Players League
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The Players' League, also known as The Brotherhood, was an attempt to establish a third major baseball league in 1890. The National League and the American Association already existed as major leagues. The PL lasted just the one season of 1890, and the Boston franchise won the championship that year.
Players League franchises
- Boston Red Stockings
- Brooklyn Wonders
- Buffalo Bisons
- Chicago Pirates
- Cleveland Infants
- New York Giants
- Philadelphia Quakers
- Pittsburgh Burghers
Boston and Philadelphia subsequently joined the American Association when the Players' League folded. Brooklyn merged with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (later the Brooklyn Dodgers) of the National League after the season.
The PL was well-attended, at least in some cities, but was under-funded and its owners lacked the confidence to continue beyond the one season. Although the league was started by the players themselves, essentially as an elaborate job-action to improve their lot, the venture proved to be a setback for the players in the longer term. The infamous reserve clause remained intact, and would remain thus for the next 85 years or so. The already-shaky AA had been further weakened by the presence of the PL, and it failed a year later, reducing the total number of major league teams (and players) significantly.
One benefit of the league, from the management standpoint, was the construction of new facilities, several of which were used for awhile by the established major league clubs. Easily the most prominent of these was the Polo Grounds, which served as the home of the New York Giants from 1891-1957, and also of the New York Mets in their first two seasons. Once the demolition of the Polo Grounds began in 1964, the game's historians realized that this was not only the end of an era in general, but also the final chapter of the Players' League.