[Eckstein 4 Prez]

March 4, 1876 - On this chilly Saturday evening in New York City, Chicago White Stockings owner William Hulbert and James "Deacon" White, representative of the newly formed "Players' Brotherhood," negotiated furiously in a small hotel ballroom, as author Henry Chadwick desperately tried to mediate a compromise to save the 1876 season.

At issue: Hulbert's move, on February 2, to consolidate the power in professional base ball in the hands of the owners, with a "reserve clause" to bind players to their teams and a more stable schedule and league structure by forming a new "National League." The League would replace the struggling National Association, which had been beset by inconsistent levels of play and team instability - over half of the teams from the 1875 season were not going to be returning for the new year. Hulbert's proposal was that the six strongest clubs - from New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford and St. Louis - would from the nucleus of the new League, along with new clubs in Cincinnati (which would carry on the tradition of the first-ever professional club) and Louisville.

Shortly after hearing of the move, White had gathered several player leaders, including McVey and Foran of Boston, Peters of Chicago, O'Rourke and Pike of New York, and Start of Philadelphia, to oppose the owners' precipitous move. They resolved not to play for any organization that tried to bind them to a team or otherwise restrict their freedom as players.

With only a month to go before the new season was to start, the two sides were at an impasse. Author Henry Chadwick, preparing the new version of his Beadle Base Ball Player, openly fretted that there would be no national premiere league in 1876. Finally, knowing that White and Hulbert were the only two men influential enough to be able to settle the controversy between them, Chadwick brokered the March 4 meeting, vowing not to let the two men out of the room without an agreement.

Finally, as the hour grew increasingly late, Chadwick turned wearily to White. "Now, James," said the frustrated scribe, "having a more stable league with stable teams would help you boys make more money and live better lives, wouldn't it?" Reluctantly, White allowed that it would.

"Now, Mr. Hulbert, you must know the top players will not submit to a system that gives them no control over their own destinies. So what is it that you and the other owners really want?"

After a long pause, Hulbert answered, "Six years. Give the teams the first six years of a player's career, so they will not simply lose him to another ball club after developing a young player. If a man joins the ball club at 18, he will control his own destiny at 24."

White mulled that over for a bit and said, "I can agree to that on one condition. Every man's National Association service counts toward that six years, so that longtime veterans such as myself will be free as soon as their contracts expire after the season."

With that, the agreement was made, the players and owners vowed to work together to make a new National League, and the 1876 season could commence.