| It's time once again for the Boys of October to | | | | the Philadelphia Athletics, the Philadelphia White |
| shine. Both the National League and the American | | | | Stockings (also called the Pearls or the Phillies), the |
| League of Major League Baseball are working to | | | | Elizabeth Resolutes, the Hartford Dark Blues, the |
| determine champion teams that will compete | | | | Philadelphia Centennials, the New Haven Elm Citys, |
| beginning October 22 in the World Series. | | | | the St. Louis Brown Stockings, and the St. Louis |
| For some baseball fans, the season may be as | | | | Red Stockings. |
| good as finished. If your team had a season | | | | In addition to the number of smaller cities that |
| skirting the toilet bowl, you may be just as happy | | | | were unsuccessful at maintaining the cost of the |
| to move on to football or hockey - or heck, | | | | baseball teams, the National Association suffered |
| another big sport which is just beginning its | | | | because there was no central authority governing |
| competitive season: figure skating. If you're | | | | the league and because of interference by |
| fortunate enough to have a team that's still in it, | | | | gambling interests. |
| so to speak, you are probably employing all your | | | | Because of the success of the cities of Cincinnati |
| DVR technical skills to ensure you don't miss a | | | | and Boston at demonstrating the financial viability |
| minute of the big games that make our national | | | | of their baseball teams, several clubs joined |
| pastime such a diehard tradition for so many. | | | | together to replace the National Association with |
| Baseball, or a form of it, has been popular in | | | | the Nation League. Rival leagues were not |
| America since the time of the Revolutionary War. | | | | successful until the founding of the American |
| At that time, men and boys played various | | | | League in 1901 - a league that evolved from the |
| versions of the game using improvised equipment, | | | | Western League, a minor league group of clubs |
| and even arranged tournaments between | | | | that was first established in 1893. |
| different church groups and communities. Diary | | | | The leagues worked together to develop new |
| entries have been discovered from England dating | | | | rules and standards for both the game itself and |
| as far back as 1755 discussing baseball, and the | | | | equipment. Prior to that time, standards between |
| first mention of an actual game in what became | | | | leagues - and even individual clubs - could vary |
| the United States comes from a diary entry | | | | widely. |
| dated in 1792. | | | | Since the early days of the sport, there has |
| The New York Knickerbockers are considered the | | | | come the rise and fall of the Negro Leagues, |
| first organized team to have played under | | | | which disbanded during the Great Depression, and |
| modern rules. In 1857, six New York-area clubs | | | | the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, |
| joined to form the National Association of Base | | | | which started as a softball league prior to World |
| Ball Players, with membership rising to 400 clubs | | | | War II, and took on the AAGBPL moniker in 1943. |
| by 1867. Some member clubs were located in | | | | However, the game actually played by the ladies |
| cities as far away as California. | | | | included a mix of softball and baseball rules and |
| In 1870, controversy arose concerning the issue | | | | equipment. It was not until 1954 that the league |
| of professional baseball players. In 1871, the | | | | began to play true baseball as a last-ditch effort |
| NABBP split into two separate organizations: the | | | | to save the league from extinction. Playing like the |
| National Association of Amateur Baseball Players, | | | | boys did not extend the life of the league, which |
| which lasted only a few years, and the also | | | | folded following the 1954 season. |
| short-lived National Association of Professional | | | | In addition to American baseball, leagues have |
| Base Ball Players. | | | | been founded throughout the world. |
| The National Association was dominated for most | | | | When you tune in to watch your team on the |
| of its duration - from 1871 through 1875 - by the | | | | diamond, remember that you are part of sports |
| Boston Red Stockings. The Boston team, now | | | | history that goes back more than 200 years. |
| known as the Red Sox, benefitted from its | | | | Show your team spirit on a daily basis with a pair |
| establishment in a city that was large enough to | | | | of "lucky" sports team cufflinks. There are |
| financially support a major league baseball team. | | | | cufflinks available for just about every major |
| Other teams in the National Association were the | | | | league baseball team, as well as silver baseballs, |
| Chicago White Stockings, the Washington Nationals | | | | silver gloves, and the like - the perfect way to |
| (also known as the Washington Blue Legs), the | | | | show your passion for the game whether your |
| Cleveland Forest Citys, the Fort Wayne | | | | team has made the playoffs or not. Shed the |
| Kekiongas, the New York Mutuals, the Rockford | | | | ubiquitous ball cap in favor of a pair of baseball |
| Forest Citys, the Troy Haymakers, the | | | | cufflinks - after all, players from the early days on |
| Washington Olympics, the Brooklyn Athletics, the | | | | have embraced fashionable menswear options |
| Brooklyn Eckfords, the Baltimore Canaries, the | | | | such as pinstripes, colored socks, and sporty |
| Middletown Mansfields, the Baltimore Marylands, | | | | vests. |