The birth of professional baseball

Biggio509 · 01-10-2012, 08:37 PM

The year was 1871. The country was rebounding from the bloodiest war it had yet been involved with. The nation began to turn its eyes to leisure again. After teams were discovered to have been paying players, the baseball governing body decided to allow a category for professional teams. This lead to a few enterprising teams to start the first professional league. Entry was open to any team who could pay the $50 entry fee. The first year saw 9 teams join. Boston would be the dominate team this year winning 22 of 31 games and taking the first title.
The league would post an ERA of 3.04 a batting average of .286.
Standing out that year was Ben Hall of the Chicago White Stockings
who would win the hitting title with a .397 avg. John Curry of the Troy Haymakers would be named pitcher of the year.

Despite placing second with a record of 19-9, Chicago would have to withdraw from the league for the 1872 season due to the great fire of Chicago. The first signs of instability of the league would show as the Rock Forest Citys and Fort Wayne Kekoingas folded due to financial trouble.
Final Standings 1871
Boston Red Stockings 22-9
Chicago White Stockings 19-9
Troy Haymakers 16-13
Rockford Forest Citys 15-10
Athletic of Philadelphia 14-14
Cleveland Forest Citys 14-15
Mutal of New York 12-21
Fort Wayne Kekiongas 10-9
Washington Olympics 5-27
Note winner determined by number of games won not winning percentage.

Biggio509 · 01-10-2012, 10:29 PM

1872 would start of curse of Washington teams. Washington DC would field two teams the Nationals and Olympics both would fold before the fourth of July. The league would make up for the losses in teams and expand to 11 adding two teams in Brooklyn, Middletown, Baltimore, and a new Washington team. Mutual of New York would be the dominant team in the league this year winning 43 of 56.
Final Standings
Mutual of New York 43-13
Boston Red Stockings 30-18
Lord Baltimore 24-34
Athletic of Philadelphia 22-25
Cleveland Forest Citys 17-5
Middletown Mansfields 14-10
Washington Olympic 7-4
Brooklyn Atlantic 6-31
Brooklyn Eckford 6-23
Washington Nationals 2-7

The financial instability that would lead to the National League was showing again. Cleveland would fold after signing too many good players and not having the ticket sales to pay the salaries. Both Washington teams folded early. Eckford would last the season signing players from the folded teams and then fold in the offseason along with Middletown.

Athletic's Nathan Kodiak Kelly would take the NA batting title with a .428 average and also capture Rookie of the year.
Mutual's Rod Basile would be the top pitcher in the league with a 29-10 record.

Lg. ERA 8.19 Lg. Avg. .299

Biggio509 · 01-10-2012, 10:38 PM

Here are the BB cards

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 09:55 AM

1873 would continue the theme of financial instability in the league. After losing 6 teams in 1872 4 would be added to contract the league to 9 teams. Washington would try to have a successful team along with Elizabeth and new teams in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Half of these teams would not play a full season. Boston would claim the most wins this year.
Final Standings
Boston Red Stockings 34-26
Athletic of Philadelphia 30-22
Mutual of New York 28-25
Philadelphia White Stockings 25-28
Brooklyn Atlantics 24-31
Baltimore Canaries 22-35
Washington Blue Legs 18-21
Elizabeth Resolute 15-8
Baltimore Marylands 3-3
League ERA 2.18 Lg Avg. .283

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 10:19 AM

In 1873 Mutual's Rod Basille would win his second outstanding pitcher award while Boston's Ben Hall would win his second outstanding hitter award. John Mull of the Brooklyn Atlantics would win Rookie of the Year.

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 10:35 AM

The final quarter of 1873 saw the beginning of a deep recession which would last for 6 years. 1874 was a reflection of that in the national league. Having gone from a high of 11 teams in 1872, 1874 saw eight teams compete. Chicago returned to major league baseball and a new team arose in Hartford. The hard economic times would take Lord Baltimore as a victim with Baltimore playing its last season in the NA.
Final standings
Athletic 36-19
Lord Baltimore 35-12
Philadelphia White Stockings 33-25
Mutual of New York 32-33
Chicago White Stockings 27-32
Boston Red Stockings 27-34
Hartford Dark Blues 24-29
Brooklyn Atlantics 18-38
Lg. ERA 1.82 Lg. Avg. .265

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 10:51 AM

Mutual players Lott and Bryant would win the outstanding hitter and pitcher awards while Chicago's Rearden Peggram would capture the ROY.

