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The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American
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 t ...
. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effectively terminated the Knickerbocker era, during which the rules of the game were largely at the discretion of individual clubs. Besides governing the playing rules and its own organization, the Association established standards for official scoring (reporting), "match" play, a championship, amateurism, and the integrity of the contest (then known as
hippodroming In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
). Following trends in the evolution of the sport, in the 1869 season it accepted
professionalism A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
in its ranks. The last convention, held in 1871, with hundreds of members represented only via state associations, provoked the establishment of separate professional and amateur associations. The succeeding
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...
is considered the first professional sports league; through 1875 it governed professional baseball and practically set playing rules for all. Because the amateur successor never attracted many members and it convened only a few times, the NABBP is sometimes called "the amateur Association" in contrast to its professional successor.


Growth

Prior to the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
(1861–1865), the beginnings of baseball competed for public interest with
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
and regional variants of baseball, notably
town ball Town ball, townball, or Philadelphia town ball, is a bat-and-ball, safe haven game played in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, which was similar to rounders and was a precursor to modern baseball. In some areas—such as Philadelph ...
played 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. Since ...
and the
Massachusetts Game The Massachusetts Game was a type of amateur club baseball popular in 19th century New England. It was an organized and codified version of local games called "base" or "round ball", and related to Philadelphia town ball and rounders. The Massa ...
played in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. In the 1860s, aided by the War, "New York" style baseball (as often played by
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
troops passing the uneventful days of camp life between occasional skirmishes and battles) expanded through various corps, regiments, brigades, and other units into a national game. In addition, the parallel civilian NABBP, as its governing body, expanded into a true national organization, although most of the strongest clubs remained those based in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and Philadelphia. By the end of 1865, almost 100 clubs were members of the "National Association" organization. By 1867, it had over 400 members, including some clubs from as far away as the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
west coast in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and south to the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
coast in
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
. Because of this growth, regional and state organizations began to assume a more prominent role in the governance of the sport. Baseball's exploding popularity, however, was not confined to the NABBP organization, whose core lay in the vicinity of New York City; there were thousands of organized baseball clubs nationwide by 1870, the majority of which were not Association members. For example, on the eve of the Civil War there were no fewer than seven baseball teams in distant
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
, none of which belonged to the NABBP; a tabulation by historian Richard Herschberger turned up over 900 baseball clubs by 1860, in which year the Association's membership stood at 60.


Professionalism

The NABBP was initially established upon principles of
amateurism An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...
. However, even early in its history some star players, such as James Creighton of the Excelsior club of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, received compensation, either secretly or through emoluments. In 1866, the NABBP investigated the
Athletic Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...
club of
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. Since ...
for paying three players, including Lip Pike, but took no action against either the club or the players. However, as inter-club competition became more intense and clubs sought to secure the services of the best players, unofficial payments became common. To maintain the integrity of the game, at its December 1868 meeting the NABBP established a professional category for the coming 1869 season, and clubs who desired to pay players were now free to do so without sanction. Cincinnati's Red Stockings was the first to so declare and was among the most aggressive in recruiting the best available players (as a result of which they became the most dominant club of the era). Twelve clubs, including most of the strongest in the NABBP, ultimately declared themselves professional for the 1869 season. Conflict arose, however, between amateur and professional interests. Important issues included how the championship was to be decided and regulating players jumping from one team to another. As a result, after three years of this experiment, most of the leading professional clubs broke away in 1871 to found the separate
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...
(NAPBBP). The earlier NABBP continued for approximately two more years with a more diminished status before disbanding into state and regional aggregations.


