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National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
Sport Baseball
Founded 1871
No. of teams 26
Country(ies)  United States
Ceased 1875
Last
champion(s)		 1871 Philadelphia Athletics

1872-1875 Boston Red Stockings
Official website MLB.com

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), or simply the National Association (NA), was founded in 1871 and lasted through the 1875 season. It succeeded the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) and several of its clubs created the succeeding National League, which essentially survives as professional baseball. The NA is commonly considered the first professional baseball league. Its status as the first major league is in dispute; while the official history of Major League Baseball does not classify it as one of the recognized historical major leagues, the NA nonetheless had the highest caliber of play then in existence.

Several factors limited the lifespan of the National Association including

  • Dominance by a single team (Boston) for most of the league's existence
  • Instability of franchises; several were placed in cities too small to financially support professional baseball
  • Lack of central authority
  • Suspicions of the influence of gamblers

Contents

Member Clubs

Part of the Baseball series on
History of baseball

• Origins of baseball

• Early years
• First league
• New York rules
• Massachusetts rules
• Alexander Cartwright
• Abner Doubleday myth
• First pro team
• First pro league

• Derived from:

• Cricket
• Compared to baseball
• Rounders
• Town ball

• History of baseball in:

• the United States
• Worldwide
• the United Kingdom
• Canada
• Japan
• Cuba
• Netherlands

• Negro league baseball
• Minor league baseball
• Ken Burns' documentary
• Baseball Hall of Fame

• Society for American
Baseball Research (SABR)

• Baseball year-by-year

• MLB season-by-season
Baseball Portal  v • d • e 

Professional baseball clubs in the 19th century were often known by what is now regarded as a "nickname", although it was actually the club's name. This was a practice carried over from the amateur days.

The Encyclopedia of Baseball attempted to retrofit the names into a modern context, possibly introducing some confusion. In the following list, the bold names are the names most often used in contemporary standings, and the links after them are the names typically ascribed to the teams now, using the Encyclopedia of Baseball standard:

More on team names

The singular form of a "nickname" was often the team name itself, with its base city "understood" and was so listed in the standings. Example: Rather than "Brooklyn Atlantics", the team was simply called "Atlantic", or "Atlantic of Brooklyn" if deemed necessary by the writer.

Another common practice was to refer to the team in the plural; hence the "Bostons" the "Chicagos"... or the "Mutuals". Hence some additional confusion for modern readers.

Sometimes the team would have a nickname, usually something to do with the team colors. Examples: Boston Red Stockings, Chicago White Stockings, Mutual Green Stockings. A more recent equivalent to this occurred when the Pacific Coast League had two teams in San Francisco, called "San Francisco" and "Mission". The teams were officially the "Seals" and the "Reds" respectively. However, the second team was also often called the "Missions".

This practice of using the singular form of the "nickname" as the team name faded with time, although as recently as the early 1900s, the team generally known as "Philadelphia Athletics" was shown in the American League standings as "Athletic", the traditional way. That team sported an old-English "A" on its jerseys, as had its nominative predecessors. The Oakland uniforms are a quiet reminder of this tradition.

The closest equivalent in modern sports franchises is to assign a name that reflects the region that the team wants to represent. The Rangers have always played in Arlington, Texas, but the team is listed as "Texas" in the standings because that is what the team calls itself: The Texas Rangers, not the Arlington Texans. This idea came full circle: in the early 1870s, there were the Mutual Green Stockings of New York. In 2005, there were the newly redubbed Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Timeline

  • 1869: The previously amateur National Association of Base Ball Players establishes a professional category.
  • 1869–70: Cincinnati Red Stockings demonstrate that professional baseball is a viable business enterprise.
  • 1871: Several clubs from the National Association of Base Ball Players break away to found the first professional league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA).


Several others found the National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players. It does not survive long or inspire a replacement, so the short forms professional association and amateur association do not survive long.

Champions

NA Presidents

NA Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame

NA lifetime leaders

References

  • David Pietrusza Major Leagues: The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present Jefferson (NC): McFarland & Company, 1991. ISBN 0-89950-590-2
  • William J. Ryczek Blackguards and Red Stockings: A History of Baseball's National Association Jefferson (NC): McFarland & Company, 1999. ISBN 978-0967371801
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