1.
South End Grounds
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South End Grounds refers to any one of three baseball parks on one site in Boston, Massachusetts. They were home to the franchise that became known as the Boston Braves, first in the National Association and later in the National League. At least in its edition, the formal name of the park. It was located on the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Walpole Street, accordingly, it was also known over the years as Walpole Street Grounds, two other names were Union Baseball Grounds and simply Boston Baseball Grounds. Over time the team acquired other informal nicknames, such as Beaneaters, Red Caps, Rustlers and this team eventually adopted the official nickname Braves, just a few years before abandoning South End Grounds. With its tight foul lines and expansive center field, like a version of the Polo Grounds, it was sometimes said that the South End had no right or left field. South End Grounds was rebuilt twice during its lifetime, the first time by choice, the first South End Grounds was opened on May 16,1871. The last game was played on September 10,1887, the ballparks stands were demolished later that month to make way for a new structure. The second South End Grounds was opened on May 25,1888, the medieval-style witchs cap turrets were a very popular decoration on public seating structures of the 1880s and 1890s. The ballpark seated 6,800 by one estimate and it was the only double-decked baseball stadium ever built in Boston, apart from the rooftop seating which has turned the single-decked Fenway Park into a de facto double-deck ballpark. During the rebuilding process, the Bostons played their games at Congress Street Grounds. The third South End Grounds was built in ten weeks on the site of the old stand, because the previous structure had not been sufficiently insured, there wasnt enough money to rebuild the stands according to its old plans, and a smaller structure was built. Few photographs of this ballpark seem to be in circulation and that image can be seen above this text. The Braves moved out of the South End Grounds after their game on August 11,1914 to accommodate larger crowds during the drive of the 1914 pennant race. The team continued to play at Fenway Park until Braves Field was completed during the 1915 season, the stadium was demolished after the Braves left. The parking lot between Northeastern Universitys Columbus Parking Garage and Ruggles Station of the Orange Line of the MBTA now stands on the site of the grandstand. The outfield was located where the garage stands
2.
Boston
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Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
3.
History of the Boston Braves
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The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, the Boston Franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field is now Nickerson Field of Boston University, the franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuous professional baseball franchise. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, the original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team was decimated when the American Leagues new Boston entry set up shop in 1901, many of the Beaneaters stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters owners didnt even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, in 1907, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected. The American League clubs owner, Charles Taylor, wasted time in changing his teams name to the Red Sox in place of the generic Americans. The all-white outfits gave rise to the sobriquet Doves in 1907, however, clever monikers did nothing to change the National League clubs luck. The team adopted a name, the Braves, for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York Citys political machine, Tammany Hall, two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish, on July 4,1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26-40 and the Braves were in last place,15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants
4.
Charles Radbourn
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Charles Gardner Radbourn, nicknamed Old Hoss, was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the Buffalo Bisons, Providence Grays, Boston Beaneaters, Boston Reds, in 1884, Radbourn became only the second National League pitcher to win a Triple Crown, in the process, he broke the single-season wins record, which still stands today. Radbourn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, born in New York and raised in Illinois, Radbourn played semi-professional and minor league baseball before making his major league debut for the Buffalo Bisons in 1880. After a one-year stint with the club, Radbourn joined the Providence Grays, in 1885, when the team folded, the Grays roster was transferred to NL control, where he was claimed by the Boston Beaneaters. Radbourn spent the four seasons with the club, and finished his MLB career with the Cincinnati Reds after a one-year tenure with the Boston Reds. Radbourn was born on December 11,1854, in Rochester, New York, Charles Radbourn had immigrated to the United States from Bristol, England, to find work as a butcher, Caroline followed soon after. In 1855, the Radbourn family moved to Bloomington, Illinois, as a teenager, Radbourn worked as a butcher with his father, and as a brakeman for the Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway company. In 1878 Radbourn joined the Peoria Reds, a team, as their right fielder. In 1879 he signed with Dubuque in the newly formed Northwest League and he finally made the major leagues in 1880 as second baseman, right fielder and change pitcher for the Buffalo Bisons of the National League. He played in six games, batted.143, never pitched an inning, when he recovered he pitched for a pick-up Bloomington team in an exhibition game against the Providence Grays. He impressed everyone so much that Providence signed him on the spot for a salary variously reported as $1,100 or $1,400, as a starting pitcher for the Providence Grays, Boston Beaneaters, Boston Reds, and Cincinnati Reds, Radbourn compiled a 309–194 career record. In 1884 he won the National Leagues pitching Triple Crown with a 1.38 earned run average,59 wins and 441 strikeouts. His 59 wins in a season is a record which is expected never to be broken because no starter has made even as many as 37 starts in a season since Greg Maddux in 1991. Also, his 678 2⁄3 innings pitched in 1884 stands at second all-time, behind only Will White and it, too, is a record that will most likely never be touched. It was made possible by the expulsion of the Grays other main pitcher. When Providence failed to win the pennant at the end of the 1883 season the franchise was on shaky financial ground, ownership brought in a new manager, Frank Bancroft, and made it plain, win the pennant or the team would be disbanded. But on July 22, Sweeney had been drinking before the start of the game, with only two men to cover the outfield, they lost the game. This left the team in a state of disarray with the view that the team should be disbanded
5.
