National Association as a major league
Encyclopedia
Whether to cover the National Association as a major league is a recurring and crucial matter of difference in historical work on American
baseball
—that is, among historians, encyclopedists, database builders, and others who work on the facts of baseball history on the playing field.
was the first professional
baseball organization. It operated from 1871 until 1875. Whether to cover it as a major league is crucial because the major leagues utterly dominate not only publication but thinking, talking, and writing about the history of the game on the field. The careers of players and field managers as participants, of clubs, and even cities, as competitors are all viewed through the prism of what was accomplished during their Major League careers.
For example, it is routine to say that a player's career began when he first appeared in a major league game. Players retire from baseball when they last appeared in a major league game. A player will have "played baseball for two seasons" if he appeared in major league games during two calendar years — whether he played two games in emergencies, recruited from the fans in attendance, or two full seasons during a professional career of twenty years.
The importance of and widespread familiarity with two-letter abbreviations for baseball leagues is related to the publication of encyclopedic works, in print for fifty years and on the web for ten years, whose main feature is historical playing records of baseball seasons. Leagues govern seasons, annual competitions with their own championships at stake, if nothing else. Leagues publish playing records for the participants in their league seasons. So league seasons have become the basic unit of baseball's historical record as it is widely disseminated; game records are retained by league offices or deposited in archives such as the Baseball Hall of Fame
collections, when not lost in fires. The playing records portion of a baseball reference work is full of entries for individual players that consist mainly of long lines of numbers prefixed by something like "Bos NA 1871", specifying one club in one league-season. All of the (candidate) major leagues in baseball have standardized two-letter abbreviations such as NA — namely, NA, NL
, AA
, UA
, PL, AL
, FL
— whose crucial value is in this encyclopedic context.
when it was founded in 1876. Arguments against generally revolve around the league's quality of play, significant differences in the sport's rules during the era, and the instability of the league, as many teams lasted only one season or part of a season.
"Chick Fulmer Stats". Retrieved 2006-09-08. - does not cover NA
TheBaseballPage.
"Chick Fulmer". Retrieved 2006-09-08. - counts NA
BaseballLibrary - counts NA - still used because it includes The Ballplayers biographical entries on important mlb players.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
—that is, among historians, encyclopedists, database builders, and others who work on the facts of baseball history on the playing field.
First Professional Baseball organization
The National Association of Professional Base Ball PlayersNational Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...
was the first professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
baseball organization. It operated from 1871 until 1875. Whether to cover it as a major league is crucial because the major leagues utterly dominate not only publication but thinking, talking, and writing about the history of the game on the field. The careers of players and field managers as participants, of clubs, and even cities, as competitors are all viewed through the prism of what was accomplished during their Major League careers.
For example, it is routine to say that a player's career began when he first appeared in a major league game. Players retire from baseball when they last appeared in a major league game. A player will have "played baseball for two seasons" if he appeared in major league games during two calendar years — whether he played two games in emergencies, recruited from the fans in attendance, or two full seasons during a professional career of twenty years.
Abbreviation
The extreme abbreviation "NA" is common today. Even in formal prose, where it is often used in parentheses to make a proper noun such as "Boston (NA)". As such it specifies one baseball club among all those with names that have the natural short form "Boston", such as "Boston Base Ball Club, Incorporated".The importance of and widespread familiarity with two-letter abbreviations for baseball leagues is related to the publication of encyclopedic works, in print for fifty years and on the web for ten years, whose main feature is historical playing records of baseball seasons. Leagues govern seasons, annual competitions with their own championships at stake, if nothing else. Leagues publish playing records for the participants in their league seasons. So league seasons have become the basic unit of baseball's historical record as it is widely disseminated; game records are retained by league offices or deposited in archives such as the Baseball Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
collections, when not lost in fires. The playing records portion of a baseball reference work is full of entries for individual players that consist mainly of long lines of numbers prefixed by something like "Bos NA 1871", specifying one club in one league-season. All of the (candidate) major leagues in baseball have standardized two-letter abbreviations such as NA — namely, NA, NL
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
, AA
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
, UA
Union Association
The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for only one season in 1884. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season...
, PL, AL
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
, FL
Federal League
The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that operated as a "third major league", in competition with the established National and American Leagues, from to...
— whose crucial value is in this encyclopedic context.
The controversy
Whether or not the National Association should be counted as a major league has been in dispute for many years. Oft-cited arguments in its favor are its status as the first fully professional baseball league, and the fact that several of its teams continued on as part of the National LeagueNational League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
when it was founded in 1876. Arguments against generally revolve around the league's quality of play, significant differences in the sport's rules during the era, and the instability of the league, as many teams lasted only one season or part of a season.
To count or not to count
Some encyclopedias do not fully count any playing records in the limited sense that they do not publish any career totals or other sums of league-season records.See also
Baseball-Almanac."Chick Fulmer Stats". Retrieved 2006-09-08. - does not cover NA
TheBaseballPage.
"Chick Fulmer". Retrieved 2006-09-08. - counts NA
BaseballLibrary - counts NA - still used because it includes The Ballplayers biographical entries on important mlb players.