Members

Contrary to the organization name, NABBP members were clubs, not individual players. Generally the clubs joined the association and retained membership by sending delegates to the annual convention, usually in the December preceding each season (the ancestor of modern
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
's so-called Winter Meetings). Membership mediated by state associations was introduced only after ten years; then dozens of clubs from a distant state could join and remain in the NABBP by organizing a state association whose delegates would participate in the national meeting. The number of clubs at the convention, and thus in the association, increased from 16 to 25 after the first year, and to 50 by spring 1859. This list gives the sixteen who convened in 1857, followed by the three later members who survived to be charter members of the new
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
of Professional Base Ball Clubs (known later simply as the "
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
") in 1876; none of the original sixteen made it into the National League. * Brooklyn:
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
(to 1870, professional), Bedford (1857), Continental (to 1863), Eckford (to 1870, professional), Excelsior (to 1870, amateur), Harmony (1857), Nassau (to 1859), Olympic (1857 and 1859), Putnam (to 1862) * Morrisania (now in
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
, New York): Union (to 1870, professional) – that is,
Union of Morrisania The Union of Morrisania (founded 17 July 1855, South Bronx, New York (state), New York, United States of America, United States) was a baseball team which played in the National Association of Base Ball Players league. History In their first s ...
* New York: Baltic (to 1863 and later?), Eagle (to 1869?), Empire (to 1869), Gotham (to 1870, amateur), Harlem (to 1869?),
Knickerbocker A Knickerbocker is a person from Manhattan (New York City, before 1898). A modern synonym is “New Yorker”. Knickerbocker or Knickerbockers may also refer to: People * Knickerbocker (surname), including a list of people with the surname, an ...
(to 1868?) --who would go down in history known as the New York Knickerbockers * Mutual (New York) (1858–1870, professional) * Athletic (Philadelphia) (1861–1870, professional) * Chicago White Stockings (1870, professional) The five named in bold continued as sometime members of the 1871–1875 National Association, (the second of two successive "National Associations") considered the first professional league. Dates refer to NABBP membership, not baseball activity or legal organization, but not all clubs retained membership annually; in particular, the Civil War curtailed membership for 1862 to 1865.
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
is one of the cities to the west across the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
from New York City. Eight Newark clubs were sometime members and two more clubs from Newark, the Empire in 1858 and the Eckford in 1870, played matches with member clubs. * Newark members, all years, ordered by first membership: Newark Base Ball Club (1860–1869) – that is, "Newark of Newark" or "Newark Newarks",
Newark Eurekas The Eureka Baseball Club of Newark or the Newark Eurekas was a baseball team in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The Eureka team was part of the National Association of Base Ball Players, NABBP in the 1850s and 1860s. The Eureka Club first bega ...
(1860–1869),
Newark Adriatics The Newark Adriatics, also known as the Adriatic Base Ball Club of Newark, was a member of the National Association of Base Ball Players before the American Civil War. The Adriatics first played another member in September 1857 and joined the NABBP ...
(1861–1862), Newark Americus (1865–1869), Newark Pioneer (1865–1867), Newark Active (1867–?), Newark Excelsior (1869), Newark Amateur (1870) The members farthest from New York in the early years were the Liberty club of
New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city in and the seat of government of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
in 1859, when the next furthest of 50 members was the United club based in
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
in 1860, when five of 59 members were from outside adjacent New Jersey and New York states, the other four being further south in Washington, D.C.,
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, and to the northeast in
New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
, and
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Six
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. Since ...
clubs joined for 1861 but the coming war curtailed the season; some of the 55 members never played a game of any kind. Then the war curtailed ''membership'' for 1862 until 1866 when some pre-war members rejoined. For 1865 there were only 30 members with not one in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and western outliers merely in Washington, Altoona in southwestern
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, ...
, and Utica in central
New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...
. But the December 1865 meeting attracted triple the membership with scattered clubs from
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...
to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. During the next three seasons, the National Association "filled" with clubs further west from St Louis and
Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
to the northeast in Boston and
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
. By 1867 there were too many delegates to handle in convention, so membership via state associations was introduced for 1868 and, perhaps for that reason, there is no reliable enumeration of the members from 1868 to 1870.