Charlie Bennett
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Charles Wesley Bennett was an American professional baseball player from 1875 or 1876 through the 1893 season. He played 15 years in Major League Baseball, principally as a catcher, with the Milwaukee Grays, Worcester Ruby Legs, Detroit Wolverines and Boston Beaneaters. He played on four pennant-winning teams, one in Detroit and three in Boston, and is one of two players to play with the Detroit Wolverines during all eight seasons of the clubs existence. Bennett compiled a.256 batting average and a.340 on-base percentage during his league career with 549 runs scored,203 doubles,67 triples,55 home runs and 533 runs batted in. His greatest value, however, was as one of the greatest defensive players of his era, Bennetts baseball career ended in January 1894 when he lost both legs in a train accident in Kansas. In 1896, Detroits new baseball stadium was named Bennett Park in his honor, the Detroit Tigers played their home games at Bennett Park from 1896 through the 1911 season. Bennett has also credited with inventing the first chest protector. Bennett was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1854 and his father, Silas Bennett, was a native of Connecticut. His mother, Catherine Bennett, was a native of Pennsylvania, Charlie was the eighth of their 11 children. Bennett began his career in organized baseball as the catcher for the Neshannock team in the Pennsylvania League, Bennett was described while playing for the Neshannocks as a hard hitter who nearly broke the directors of the club because of the number of balls knocked into the Shenango river. While playing for Neshannock, Bennett was the catcher for Cal Hawk, at the end of the 1876 season, at age 22, Bennett signed with the Detroit Aetnas. The Aetnas were originally a baseball team, but the club signed several professional players at the end of the 1876 season to aid in a rivalry with the Cass Club of Detroit. The professional players signed by the Aetnas included three members of the Neshannock team—Bennett, George Creamer and Ned Williamson, Bennetts first appearance for the Aetnas was on September 21,1876, against the Boston Red Stockings at the Woodward Avenue grounds in Detroit. Bennett played third base in the game and, in the first inning, hit a hot one that glanced off the pitcher, some sources state that Bennett signed with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1877 and played in one game for that team. He ultimately signed a contract to play in 1877 for the Milwaukee club at a salary of $150 per month, during Bennetts first season with Milwaukee, the team was part of the League Alliance, which has been classified as a minor league. The following year, the Milwaukee club was admitted to the National League, Bennett made his major league debut on May 1,1878, and appeared in 49 games,35 as a catcher and 20 in the outfield. He compiled a.245 batting average for the Grays with 16 runs scored and 12 RBIs and his battery-mate, Sam Weaver lost 31 games that season. In 1879, after the Milwaukee club disbanded, Bennett joined the Worcester Ruby Legs, the team played in the National Association, which has been rated as having been a minor league in 1879
6.
