[tm1681]

THE AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE

With ten clubs ready to go pro, it was now time to figure out what the United States' first professional baseball league - the APBL - would look like. It was quickly decided that the schedule would be like the NBBO schedule in that each team would play every other team ten times. This would make for a 90-game schedule. Also, since there were only ten teams in a single competition, record alone would determine a champion and there would be no playoffs. As in the NBBO, in the case of two (or more) teams tying for 1st only then would there be a playoff, and it would only be one game.

Discussions on rosters and pay became a bit more involved. Continuing with senior-level rosters of 20 wasn't much of an issue, but club executives wanted ways to keep their reserve players sharp. The NBBO allowed clubs to have a dozen players as "reserves", but the ABPL raised that limit to a full 22 so clubs could sign young players and give them the development time that they needed before joining the professional team.

On the issue of pay, at the end of a day of discussion it was agreed that, during the season, players should be paid at least as much as manual laborers were typically given at the time: about $10 a week. Adding three weeks of preseason training to the 90-game schedule meant a 21-week schedule, so the minimum pay for the 1870 season was set at $210. From there, clubs could pay their players whatever they wished, with the only stipulation that it all had to be legitimate and above-board now.

Finally, the issue of freedom of player/staff movement had to be resolved. First, club owners and executives agreed that the amount of time players had spent playing in the NBBO wouldn't count because this was a brand-new league with different standards. Second, it was decided that each player could sign for whoever they wanted after playing in the APBL for four years, just like the length of most apprenticeships. This meant that none of the players starting out in the APBL would have their "Freedom of Agency" until after the 1874 season, but at the same time players were told, in writing, that they could receive contracts up to four years in length based on the quality of their play.

The newly professional clubs also decided, on a bit of a whim, to do something that they thought would help market their teams: adding formal nicknames. The clubs already had informal nicknames given to them by fans or local journalists, so they were merely taking the monikers and making them official. Thus, all ten APBL teams were rebranded...








Along with the new names came new ticket prices. Instead of charging a nickel for amateur games, the clubs figured that fans would be willing to pay a dime to go see professionals that would presumably play the game at a higher standard. Those who wanted to go see the reserves play would get in for free.

All that was left was to see how the NBBO would respond.