The Eastern League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (1884–1887), was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

association of teams in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

. The league was founded in January 1884 when the Union League of Professional Base Ball Clubs added four teams and dissolved to reform as the Eastern League. In 1887, the first Eastern League was absorbed into the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

History

Establishment

On January 4, 1884, representatives of the Union League of Professional Base Ball Clubs met in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to discuss affairs of their organization in the coming year."Base Ball News,"
''Freeport LJournal-Standard,'' Jan. 5, 1884, pg. 2. Delegates were on hand representing ball clubs located in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, and

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

."A New Base-Ball League,"
''New York Times,'' vol. 33, whole no. 10,089 (Jan. 5, 1884), pg. 1. Observers were also present from established teams outside the league, including the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

, the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

, and the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. New clubs were admitted to the league for the coming year located in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

as well as

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

and

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, bringing the total number of teams for the Eastern League at the time of its founding to eight. A bid was made by a representative of a team located in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

, but the request for admission was declined."It Is the Eastern League,"
''Reading Times,'' Jan. 5, 1884, pg. 1. On the second day of their gathering the assembled representatives voted to change the name of their league to the Eastern League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. According to one newspaper account of the day, the decision to change the league's name was related to a desire to avoid confusion with the rival Union Association of Base Ball Clubs."The Eastern League: The Union League of Professional Ball Clubs Changes Its Name,"
''Philadelphia Times,'' Jan. 5, 1884, pg. 2. The formation of the new league effectively put an end not only to the Union League from whence it sprung, but also tolled the death knell of the short-lived Inter-State Professional Base-Ball Association, which had included teams from Allentown, Harrisburg, Reading, Trenton, and Wilmington. The Eastern League played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

according to the rules of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, with only minor modifications. Rules changes unique to the Eastern League included a provision that batters must run after receiving three strikes or seven balls. The completion of five full innings was deemed sufficient for a complete game to have been played in the event of darkness or rain. In a change from past practice, teams were also required to remove "all obnoxious persons from the grounds in the space of fifteen minutes" under penalty of forfeiture of the game. The inaugural season was to run from May 1 to October 1, 1884. Each team in the association to play a 98 game season in which every team was to play each other a total of 14 times during the year. Four regular and two substitute umpires were to be provided by the league, sufficient to handle the 8-team league's possible four daily match ups; in the event of absence of an official umpire, the visiting team was to name the replacement, subject to that individual's not being associated with the visiting club himself.

Governance

The Eastern League was to be governed by a 7-member executive, consisting of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, and a four member Board of Directors, all to be elected at the annual meeting of teams. President of the league in 1884 was W.C. Seddon of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. The Eastern League was to be governed by annual meetings to be held each year in Philadelphia on the second Wednesday of January. Annual dues were $100 per club, with $500 of this amount going to pay the salary of the league's permanent Secretary. The Eastern League was anxious to become signatories to the so-called tripartite national agreement between the National League, American Association, and the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

which governed mutual respect of player contracts and other matters. To this end, a meeting of the three signatories to the national agreement was called for May 5, 1884 to ratify the Eastern League's request."A Change in the Name,"
''Reading Times,'' vol. 52, no. 118 (Feb. 18, 1884), pg. 1. The Union Association of Base Ball Clubs stood in opposition to this agreement and was a bitter rival in the battle for organizational hegemony.

1884 teams

The following teams were slated to play in the Eastern League as of January 1884. Monumental Club of Baltimore and Quickstep Club of Wilmington ended up playing in the short-lived Union Association instead, the latter as a late-season replacement team after starting the year in the Eastern League. * Active Club — Reading, Pennsylvania * Allentown Club — Allentown, Pennsylvania * Domestic Club — Newark, New Jersey * Harrisburg Club — Harrisburg, Pennsylvania * Monumental Club — Baltimore, Maryland * Quickstep Club — Wilmington, Delaware * Trenton Club — Trenton, New Jersey * Virginia Club — Richmond, Virginia.

History

Establishment

Governance

1884 teams

Footnotes

Further reading