Baseball: The Professionals
Take Over (1869-1875)
The National Association of Base Ball Players had a strict rule against professionalism. This was, at least in part, an attempt to keep baseball a game for well-to-do, professional young men like the original Knickerbockers. But, paradoxically, the NABBP also allowed teams to charge for admission, which was an unintended invitation to professionalism.
Although no one took advantage of it for a while, the potential of baseball as a commercial sport was demonstrated in 1858, when a New York all-star team and a Brooklyn all-star team played a three-game series at the Fashion Race Course. About 1,500 fans bought 50-cent tickets to each of the games.
With teams bringing in money at the gate, sharing some of that money with players could be only a short step away.
The first professional baseball player was probably James Creighton, who was also the first real pitcher, in the modern sense of the word. Until 1884, the pitcher was required to toss the ball underhanded, with a stiff arm; no snapping of the wrist or elbow was allowed. In effect, he was supposed to let the batter hit the ball.
Creighton managed to get tremendous speed on his pitches. When he realized that hitters could learn to time the pitch if the speed didn't vary, he worked a change-of-pace into his repertoire.
After starring for the Brooklyn Niagaras in 1859, at the age of eighteen, Creighton was reportedly paid a lump sum by the Excelsiors, another Brooklyn team, to join them in 1860. He led them to victories in every game on tours through upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware.
Many other players were undoubtedly paid in one way or another during the next several years. For example, players for the New York Mutuals, controlled by "Boss" Tweed of Tammany Hall, were put on the city's payroll, though it's doubtful any of them did anything but play baseball for their money.
Throughout the 1860s, "revolving" was a problem: Since lump-sum payments were the norm, a player could collect his money up front from one team and shortly afterward go on to another team for another payment. Because the NABBP had a rule against professionalism, it couldn't regulate the practice. Teams were reluctant to bring charges when someone reneged on his deal, since they didn't want to admit they were paying players.
Gambling was another major problem. The Troy, New York, Haymakers were infamous for fixing games. Controlled by John C. Morrissey, a former bare-knuckle boxing champion who had established a major gambling house at Saratoga, the Haymakers won when Morrissey bet on them and lost when he bet against them.
Late in 1865, it was revealed that three members of the New York Mutuals had conspired to lose a game to the Brooklyn Eckfords. One of them, shortstop Thomas Devyr, continued to play because the Mutuals didn't want to lose him. The other two players were banned but they had both been reinstated by 1870.
Newspapers, of course, unanimously attacked the effects of gambling on baseball, but professionalism wasn't so widely opposed. In fact, some of those who assailed gambling felt that open professionalism would nullify its influence, since players wouldn't be tempted to accept bribes if they could make an honest living on the field. And the New York Clipper, which had pioneered baseball coverage, suggested that open professionalism would improve the game by allowing players to concentrate on their skills.
The NABBP in 1868 established two classes of membership, for amateurs and for professionals. The following year, the Cincinnati Red Stockings suddenly appeared as the first openly all-professional baseball team, under the leadership of Harry Wright. Only one starter was from Cincinnati; most of the others were imported from New York. Salaries ranged from $600 for each of the four substitutes to $1,400 for shortstop George Wright, Harry's younger brother.
The Red Stockings toured the East, then went to the West Coast for a few games. They didn't lose in 1869, winning 56 games with one tie. They won another 27 straight in 1870 before losing 8-7 to the Brooklyn Atlantics in eleven innings. That was the last season for the Red Stockings in Cincinnati, where backers wanted to cut salaries.
It was also the last year for the NABBP. With professional and amateur members arguing bitterly, the 1870 convention adjourned without setting a date for another meeting.
In March of 1871, ten clubs founded the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP). One of them was the Red Stockings, now representing Boston; Harry Wright was still the manager and many of the same players were on the squad.
The NAPBBP was loosely organized. Teams paid a $10 fee to enter the championship race, but there was no formal schedule. The by-laws required each team to play five games against each other team in the association, with the championship going to the club with the most victories.
The Red Stockings and the Philadelphia Athletics both won 22 games in the association's first season, but Philadelphia had a better winning percentage and was awarded the championship. However, Boston won the next four pennants with relative ease, culminating with a 71-8 record in 1875.
Boston's dominance was a problem for other teams. Gambling and "revolving" were also problems, as they had been for the amateur association.
During the NAPBBP's five years of operation, twenty-five different teams belonged to the association at one time or another. Only three of them competed each season. A team that was far out of the pennant race often avoided having to pay travel expenses by simply not playing out its schedule. In 1874, only the Red Stockings played a full schedule; the following season, there were thirteen teams in the association at the beginning of the season, but only seven remained when it was over.
William A. Hulbert, the president of the Chicago White Stockings, felt that baseball had to be run more like a business. He also wanted to make his team the best in the business. Those two goals led to the end of the NAPBBP and the birth of the National League.
"Invention" and Growth (1845-1869)