The Base Ball Intelligencer, Troy, NY, April 10, 1875:
RHOADES "BOOKS" TICKET TO BOSTON
One of the bigger stories this past offseason was the retirement of long-time Red Stocking pitchman Robby Buse. Buse had long since cemented his spot among the best hurlers in the game, but at age 38, he decided to call it quits after the 1874 campaign had concluded. The Boston Club's "money man" - financier J. Harrison Winston - quickly settled upon Walker Rhoades as his choice to succeed Buse in the box for the Red Stocking Club. Unfortunately, Rhoades was employed by the Athletic Club of Philadelphia. This didn't stop Winston. He waved some of his greenbacks at Rhoades and "Book" packed his bags and headed north. Though Athletic Club protested, there has been no compensation, nor is any expected to find it's way to the city on the Delaware.
RED STOCKING CLUB LOOKS TO RECAPTURE PAST GLORIES
The Red Stocking Club of Boston (nee Cincinnati) is expected to be the class of the Association in 1875. Their signing (or theft, if you're a partisan of the Athletic Club of Phila.) of Walker Rhoades to replace the departed Robby Buse leads many prognosticators to take a shine to the Bostonians once again. Andy Sanford and the Mutual Club notwithstanding, the hiring of Rhoades makes the Red Stocking Club the most complete in the sport.
WALKER RHOADES
DOBBINS PREDICTS ATLANTIC CLUB WILL CONQUER ALL
The Atlantic Club of Brooklyn, says Clarence Dobbins, will overcome the odds (mainly stacked against them via the Mutual Club and Red Stocking Club) by conquering all comers in the 1875 Championship campaign. Dobbins, the Atlantic center fielder, is a star in his own right, though overshadowed by the brighter lights of the Mutuals and Red Stockings (among others). Dobbins' points out that the Atlantics have a superior hurler of their own in Bunker Theobald and acknowledged batsmen in Alamazoo Pons and himself, and a player he sees as a comer in shortstop Aaron Hogle.
CLARENCE DOBBINS
SLATE OF COMPETING CLUBS INCLUDES SEVERAL NEWCOMERS
Once again the lure of professional honor and spoils has coerced several formerly amateur clubs to put forth their ten dollar entry fee and join the National Association. This year's crop includes the Western Club of Keokuk (Iowa), the Elm City Club of New Haven (Connecticut), a reborn National Club of Washington, two entries from the city of St. Louis - the Brown Stocking Club and another Red Stocking Club, and a third entry from Philadelphia in the form of the Centennial Club. That array of base ball Clubs is the largest in the five-year history of the Association and it comes despite rumors of disenchantment by some of the more successful clubs - such as the Red Stocking Club of Boston and the Mutual Club of New York.
ORRIN RATLEY OF CENTENNIAL CLUB