The International Association of Professional Base Ball Players was the name for two separate Canadian-American baseball leagues that operated from 1877 through 1880 and also from 1888 until 1890. Some baseball historians consider the International Association the first minor league; others point out that the league was conceived as a rival to the National League, now thought of as the sole major league of the era.
In 1877, the International Association featured teams based in:
The Association's by-laws and constitution required member teams to pay $10 to join the league (plus an additional $15 to compete for the championship) and fan admission was set at 25 cents. Visiting teams were guaranteed $75, plus half of the gate receipts when they exceeded that amount ($75).
Pitcher Candy Cummings was the first president of the International Association, while also a player for the Lynn Live Oaks of Massachusetts in 1877.
Jimmy Williams of Columbus served as the league's first Secretary.
London's star pitcher, Fred Goldsmith had a 14-4 record in 193 innings pitched with 3 shutouts, during International Association play in 1877.
In 1878, the league lost two teams - Guelph and Columbus - however, it added the Binghamton Crickets, Hornellsville Hornells and Syracuse Stars. The cities of Buffalo, New York, Hartford, Connecticut, Lowell, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts, New Haven, Connecticut, Springfield, Massachusetts and Worcester, Massachusetts also had representatives. [2] Buffalo finished in first place.
In 1878 Bud Fowler, pitching for the Lynn, Massachusetts, club, became the first known African-American player in organized baseball.
The Buffalo Bisons, winners of the 1878 pennant, and the Syracuse Stars seriously hurt the International Association's chances at major league status when they joined the rival National League for the 1879 season. At the same time the London Tecumsehs dropped out of the league, causing it to be renamed the National Association for the 1879 season. Under that name it played through the 1880 season before dissolving.
The following teams played in the next incarnation of the league, which existed from 1888 until 1890: Albany Governors (1890), Buffalo Bisons (1888–90), Detroit Wolverines (1889–90), Hamilton Mountaineers (1888, 1890), Hamilton Hams (1889), London Tecumsehs (1888–90), Montreal Canadiens (1890), Grand Rapids Shamrocks (1890), Rochester Jingoes (1888–89), Saginaw-Bay City Hyphens (1890), Syracuse Stars (1888–89), Toledo Black Pirates (1889), Toronto Canucks (1888–90) and Troy Trojans (1888). In 1888, Syracuse finished in first place. Detroit finished in first place in 1889 and 1890.
In 1888, outfielder Patsy Donovan of the Tecumsehs led the league in batting with a batting average of either .359 (according to the Donovan family web site) or .398 (according to the London Tecumsehs' official scorer C. J. Moorehead in a 1903 copy of The London Advertiser), had 201 hits, scored 103 runs and stole 80 bases. His second season with the Tecumsehs was less successful due to a leg injury. Donovan went on to an outstanding career in Major League Baseball, even playing a significant role in scouting Babe Ruth.
The following is a list of United States Major League Baseball teams that played in the National League during the 19th century. None of these teams, other than Athletic and Mutual, had actual names during this period; sportswriters however often applied creative monickers which are still, mistakenly, used today as "team names" following a convention established in 1951.
Labatt Memorial Park is a baseball stadium near the forks of the Thames River in central London, Ontario, Canada. It is 8.7 acres (35,000 m2) in size, has 5,200 seats and a natural grass field. From home plate to centre field the distance is 402 feet (123 m); from home plate to left and right field down the lines, it is 330 feet (100 m).
Michael Joseph Hornung was an American baseball player and one of the greatest fielders of the 19th century. Michael Joseph Hornung was born in Carthage, New York in 1857.
The historic London Tecumsehs were a professional men's baseball team in London, Ontario, Canada, that were first formed in 1868 — a merger of the Forest City Base Ball Club and the London Base Ball Club — which, according to George Railton's 1856 London directory, consisted of officers J.K. Brown, Dr. J. Wilkinson and J.D. Dalton and 22 players who practiced twice a week on the military grounds. They were named for Shawnee chief Tecumseh.
Patrick Joseph "Patsy" Donovan was an Irish-American right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1890 to 1907, most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1890 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1878 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1877 throughout the world.
The International League (IL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the eastern United States. The league's headquarters were located in Dublin, Ohio. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it played at the Triple-A level, which was one step below Major League Baseball.
The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League Baseball clubs in Boston and alongside stronger, higher-classification leagues.
The Guelph Royals are a baseball team based in the downtown area of Guelph, Ontario, and are a member of the Southern Ontario-based Intercounty Baseball League. The Royals are an iconic symbol of Guelph pride. The club was founded in 1861 as the Guelph Maple Leafs, and after winning the "Canadian Silver Ball Championship" three times between 1869 and 1872, went on to become world semi-professional champions in 1874, and hold brief membership in the International Association for Professional Base Ball Players during the 1877 season, rivalling National League teams.
According to information compiled by baseball historian Ray Nemec of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Columbus Buckeyes were a men's baseball team in the International Association during the 1877 season, along with several other American teams and two Canadian teams, the London Tecumsehs and the Guelph Maple Leafs.
Fredrick Elroy Goldsmith was a right-handed pitcher in 19th-century professional baseball in both the U.S. and Canada. In his prime, Goldsmith was six-foot-one-inch tall and weighed 195 pounds.
Charles Augustus "Chub" Collins was a Canadian professional baseball player and politician. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1885 as a second baseman and shortstop for the Buffalo Bisons, Indianapolis Hoosiers, and Detroit Wolverines. He later served as the mayor of Dundas, Ontario, from 1901 to 1902.
Marr B. Phillips was a professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1877 to 1899. He played four seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Indianapolis Hoosiers (1884), Detroit Wolverines (1885), Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1885) and Rochester Bronchos (1890). He also spent 16 seasons in the minor leagues.
The Newark Bears were an American Minor League Baseball team that played in the top-level International League from 1917 through the 1949 season, with the exception of the 1920 campaign and part of 1925. The Bears succeeded the Newark Indians, originally the Sailors, who played in the same circuit from 1902. During the Bears' lifetime, the International League was graded one step below the Major League Baseball level, Class AA through 1945 and Triple-A starting in 1946. The franchise played its home games at Ruppert Stadium in what is now known as the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey; the stadium was demolished in 1967. The 1932, 1937, 1938, and 1941 Bears were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.
William Edward "Roscoe" Coughlin was an American professional baseball player who was a pitcher for two seasons in the National League (NL). In 1890 he pitched for the Chicago Colts and in 1891 he played for the New York Giants. Prior to his Major League Baseball career, he began his minor league career in 1887, and continued afterward until 1897.
William Shuttleworth was a Canadian baseball player and executive. He helped to develop the Young Canadians of Hamilton, the first known organized Canadian baseball team, in 1854, and was the club's president by 1860. Shuttleworth held the same role for the Maple Leaf club, and was vice-president of the Canadian Base Ball Association. Along with his executive roles and an extended playing career, he was an umpire in the 1860s. Shuttleworth has been inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Detroit Wolverines were a minor league baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan from 1889 to 1891. The Detroit Wolverines played as members of the Independent level International Association in 1889 and 1890, winning the league championship in both seasons. The team played as members of the 1891 Northwestern League.