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Last time, we took a look at the very early beginnings of the game of baseball and the development of the first professional teams. The first all-pro league, the National League, was also formed, setting the stage for conflict never before seen in the game of baseball. Up now is the continuation of this four-part series on baseball history, as conflict between the new leagues begins.
Part II: The Baseball Wars Begin
Turmoil ruled the National League in its first years of existence. Many clubs lost money, there was high turnover amongst the teams, and there were complaints by players that they were treated unfairly. Perhaps the most important thing, however, was the turnover. Twenty-one different teams played in the National League between 1876 and 1900, with teams regularly being expelled if they did not produce financially or if they broke league rules. There was increasing pressure from outside teams and growing leagues across the eastern seaboard and the central United States, and it looked as though the newest professional league might meet the same fate as the National Association.
As time went on, however, the League began to stabilize and make money each season. The National League's success inspired other professional and semi-professional teams. It is estimated that nearly fifty professional teams not affiliated with the National League were playing in 1877, and there was regular success against their League counterparts. In fact, many of the non-League teams were just as good, if not better, than their opponents in the National league. It didn't take long for some of these unaligned clubs to form a league of their own in order to compete on a professional level with the National League.
The first real challenge to the supremacy of the National League came from an organiation that was formed in late 1881, the American Association. The Association formed of eight professional teams, some in cities that already had National League clubs like New York and Philadelphia, some in cities where the League nad no influence. Within a short time of the Association's formation, conflict began with the National league. Players wanting to switch to the Association were barred from doing so by a rule that had been written into the Natioal league's constitution, the Reserve Clause. Simply stated, the Reserve Clause allowed a club to keep the rights to a player for the following season once the player signed a contract with that club. This meant that, year after year, the team could keep renewing the contract and all but force the player to remain with the club. Players who wanted to jump to the Association were barred from doing so under threat of litigation. Numerous meetings were held by the Association and by the League to discuss what would be done with the so-called "jumpers." Eventually, the Association and the League entered an agreement in which they would both honor the reserve rule and not sign players from the opposing league if they wanted to jump ship, thereby binding each player to the league in which he was first signed.
For a while, there was peace. Shortly thereafter, however, entire teams began switching leagues. The first were Detroit and Kansas City of the National League, who sought to be accepted into the American Association in 1886. In 1889, Brooklyn and Cincinnati of the Association hoped to be admitted to the National League. This created more friction, and it looked as though all-out war might soon erupt between the rival leagues. League-switching, however, was only a small matter in the conflict that was brewing. Soon, an even larger problem erupted throughout both leagues that threatened to tear the national game apart.
In 1885, a new association was formed in order to protect the interests of the players at large, as it looked like neither the League or the Associated were interested in such things. The association became known as the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, and it went public in 1886. Nearly every professional team had a chapter, and players were beginning to join in large numbers. The Brotherhood soon grew strong enough to begin attempts at new contract negotiation for its members and all baseball players at large, but neither the League or the Association had any intentions of hearing the demands of the Brotherhood's representatives.
With membership growing, the leaders of the Brotherhood formulated a grand scheme: rebel from the two other leagues and form a professional association of their own. It was to be one based on capitalism, not the power of solitary magnates over every player on a club. All earnings were going to be split evenly among all the clubs, with bonuses for teams finishing in first, second, thirdt, and fourth places. Gate reciepts were pooled and divided, and any extra money went to the individual clubs that collected it. Reports began surfacing that the Brotherhood was actually secretly supported by the National League in an attempt to underhandedly destroy the American Association, but those reports were quickly denied by League officials.
It was November of 1889 that the Brotherhood officially formed into its own league, the Players' National League of Base Ball Clubs. There were numerous players that tried to switch to the Players' League, but they were halted with threats of litigation. Still, the Brotherhood scrounged up enough players to play a full season in 1890. Unfortunately for them, gate reciepts were not as high as hoped, and the league quickly lost money. Soon, talk began of an amalgamation of the Players' League and the American Association. By November of 1890, a peace had been assured between the Players' League, the National league, and the American Association. Under the peace, the New York, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh teams of the Players' League would consolidate with the Association or League teams in those cities, and the Chicago franchise became willing to sell out in order to join the ranks of one of the two leagues. The Players' League was dead after only one year of operation, a peace treaty had been signed, and what could be called the first professional players' strike in American sports history was over.
Still, there was the matter of the American Association. Once the Players' League disbanded, old arguments between the Association and the League flared up, and a second war began. After nearly two years of bitter competition between the leagues that resulted in a good deal of lost money and lowered fan interest, the two sides met in New York and a monumental truce, called the National Agreement of 1892, was signed. Under the agreement, which actually benefited the National League much more, the League and the Associaiton would amalgamate into one twelve-club league. Three Associaiton clubs combined with League clubs, and the remaining five Association teams were bought out by the League for approximately $130,000 each. Once again, the National League had a monopoly over professional baseball in the United States, and it stayed that way for nearly a decade. At the turn of the century, however, the League would face its greatest challenge in the form of a new professional league, one that proved to be just as strong as the National League itself, and war was once again revived.
Stay tuned for Part III of this series: "The American League and the World Series"
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