Dan Brouthers
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Dennis Joseph Dan Brouthers was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed Big Dan for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches and weighed 207 pounds and his career slugging percentage of.519 remained the Major League record for a player with at least 4,000 at bats until Ty Cobb edged ahead of him in 1922. At the time of his retirement, he also ranked second in career triples. A dominant hitter during the prime of his career, he led the league in most offensive categories, including batting average, runs scored, runs batted in, on-base percentage and hits. He led the league in batting five times, the most by a 19th-century player. Brouthers is one of only 29 players in history to date who have appeared in Major League games in four decades. He was also an active union member, and was elected vice president of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players. Brouthers was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Veterans Committee. Born in Sylvan Lake, New York, he played organized baseball from the time that he was a child, from playing in the local sandlots to the semi-professional Actives of Wappingers Falls, New York. On July 7,1877, while running the bases, he collided at home plate with a catcher, named Johnny Quigley, Quigley was knocked unconscious, having suffered a traumatic head injury, and later died from these injuries on August 12. The 19-year-old Brouthers was cleared of any wrongdoing by the authorities, Brouthers made his Major League debut on June 23,1879, for the Troy Trojans, and contributed a single in a come-from-behind victory against the Syracuse Stars. Although he was a first baseman, he was called upon to pitch that season with the Trojans in three games, one of which was on August 21 against Tommy Bond and the Boston Red Caps. Brouthers lost 16–0, and within two weeks he was released from the club and he hit.274 that first season, with four home runs, and had 17 RBIs in 39 games played. He hit well enough in the minors to get another shot with the Trojans and he got his first chance to be an everyday player in 1881, when he was signed by the Bisons, the team that he did well against the previous year. That season he batted.319, and played with them until the team folded after the 1885 season, in his first season with the Bisons, he led the National League in home runs and slugging percentage. Brouthers, along with teammates Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson and Deacon White, in 1882 and 1883 he won his first two batting titles, posting.368 and.374 averages, respectively. On July 19,1883, Brouthers went 6-for-6 with two doubles in a 25–5 defeat of the Philadelphia Quakers. At the end of the 1885 season, Buffalo was going through financial trouble and were forced to sell off their players, so The Big Four were sold to the Detroit Wolverines of the NL for US$7,000
7.
King Kelly
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He spent the majority of his 16-season playing career with the Chicago White Stockings and the Boston Beaneaters. He is also credited with helping to popularize various strategies as a player such as the hit and run, the hook slide. In only the vote since its creation in 1939 the Old Timers Committee elected Kelly to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Also, he seems to have been the first big leaguer to successfully cut a base, and, Kelly could have been the first to foul off lots of pitches on purpose. Doing so was a top trick of some Baltimore players of the 1890s, at the turn of the century, that trick was defused when all foul balls began counting as strikes. Kellys autobiography Play Ball was published while he was with the Beaneaters in 1888, Kelly also became a vaudeville performer during his playing career, first performing in Boston where he would recite the now-famous baseball poem Casey at the Bat, sometimes butchering it. Kellys baserunning innovations are also the subject of the hit 1889 song entitled Slide, Kelly, Slide, Kelly was born in Troy, New York to Michael Kelly Sr. and his wife Catharine, both Irish immigrants. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, his father joined the Union Army, after the war, his ill father moved the family to Paterson, New Jersey. Kellys parents apparently died within five years of each other. A best guess, based on tracking Paterson city directories, is that his father died around 1871, and his mother around 1876, according to the 1870 census, a Michael Kelly of his age was working in a silk mill in Paterson as of that year. From 1875 to 1877, he played three seasons as a semi-pro, in Paterson and then other cities, in 1877, he was with the Paterson Olympics until around June 10, when he joined the Delawares of Port Jervis, N. Y. In mid-July, a Paterson paper said he had signed with a Springfield, Ohio, a few weeks later, Port Jervis had not played again when he signed with the celebrated Buckeye club of Columbus, Ohio. He made his big debut in 1878 with Cincinnati. In 1877, Kellys friend Jim McCormick was signed to play for the Columbus Buckeyes of the International Association, the year after that, Kelly signed to play for the Cincinnati Reds, then known as the Red Stockings. Although the concept would later, Mike Kelly was now a major leaguer. After playing in Cincinnati for two years as an outfielder and backup catcher, Cincinnati and Chicago White Stockings players went on a tour of California, while there, Chicago secured him for 1880, then-Chicago Secretary Albert Spalding doing the signing. Later from San Francisco, Kelly wrote Spalding, who was back in Chicago, Cincinnati had fallen on hard times by 1879 and released all their players at the end of that season to save having to pay them a last paycheck. As of 1879, Chicago was the most important city financially in the National League, Kelly was now a young, good-looking man in the big city with money in his pocket
8.