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 11:40 AM

1875 would a wild year but the last for the National Association. Despite the recession being in full swing, many prospective owners believed there would be money in entertainment. League applications soared to a high of 13 teams. The market would not support this many teams in this downturn. Another attempt at a Washington team and the Saint Louis Red Stockings would play their last games on July 4. Many teams would lose money and the argument would be that the 10 and 60 St. Louis Brown Stockings meant there were not enough players to support over 8 teams which had worked in 1874. The NA would disband at the end of the season. A league would be formed from 6 of its remaining members, the National League.
Final Standings
Hartford Dark Blues 58-28
Boston Red Stockings 47-35
Chicago White Stockings 46-23
Philadelphia White Stockings 45-25
Mutual of New York 45-26
Athletic 31-46
Brooklyn Atlantic 19-25
New Haven Elm Citys 16-31
Washington Nations 13-15
St. Louis Brown Stockings 10-60
St. Louis Red Stockings 7-12
Keokuk Westerns 4-9
Philadelphia Centennials 4-10

Lg. ERA 1.77 Lg. Avg. .261

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 11:44 AM

NA Records

Biggio509 · 01-11-2012, 01:14 PM

Awards for 1875. Basille would get his third outstanding pitcher award.

Biggio509 · 01-12-2012, 11:32 AM

Basball would move in a new direction in 1876.After the instability of teams in the NA, a new league would be formed the National League. The beginnings of the reserve clause would be in place in that during the season no team could sign a player on another team's roster. The new league would have demonstrate financial stability and put minimums on population of the city the team represented. After the competition in Philadelphia starting with the White Stockings then the Centennials the league would give exclusive territorial rights of 5 miles.

Despite all of this the hard economic times would again take its toll on baseball both Mutual or New York and Athletic of Philadelphia would be expelled from the league for refusing to travel West. The original 6 teams from the NA and the two 2 NL teams would be reduced to 6 teams for the next season.
Final Standings
Hartford Dark Blues 45-24
Chicago White Stockings 39-27
Mutual New York 35-22
Athletic 35-25
Boston 35-35
Louisville 33-36
St. Louis 21-43
Cincinnati 17-48

Biggio509 · 01-12-2012, 11:40 AM

For 1876
ROY Tommy Bush
Outstanding Hitter Hartford's Ben Hall
Outstanding Pitcher Hartford's Dave James

Biggio509 · 01-12-2012, 01:56 PM

The 1877 season would be forever known for the scandal that rocked the baseball world. 4 Louisville Grays players were implicated in throwing games. Pitcher Steve Scarface Larson, 3B Kurt Downing, CF Matt Bennet, and 2B Joeseph Foulsham would be banned from baseball for life. The scandal would cause Louisville to fold as well as St. Louis who signed Larson. Hartford would move to Brooklyn to try to help their financial situation then fold after the season.

Chicago White Stockings 42-18
Brooklyn Hartfords 36-24
Cincinnati Red Stockings 28-30
Boston Red Stockings 26-35
Louisville 25-36
St. Louis 23-47

Biggio509 · 01-12-2012, 02:09 PM

awards 1877

Biggio509 · 01-12-2012, 02:21 PM

Despite being in the 5th year of a 6 year depression, the NL had no problem replacing lost teams. The waiting list for a spot in the NL was still very long. 1878 would see new clubs in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Providence.
Final Standings
Chicago White Stockings 36-25
Providence Grays 33-29
Milwaukee Grays 30-31
Cincinnati Reds 30-31
Indianapolis Blues 30-33
Boston Red Stockings 25-35

At the end of the season the reserve clause is born. Teams would circulate a list of 5 players whom other teams could not sign for the 1879 season.

