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Reach Guide 1877 Baseball Preview
It's a new season with a new president in America, and six top clubs prepare to contest the National League title for the 1877 season. President Rutherford B. Hayes, a strong abolitionist before the war, benefited from former President Abraham Lincoln's strong endorsement to narrowly win the popular and electoral vote in an election that was widely seen as a referendum on the Lincoln-Grant Reconstruction regime. The Democratic Party of Samuel Tilden argued that it was time to withdraw troops from the southern states, while Hayes took the position that the benchmarks set for full participation for freedmen needed to be enforced by federal troops until the state governments were able to do so on their own.
With the triumph of Hayes, it is hoped that society can begin to move forward in a way that gives all men equal civil rights. We have heard that there are men of African descent who can compete on equal footing with our best players, and while none have yet joined the ranks of professional baseball perhaps they will do so in the near future.
Meanwhile, we look ahead to the 1877 season, with our Reach Guide predictions for each of the six National League clubs.
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