National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully-professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season. It succeeded and incorporated several professional clubs from the previous National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) of 1857–1870, sometimes called "the amateur Association". In turn, several NA clubs created the succeeding National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which joined with the American League of Professional Base Ball Clubs to form Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1903.
Lip Pike
National Association of Base Ball Players
The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball.
First game of the 1865 base ball championship series between Atlantic and Mutual clubs, played at the famed Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey just across the Hudson from the crowded streets of New York City (Currier & Ives lithograph).