01-10-2012, 08:37 PM	#1
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	The birth of professional baseball The year was 1871. The country was rebounding from the bloodiest war it had yet been involved with. The nation began to turn its eyes to leisure again. After teams were discovered to have been paying players, the baseball governing body decided to allow a category for professional teams. This lead to a few enterprising teams to start the first professional league. Entry was open to any team who could pay the $50 entry fee. The first year saw 9 teams join. Boston would be the dominate team this year winning 22 of 31 games and taking the first title. The league would post an ERA of 3.04 a batting average of .286. Standing out that year was Ben Hall of the Chicago White Stockings who would win the hitting title with a .397 avg. John Curry of the Troy Haymakers would be named pitcher of the year. Despite placing second with a record of 19-9, Chicago would have to withdraw from the league for the 1872 season due to the great fire of Chicago. The first signs of instability of the league would show as the Rock Forest Citys and Fort Wayne Kekoingas folded due to financial trouble. Final Standings 1871 Boston Red Stockings 22-9 Chicago White Stockings 19-9 Troy Haymakers 16-13 Rockford Forest Citys 15-10 Athletic of Philadelphia 14-14 Cleveland Forest Citys 14-15 Mutal of New York 12-21 Fort Wayne Kekiongas 10-9 Washington Olympics 5-27 Note winner determined by number of games won not winning percentage. Attached Images Last edited by Biggio509; 01-11-2012 at 09:36 AM.

01-10-2012, 10:29 PM	#2
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	1872 would start of curse of Washington teams. Washington DC would field two teams the Nationals and Olympics both would fold before the fourth of July. The league would make up for the losses in teams and expand to 11 adding two teams in Brooklyn, Middletown, Baltimore, and a new Washington team. Mutual of New York would be the dominant team in the league this year winning 43 of 56. Final Standings Mutual of New York 43-13 Boston Red Stockings 30-18 Lord Baltimore 24-34 Athletic of Philadelphia 22-25 Cleveland Forest Citys 17-5 Middletown Mansfields 14-10 Washington Olympic 7-4 Brooklyn Atlantic 6-31 Brooklyn Eckford 6-23 Washington Nationals 2-7 The financial instability that would lead to the National League was showing again. Cleveland would fold after signing too many good players and not having the ticket sales to pay the salaries. Both Washington teams folded early. Eckford would last the season signing players from the folded teams and then fold in the offseason along with Middletown. Athletic's Nathan Kodiak Kelly would take the NA batting title with a .428 average and also capture Rookie of the year. Mutual's Rod Basile would be the top pitcher in the league with a 29-10 record. Lg. ERA 8.19 Lg. Avg. .299 Last edited by Biggio509; 01-11-2012 at 09:56 AM.

01-10-2012, 10:38 PM	#3
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	Here are the BB cards Attached Images

01-11-2012, 10:19 AM	#5
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	In 1873 Mutual's Rod Basille would win his second outstanding pitcher award while Boston's Ben Hall would win his second outstanding hitter award. John Mull of the Brooklyn Atlantics would win Rookie of the Year. Attached Images Last edited by Biggio509; 01-11-2012 at 10:21 AM.

01-11-2012, 10:51 AM	#7
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	Mutual players Lott and Bryant would win the outstanding hitter and pitcher awards while Chicago's Rearden Peggram would capture the ROY. Attached Images

01-11-2012, 09:55 AM	#4
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	1873 would continue the theme of financial instability in the league. After losing 6 teams in 1872 4 would be added to contract the league to 9 teams. Washington would try to have a successful team along with Elizabeth and new teams in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Half of these teams would not play a full season. Boston would claim the most wins this year. Final Standings Boston Red Stockings 34-26 Athletic of Philadelphia 30-22 Mutual of New York 28-25 Philadelphia White Stockings 25-28 Brooklyn Atlantics 24-31 Baltimore Canaries 22-35 Washington Blue Legs 18-21 Elizabeth Resolute 15-8 Baltimore Marylands 3-3 League ERA 2.18 Lg Avg. .283

