THE BASE BALL INTELLIGENCER, TROY, NY, April 10, 1873:
HAYMAKER CLUB DISBANDS, ASSOCIATION SOLDIERS ON
The local backers here in Troy have decided to no longer stake the Haymaker Club and that worthy competitor has been disbanded. The National Association, however, soldiers on as usual, with nine Clubs vying for the World's Title in this year's base ball campaigning season.
The Haymaker Club was not the only competitor of seasons past to give up the ghost this past winter. The Cleveland Forest City Club, a serious contender for the championship as recently as last summer, has also folded due to a lack of pecuniary success. Also departed are both of the nation's capital's entries - the Olympic Club and the National Club as well as one of Brooklyn's clubs - the Eckfords. And, of course, the Middletown Mansfield Club, which did not manage to finish the season, is no more.
Joining the fray in 1873 are several new hopefuls. A new entry for the nation's capital has arisen in the Blue Leg Club of Washington City. Not much hope is held out for this new entry as the only base baller of note to sign on with the Blue Legs is catcher Gustav Schultz, who toiled for the defunct Brooklyn Eckford Club last season.
GUSTAV SCHULTZ
Another new entry - and likely successor to the dubious role filled last by Middletown, is the Resolute Club of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Resolute they may prove to be, talented they most certainly are not. Only the arm of Freddy Robinson will keep them respectable.
FREDDY ROBINSON
The most interesting new Club is the second entry from the City of Brotherly Love. Rising from the ashes - literal and figurative - of the Chicago White Stocking Club is a club of the same name which will share the Jefferson Street Grounds with the Athletic Club of Philadelphia. This White Stocking Club bears a strong resemblance to the old Chicago nine, with Clifford Campbell and Ernie Beall among the former Chicagoans plying their trade for the Philadelphia entry.
Of course, the favorites to tangle for the title remain those age-old enemies the Mutual Club of New York and the Red Stocking Club of Boston. The familiar faces return for another spirited season of base ball.