The International Association for Professional Base Ball Players, commonly known as the International Association, was the name for two separate Canadian-American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

leagues that first operated during 1877–1878 (plus an additional two seasons under a different name) and later operated during 1888–1890.

International Association of 1877–1878

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 William Arthur "Candy" Cummings (October 18, 1848 – May 17, 1924) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher in the National Association and National League. Cummings is widely credited with inventing the curveball. ...

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.

1877 season

In 1877, the International Association featured teams based in: *

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

( London Tecumsehs) *

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

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, ...

( Pittsburgh Allegheny) *

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, New York (The Rochesters) *

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

(The Manchesters) * Columbus,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

( Columbus Buckeyes) *

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, Ontario, Canada (

Guelph Maple Leafs 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 club was founded in 1861 as the Guelph Maple Leafs, and after winning the "Canadia ...

) * Lynn,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

(Lynn Live Oaks)

Final standings

Final standings of the 1877 season: * London Tecumsehs 14-4-2* * Pittsburgh Allegheny 13-6-0 *Rochester (The Rochesters), NY 10-8-0 *Manchester (The Manchesters), NH 9-10-0 * Columbus Buckeyes 9-11-2 *

4-12-0 * Lynn (Massachusetts) Live Oaks 1-9-0 * disbanded Fred Goldsmith, London's star pitcher, had a 14–4 record in 193 innings pitched with three shutouts, during International Association play in 1877.

1878 season

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 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 ...

, Hartford, Connecticut,

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, New Bedford, Massachusetts,

New Haven, Connecticut 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 ...

, Springfield, Massachusetts and

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

also had representatives. Buffalo finished in first place.

Bud Fowler Bud Fowler (March 16, 1858 – February 26, 1913), born "John W. Jackson", was an American baseball player, manager, and club organizer. He is the earliest known African-American player in organized professional baseball. He was elected to the ...

, the first known

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

player in organized baseball, pitched for the Lynn club in 1878.

Transformation and hiatus

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

for the 1879 season. At the same time, the London Tecumsehs dropped out of the league, causing it to be renamed the National Base Ball Association entering the 1879 season. Under that name, it played through the 1880 season before dissolving. The league did not operate from 1881 to 1887.

International Association of 1888–1890

In 1888,

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Patsy Donovan Patrick Joseph "Patsy" Donovan (March 16, 1865 – December 25, 1953) was an Irish born right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from to , most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates. He batted .301 lifetime an ...

of the London Tecumsehs led the league in batting with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

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 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 (AL), ...

, even playing a significant role in scouting

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Teams

The following teams played in the second incarnation of the league, which existed from 1888 until 1890: * Albany Governors (1890) *

(1888–1890) *

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

(1889–1890) * Hamilton Mountaineers (1888, 1890) * Hamilton Hams (1889) * London Tecumsehs (1888–1890) *

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

(1890) * Grand Rapids Shamrocks (1890) * Rochester Jingoes (1888–1889) * Saginaw-Bay City Hyphens (1890) * Syracuse Stars (1888–1889) * Toledo Black Pirates (1889) * Toronto Canucks (1888–1890) *

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Univer ...

(1888) In 1888, Syracuse finished in first place. Detroit finished in first place in 1889 and 1890.

Legacy

Some baseball historians consider the International Association the first minor league; others point out that the league was conceived as a rival to the

, now thought of as the sole major league of the era. Statistics of players who competed in the International Association and other early non-major leagues, such as the

New England League 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 (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

, are grouped as "Other" by the

Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

reference site. The

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

of 1883–1884 is regarded as the first true minor league.

Sources

* ''The Northern Game: Baseball the Canadian Way'' by Bob Elliott (Sport Classic, 2005). * ''Heritage Baseball: City of London'' a souvenir program from July 23, 2005, celebrating the history of Labatt Park and London, Ontario's 150th anniversary as an incorporated city. * ''Boys of Summer: Knute, Boot, Milky and Buck'' by Don Maudsley (SCENE magazine, London, Ontario, June 15, 2000). * ''The magic continues at London's Field of Dreams'' by Barry Wells (SCENE magazine, London, Ontario, June 15, 2000). * ''Canada's Baseball Capital Celebrates 143rd Year'' by William Humber (page 36 of the ''London Majors Baseball Club, 1998 Souvenir Program''). * ''Diamonds of the North: A Concise History of Baseball in Canada'' by William Humber (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1995). * ''The Beaver, Exploring Canada's History'', ''Baseball's Canadian Roots: Abner Who?'' by Mark Kearney (October–November 1994). * The 1948 London Majors: A Great Canadian Team'' by Dan Mendham (unpublished academic paper, UWO, December 7, 1992). * ''Diamond Rituals: Baseball in Canadian Culture'' by Robert K. Barney, (Meckler Books, 1989). * ''Journal of Sport History'', ''A Critical Examination of a Source in Early Ontario Baseball: The Reminiscence of Adam E. Ford'' by UWO Professor Robert K. Barney and Nancy Bouchier (Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1988). * ''Who's Who in Canadian Sport'' by Bob Ferguson, (Summerhill Press Ltd., 1985). * ''Cheering for the Home Team: The Story of Baseball in Canada'' by William Humber, (The Boston Mills Press, 1983). * ''Old Time Baseball and the London Tecumsehs of the late 1870s'' by Les Bronson, a recorded (and later transcribed) talk given to the London & Middlesex Historical Society on February 15, 1972. Available in the London Room of the London Public Library, Main Branch. * ''Bill Stern's Favorite Baseball Stories'' by

Bill Stern Bill Stern (July 1, 1907 – November 19, 1971) was an American actor and sportscaster who announced the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a baseball game. In 1984, Stern was part of the American Sportscaster ...

, (Blue Ribbon Books, Garden City, New York, 1949).

References

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