreed. In the ensuing argument, Troy left the field and the game was awarded to Cincinnati on forfeit, with the Red Stockings going out of business, manager Harry Wright signed to organize and lead a team in Boston. He hired McVey, Charlie Gould, and George Wright to join him, with some personnel changes, the Boston Red Stockings won the other four NA pennants, dominating so severely in 1875 that they helped provoke a new league. McVey served Boston two seasons as the first catcher, otherwise in the outfield, followed by one season managing in Baltimore and two more seasons in Boston, now an outfielder and second catcher. During the summer of 1875, Bostons four Western stars agreed to play next season for the Chicago White Stockings, McVey, Deacon White, Ross Barnes, partly because the rules forbade such tampering, Chicago led the founding of a new National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. The Big Four and Cap Anson led the team to a win on the field, McVey serving as regular first baseman, second pitcher to Spalding. Few pieces remained in place for the season, when McVey worked as first catcher and second pitcher. On July 22 and 25,1876, McVey became the player in MLB history to record six hits in two straight games. In 1878 McVey returned to Cincinnati where he completed his major career in two seasons as manager and infielder. The new Cincinnati Reds finished a second in his first year but slipped to fifth in 1879. The reserve rule was adopted that fall, maybe a factor in his move to California and he was still a star batsman at the major league level. In San Francisco during the 1880s, McVey played for, managed and he retired there and died in 1926, just short of 77 years old
5.
1877 Cincinnati Reds season
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The 1877 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth and last in the National League with a record of 15–42, 25½ games behind the Boston Red Caps. After finishing dead last in the National League in the 1876 season, the Reds attempted to improve their club by signing Lip Pike, who spent the previous season with the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Pike was also named the manager of the team.67 ERA with the Hartford Dark Blues joining the team, as well as Bobby Mathews, charley Jones had another solid season for the Reds, hitting.310 with two homers and a team high 36 RBI. Manning had solid year, hitting.317, as he had a team high 80 hits while tying Jones with a team high 36 RBI, Pike hit.298 with a teah high four home runs, and added 23 RBI. On the mound, rookie Bobby Mitchell came up late in the season, the Reds got off to another terrible start, as they had a 3–11 start to the season, and Pike stepped down as the manager. Bob Addy took over as manager, however, he too saw very few wins as Cincinnati went 5–19 during his managerial stint. Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg
6.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