Champions

The 1857 Atlantic Club of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and the 1858 Mutual Club of New York appear to have been recognized as the best clubs of these respective seasons, but scheduling was insufficient overall between New York City and
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
clubs to establish a definitive
champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...
. In 1859, though, Atlantic did emerge as decisive champions of
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 t ...
with an overall record of 11 wins and 1 loss and series victories over both
Eckford of Brooklyn Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs cal ...
and Mutual. Thereafter, a formalized challenge system developed whereby the championship, symbolized by a "pennant", would change hands upon the defeat of the existing champion in a two out of three series. Such "series" could actually occur over several weeks or months, with games against other clubs played in between, so the format does not closely resemble the modern
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
in determining baseball's champion. But a series was limited to a season; one win in one or two games did not carry over to next spring. Without a regular schedule of games, neither the number of wins nor winning percentage necessarily indicates team strength, much less identifies the best team or a credible champion. A challenge format makes sense for that purpose, and it fits the convention whereby contestants meet on the field with money or a trophy at stake. A trophy base ball, provided by the home club and used in the game, was commonly at stake; the pennant provided by the Association was a second trophy at stake in some games. Unfortunately, the strongest team in a given year did not always have an opportunity to play for the championship, as the strongest boxer or chess player may annually have an opportunity in the challenge formats that developed in those sports. Indeed, in several NABBP seasons it appears that the strongest team never played a series for the championship, including at least
Athletic of Philadelphia Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...
in 1868 and the
Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...
in 1869. The latter were undefeated, with victories over all of the leading clubs (including ultimate 1868 and 1869 champions Mutual and Atlantic), but they never faced a reigning champion in a deciding game, partly because in scheduling tours of continental scope they practically opted out. Decisive games were also marred by disputes. In 1860, reigning champion Atlantic of Brooklyn and challenger Excelsior of Brooklyn split their first two games. In the third, Excelsior was leading, 8–6, and had men on base, but chose to withdraw because of rowdy behavior by Atlantic partisans and gamblers. The game was declared a draw, and the championship retained by Atlantic. In 1870, Mutual of New York was leading, 13–12, in the deciding game of its series with the Chicago White Stockings when Mutual left the field in protest. Officials decided to revert the score to the end of the last completed inning and awarded the game, and thus the championship, to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. The Mutual club declared itself champion. ''End of Year Champions'' * 1859 Atlantic of Brooklyn *
1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts ...
Atlantic of Brooklyn * 1861 Atlantic of Brooklyn *
1862 Events January–March * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – French intervention in Mexico: French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico. * January ...
Eckford of Brooklyn Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs cal ...
*
1863 Events January–March * January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaim ...
Eckford of Brooklyn Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs cal ...
*
1864 Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster (" Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song ...
Atlantic of Brooklyn *
1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Second Battle of Fort Fisher ...
Atlantic of Brooklyn * 1866 Atlantic of Brooklyn * 1867
Union of Morrisania The Union of Morrisania (founded 17 July 1855, South Bronx, New York (state), New York, United States of America, United States) was a baseball team which played in the National Association of Base Ball Players league. History In their first s ...
* 1868
Mutual of New York The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (also known as Mutual of New York or MONY) was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wh ...
* 1869 Atlantic of Brooklyn *
1870 Events January–March * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Br ...
Chicago White Stockings


Teams with most wins

The won–lost–tied records compiled by Marshall Wright (2000) are not consistently limited to matches between NABBP members. *
1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Jan ...
Atlantic (Brooklyn, New York) 7–1–1 * 1858 Mutual (New York) 11–1 *1859 Excelsior (Brooklyn, New York) 12–3 *1860 Excelsior (Brooklyn, New York) 18–2–1 *1861 Mutual (New York) 8–2 *1862 Eckford (Brooklyn, New York) 14–2 *1863 Eckford (Brooklyn, New York) 10–0 *1864 Atlantic (Brooklyn, New York) 20–0–1 *1865 Atlantic (Brooklyn, New York) 18–0 *1866 Union (Morrisania, New York) 25–3 *1867 Athletic (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 44–3 *1868 Athletic (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 47–3 *1869 Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio) 57–0 *1870 Mutual (New York) 68–17–3


Legacy

The
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
, who played their first season in the NABBP in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings, is the only surviving team from the old NABBP. The current
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
claim the
Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...
lineage as baseball's first fully professional team; however, the modern Reds didn't start play (in the old
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 ...
) until 1882, twelve years after the old Red Stockings folded. Much of the
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
team, including their ownership, started a new team in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1871 that became the old
Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...
. The Braves joined the National League in 1876, became the
Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...
in 1953, and finally the
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...
in 1966; in this way, the Braves also claim to be descendants of the Red Stockings. Another team that claims lineage from the NABBP is 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 F ...
, currently a
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
("Triple A") baseball squad that counts the Niagara club as a predecessor. Like the Cincinnati situation, however, the Bisons have not operated continuously: the original Bisons moved to
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
midway through the 1970 season, and the Queen City had no baseball until the Jersey City A's moved to town in 1979 and assumed the Bisons identity.


Notes


References

* Block, David (2005). ''Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game''. University of Nebraska Press. * Goldstein, Warren (1991). ''Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball''. Cornell University Press. * Seymour, Harold (1960). ''Baseball: The Early Years''. Oxford University Press. * Wright, Marshall D. (2000). ''The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857–1870''. McFarland & Company. {{Professional Baseball 1857 establishments in the United States Defunct major baseball leagues in the United States Sports organizations established in 1857