The FINAL "re-do" as I'm now back to where I should be, so we can get this thing rolling again
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The Sporting Life, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 1885:
UNION ASSOC. IS GONE, BUT LEGACY LIVES ON
Horace V. Leonard's attempt at a third major professional base ball loop, the Union Association, died after just one season of operation. Leonard's loop was ill-conceived and badly run, but it has left a lasting impression on the sport. For one thing, the Union's championship club, the St. Louis Maroons (owned by Mr. Leonard himself) have moved into the National League, a coup of large proportions. This came about because the fierce financial competition of the 1884 season (caused by the Union's very existence) forced the National's Cleveland club to cease operations. But the Union's impact is felt beyond the National League. The American Association expanded by four clubs for the '84 season in an (ill-fated) attempt to stiffen the competition against the Union usurpers. The result of this twelve-team experiment were not good. Three of the quartet of new clubs are gone as quickly as they appeared, with only Brooklyn, bolstered by a large pool of rabid base ball followers on which to draw, making it to the starting line for 1885. Indianapolis, Toledo and Washington are all extinct, and Association founding member Columbus has also gone the way of the dodo. As for the players, those who defected to the Union chasing freedom from the Reserve Clause, are now (mostly) back in the fold, while a handful of Union standouts have found new homes on Association or League clubs for '85. So the impact of Leonard's Folly continues to be felt despite that ill-conceived venture's none-too-premature expiration earlier this year.
WILLIAM HILL OF THE MAROONS
DETROIT FACES NEW CHALLENGES IN LEAGUE CHASE
The Detroit club, known popularly known as the Wolverines, face a new set of challengers for their crown as they seek a second-straight League pennant. The age-old foes from Boston, Providence and Chicago will be back, and likely as formidable as ever, but joining them are improved clubs in New York and Philadelphia. The Giants (nee Gothams) are bolstered by the sleight-of-hand performed with their Association counterparts which delivered Phinneas Harvey and Tim Edmonds, while Philadelphia added a stand-out pitcher (Ron Blasingame) and short stop (Victor Sprayberry) and Providence features one of the most under-rated players in the National League in centerfielder Bob Dove, who hit .340 in 1883.
VICTOR SPRAYBERRY
WEAKENED METS LEAVE VACUUM ATOP ASSOCIATION
With the 1884 champions from New York considerably weakened by the shift of their two top players to the National's New York Giants, the top spot in the American Association appears to be up for grabs. Among the favorites to supplant the Metropolitans are the Browns of St. Louis and Reds of Cincinnati, two top clubs from a year ago. Another possible challenge could come from the Association's newest club, the Brooklyn nine, which fattened up on the leavings of the several clubs which were forced to fold after the war with the Union Association - the National Cleveland club chief among them. Brooklyn added Cleveland's top pitcher (Rod Hollis), short stop (Ken Fitzwater), and the 'Duke of the Wabash' himself, center fielder Dave Hafner. The Browns are very strong at the bat with their phenomenal young catcher Shane Day ably supported by a pair of outfielders (Ed Burd and Ward Smith) while their pitching is bolstered by Justin Williamson, who was outstanding (40-7, 2.79 ERA) for the Minneapolis Club in the Northwestern League a year ago. Cincinnati added a pitcher in George Husting who was outstanding for a pair of American Association clubs a year ago, posting a 1.40 earned run mark and also will feature an outstanding freshman outfielder in Otto Evans, a local product who shone in the Northwestern League.
SHANE DAY
BASE BALL IN DIXIE
A brand-new professional loop will begin play this spring in the deep South. The Southern League will feature clubs in Georgia (Atlanta, Augusta, Macon and Columbus), Tennessee (Chattanooga, Memphis and Nashville) and Alabama (Birmingham). The league's President, Ephraim Hubbard, promises quality play and indeed, some former American Association players have gone South to give the Southern loop a try. Birmingham's Paris Kulp, a former Pittsburgh Allegheny, looks to be one of the top batsmen in the new loop, though Chattanooga's Dave Blakeslee, a former member of the Cleveland Blues, is also a solid performer. Among the pitchers, Atlanta's Asa Struve was among the American Association's top hurlers a year ago, and can be counted upon for a strong campaign in 1885.
ASA STRUVE
NEW WESTERN LEAGUE RISES OUT OF NORTHWESTERN'S ASHES
Nowhere was the vacuum left by the disappearance of the Union Association felt as strongly as in the west. With clubs in Kansas City and St. Paul, the Union moved into, and then abandoned the territories of the also-dissolved Northwestern League. A group of Western magnates has put together a new loop, dubbed the Western League, which features club in such former 'big league' cities as Kansas City, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Toledo and Milwaukee. They also have clubs in Keokuk, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska. The most intriguing player to land in the Western loop is the well-traveled Solomon Cuffey. After being driven out of the American Association by racism, Cuffey finished up last season in St. Paul with the Union club there and now will toil in the former National League city of Cleveland with the Forest City club. The versatile Cuffey can play catcher or outfielder and though it's unclear where he will position himself afield, it is clear that his skills with the bat should put him among the Western League's top batsmen.
SOLOMON CUFFEY
EMPIRE STATE CLUBS FORM NEW CIRCUIT
The nation's most populous state, New York, has formed a league of its own for the 1885 season. The New York State League will feature six clubs competing in the large state's northern regions. The clubs will play in former League bastion Syracuse as well as Rochester, Utica, Binghamton, Oswego and the capital city of Albany. Like the Western League, the New York circuit also features a club giving a chance to a player who would otherwise be excluded due to the color of his skin. The Utica Pent-Ups feature a second baseman named Dan Heywood, who just may be one of the best keystone players in all of base ball.
DAN HEYWOOD
INTERSTATE ASSOC. BECOMES EASTERN LEAGUE
The Interstate Association has become the Eastern League as the organization seeks to increase professionalism throughout its ranks and leave the mess that was the 1884 season behind. The Eastern League features clubs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the nation's capital and two clubs in Virginia (Norfolk and Richmond) with Washington, Wilmington and Richmond all having been the homes of top-level clubs a year ago. The Jersey City club enters the season as the favorites, mainly on the strong right arm of their top pitcher, Bill Betts. Betts, a Canadian citizen, is the son of an escaped slave and has already sworn not to travel with his club when they head to Richmond and Norfolk this season.
BILL BETTS