

1857 Winter Meetings: The First Baseball Convention
Early 1857 saw the first baseball convention, beginning a series…

1858 Winter Meetings: Building on the Foundation
For baseball, 1857 had been a momentous year in its development…

1859 Winter Meetings: Growing Pains
On February 20, 1859, William Cauldwell, National Association…

1860 Winter Meetings: Convention of the National Association of Base Ball Players
Baseball had experienced tremendous growth during the 1859 playing…

1861 Winter Meetings: The National Association of Base Ball Players
When the National Association of Base Ball Players voted unanimously…

1862 Winter Meetings: Static Rules and the Great Conflict
“The disturbed state of the country and the fact that the baseball…

1863 Winter Meetings: The Game Remains the Same
As the Civil War continued to impact America, the population…

1864 Winter Meetings: To Fly or Not and Other Monumental Changes
Dr. Joseph Jones of the Excelsiors club, former president of…

1865 Winter Meetings: National Association of Base Ball Players
In choosing December as the best month of the year in which to…

1866 Winter Meetings: National Association of Base Ball Players Annual Convention
The Civil War left the United States of America in shambles.…

1867 Winter Meetings: National Association of Base Ball Players Annual Convention
As the annual convention of the National Association of Base…

1868 Winter Meetings: ‘The Most Brilliant Season’ or ‘A Lamentable Failure’
As the 1867 baseball season drew to a close, the sport was meeting…

1869 Winter Meetings: Pivot To Professionalism
The baseball season of 1868 ended with the National Association…

1870 Winter Meetings: The Calm Before the Storm
As 1869 was coming to a close, baseball and the nation at large…

1871 Winter Meetings: The Winter of Three National Associations
The National Association of Base Ball Players held its 14th annual…

1872 Winter Meetings: Inconsistencies and Ineligibles
The last official game of the 1871 National Association season…

1873 Winter Meetings: Avoiding the Issues
The 1872 National Association season had been disappointing,…

1874 Winter Meetings: Nine Men Are Quite Enough
Someone was missing from the 1874 National Association convention,…

1875 Winter Meetings: The Force Case
When the delegates to the annual convention of the National Association…

1875 Winter Meetings: The Origin of the National League
We the undersigned, Professional Base Ball Clubs of the United…

1876 Winter Meetings: In the Face of Crisis
The first season of the National League ended on a bittersweet…

1877 Winter Meetings: Scandals, New Rules, and Franchise Changes
The 1877 season did not turn out well financially for the National…

1878 Winter Meetings: The National League Is Back to Eight Clubs
The 1878 baseball season was not financially successful for the…