John Clarkson
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John Gibson Clarkson was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played from 1882 to 1894, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson played for the Worcester Ruby Legs, Chicago White Stockings, Boston Beaneaters, and Cleveland Spiders. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963, Clarkson compiled a career 328-178 record, placing him twelfth on the MLB list of all-time wins. Clarkson pitched over 600 innings in a season twice and won a career-high 53 games in 1885, in MLB history, only Charles Radbourn has won more games in a single season. In just five seasons from 1885 to 1889, Clarkson won 209 games, Clarkson had a wide variety of curve balls and was considered to be a calculating, scientific pitcher who carefully analyzed every hitters weaknesses. At the time Clarkson retired from the game, he was the winningest pitcher in National League history, aside from being a great pitcher, Clarkson was also a fair hitter. His 24 career home runs ranks 7th on the List of Major League Baseball all-time leaders in home runs by pitchers and he also had 232 career RBIs and 254 runs scored. Clarksons election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 was by the Veterans Committee, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson was one of five sons of a prosperous jeweler. Clakson had two brothers who were major league pitchers, Dad Clarkson and Walter Clarkson. The three Clarkson brothers rank third in wins by brothers behind the Niekro and Perry brothers, the Clarksons also had two maternal cousins, Walter Hackett and Mortimer Mert Hackett who played professional baseball. After attending business school and playing ball, Clarkson signed as a free agent with the Worcester Ruby Legs of the National League in 1882. Clarkson played his first major game at age 20 on May 2,1882. He played in three games for the Ruby Legs, finishing with a 1-2 record in 24 innings, the Worcester team folded after the 1882 season, and Clarkson pitched in the minors the following two years. Chicago manager Cap Anson saw Clarkson pitching for Saginaw in the Northwest League in 1884, on August 24,1884, the White Stockings purchased him from Saginaw. The White Stockings finished in place in 1884, but Clarkson put in a strong performance. His.769 win percentage was the second best in the league, Clarkson was known to be extremely sensitive to criticism. Shortly after his death in 1909, former Chicago player/manager Cap Anson noted that not many know what amount of encouragement it took to him going. Anson recalled, Scold him, find fault with him, and he would not pitch at all
9.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
10.
Hardy Richardson
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Abram Harding Hardy Richardson, also known as Hardie and Old True Blue, was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, playing at position, including 585 games at second base,544 games in the outfield. Richardson played for six major league teams, with his longest stretches having been for the Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, Richardson was born in 1855 at Clarksboro, which is located in the existing municipality of East Greenwich Township, New Jersey. His father, Robert D. Richardson, was a New Jersey native who worked in 1870 as a house carpenter and his mother, Naomi Richardson, was a Pennsylvania native. Richardson grew up in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, and Gloucester City, by 1870, Richardson, at age 15, was working on a farm. Richardson began playing organized baseball with semipro teams in South Jersey, in 1875, he played at third base and catcher for the Gloucester City, New Jersey club. For a portion of the 1876 season, he played with the Philadelphias, Richardson next played for the Crickets from Binghamton, New York, during the 1876 and 1877 seasons. In 1878, he played for the Utica, New York club in the International Association for Professional Base Ball Players, while playing for Utica, the New York Clipper called him the best fielding center fielder in baseball, he also won The Clipper medal for best fielding average. Richardson joined the Buffalo Bisons of the National League in 1879, as a rookie, Richardson made his major league debut on May 1,1879, and promptly became Buffalos starting third baseman. He compiled a.283 batting average, earned a 2.5 Wins Above Replacement rating and he also led the leagues third basemen in games played, double plays turned, and errors, and ranked second at the position in assists, putouts, and fielding percentage. In 1880, Richardson was again positioned at third base and he saw his batting average drop to.259 and his WAR rating drop to 1.1. He still hit for power and ranked among the leaders with eight triples and 26 extra base hits. Defensively, his performance suffered as he ranked second among the leagues third basemen with 47 errors, after a poor defensive performance in 1880, Richardson was moved to the outfield in 1881. With the move, his average jumped to.291. Showing good power, he ranked among the leaders with nine triples,53 RBIs,29 extra base hits,62 runs scored,100 hits. The move to the outfield also suited Richardson defensively and he led the leagues outfielders with 45 assists and a range factor of 2.84 and ranked third with 179 putouts. Richardsons total of 45 outfield assists was five short of Orator Shafers major league record, in 1882, and despite his solid defensive performance in the outfield, Richardson switched positions for the second time in as many years. This time, he was moved to base, where he played 83 games
11.
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
12.
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