01-11-2012, 10:35 AM	#6
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	The final quarter of 1873 saw the beginning of a deep recession which would last for 6 years. 1874 was a reflection of that in the national league. Having gone from a high of 11 teams in 1872, 1874 saw eight teams compete. Chicago returned to major league baseball and a new team arose in Hartford. The hard economic times would take Lord Baltimore as a victim with Baltimore playing its last season in the NA. Final standings Athletic 36-19 Lord Baltimore 35-12 Philadelphia White Stockings 33-25 Mutual of New York 32-33 Chicago White Stockings 27-32 Boston Red Stockings 27-34 Hartford Dark Blues 24-29 Brooklyn Atlantics 18-38 Lg. ERA 1.82 Lg. Avg. .265

01-11-2012, 11:40 AM	#8
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	1875 would a wild year but the last for the National Association. Despite the recession being in full swing, many prospective owners believed there would be money in entertainment. League applications soared to a high of 13 teams. The market would not support this many teams in this downturn. Another attempt at a Washington team and the Saint Louis Red Stockings would play their last games on July 4. Many teams would lose money and the argument would be that the 10 and 60 St. Louis Brown Stockings meant there were not enough players to support over 8 teams which had worked in 1874. The NA would disband at the end of the season. A league would be formed from 6 of its remaining members, the National League. Final Standings Hartford Dark Blues 58-28 Boston Red Stockings 47-35 Chicago White Stockings 46-23 Philadelphia White Stockings 45-25 Mutual of New York 45-26 Athletic 31-46 Brooklyn Atlantic 19-25 New Haven Elm Citys 16-31 Washington Nations 13-15 St. Louis Brown Stockings 10-60 St. Louis Red Stockings 7-12 Keokuk Westerns 4-9 Philadelphia Centennials 4-10 Lg. ERA 1.77 Lg. Avg. .261

01-11-2012, 11:44 AM	#9
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	NA Records Attached Images

01-11-2012, 01:14 PM	#10
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	Awards for 1875. Basille would get his third outstanding pitcher award. Attached Images

01-12-2012, 11:32 AM	#11
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	Basball would move in a new direction in 1876.After the instability of teams in the NA, a new league would be formed the National League. The beginnings of the reserve clause would be in place in that during the season no team could sign a player on another team's roster. The new league would have demonstrate financial stability and put minimums on population of the city the team represented. After the competition in Philadelphia starting with the White Stockings then the Centennials the league would give exclusive territorial rights of 5 miles. Despite all of this the hard economic times would again take its toll on baseball both Mutual or New York and Athletic of Philadelphia would be expelled from the league for refusing to travel West. The original 6 teams from the NA and the two 2 NL teams would be reduced to 6 teams for the next season. Final Standings Hartford Dark Blues 45-24 Chicago White Stockings 39-27 Mutual New York 35-22 Athletic 35-25 Boston 35-35 Louisville 33-36 St. Louis 21-43 Cincinnati 17-48

01-12-2012, 11:40 AM	#12
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	For 1876 ROY Tommy Bush Outstanding Hitter Hartford's Ben Hall Outstanding Pitcher Hartford's Dave James Attached Images

01-12-2012, 01:56 PM	#13
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	The 1877 season would be forever known for the scandal that rocked the baseball world. 4 Louisville Grays players were implicated in throwing games. Pitcher Steve Scarface Larson, 3B Kurt Downing, CF Matt Bennet, and 2B Joeseph Foulsham would be banned from baseball for life. The scandal would cause Louisville to fold as well as St. Louis who signed Larson. Hartford would move to Brooklyn to try to help their financial situation then fold after the season. Chicago White Stockings 42-18 Brooklyn Hartfords 36-24 Cincinnati Red Stockings 28-30 Boston Red Stockings 26-35 Louisville 25-36 St. Louis 23-47

01-12-2012, 02:09 PM	#14
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	awards 1877 Attached Images

01-12-2012, 02:21 PM	#15
Biggio509 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,027	Despite being in the 5th year of a 6 year depression, the NL had no problem replacing lost teams. The waiting list for a spot in the NL was still very long. 1878 would see new clubs in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Providence. Final Standings Chicago White Stockings 36-25 Providence Grays 33-29 Milwaukee Grays 30-31 Cincinnati Reds 30-31 Indianapolis Blues 30-33 Boston Red Stockings 25-35 At the end of the season the reserve clause is born. Teams would circulate a list of 5 players whom other teams could not sign for the 1879 season. Last edited by Biggio509; 01-12-2012 at 02:41 PM.