Following the example set by the Cincinnati Red Stockings, other teams began paying salaries to their players, and to scout and recruit talented players from other areas, even other teams. As the players and the game became more and more a professional entity, they saw the need for even more organization. From this need and opportunity, the first baseball league was created- The National Association of Baseball Players. The National Association of Baseball Players eventually evolved into the National League around 1875.
The popularity and growth of baseball had waned during the years of the Civil War. But once the war was over, it came back strong and quickly grew to over 100 officially organized clubs. Teams and organizers began charging for admittance to the games, and the public, eager to support their team, accepted the practice. As the game became more lucrative financially for the players and the organizations behind them, problems began to emerge.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first to become a fully professional team, dominated the game by scouting the best players and paying the highest salaries. It is reported that they ended the 1869 season with 65 wins, no ties, and no losses.
In an effort to maintain fairness and to give every team a chance to grow, a league was created in 1871...The National Association of Professional Baseball Players. In 1871, The National Association boasted nine teams. By 1875, there were thirteen. Spectators, crowds and fans were growing even faster than the teams. Gambling on the outcomes of the games, and the presence of alcohol at the games, became the norm.
Following the 1875 Season, The National Association, originally owned by the players, was replaced with the National League. When the National League was created, the new owners were wealthy business men, not players. These owners began to operate the game more like a business. They created the prices, schedule, standards, policies, and player contracts. Players soon found themselves with little control over what had once been their own game.
The success of the National League promoted the growth of an additional league., which was named the American Association. Both the National League and the American Association agreed that each leagues players ccould not play for the other league. Seeing this as being highly unfair to them, the infuriated players tried to create their own leagues. Attempts were made in 1884 and again in 1890. Both attempts failed.
Today, of course, we have players' agents and unions, but the two original leagues- the National League and the American Association are still with us today. And, early each Fall, the "boys of summer", in both the National League and the American League, battle for the championship in a series of games which is aptly titled "The World Series".
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