1891 – The National Board of Control, which manages the National Agreement between the two major leagues, with Allen W. Thurman still acting as chairman although he was replaced as President of the American Association three days earlier, declares all AA players fair game for contract raiding.
1891 – American Association owners dismiss league President Allen W. Thurman and replace him with Louis Kramer of Cincinnati. The owners also denounce the National Agreement, launching a new war with the rival National League. The owners are unhappy with Thurman’s decision in the Lou Bierbauer case. In his capacity as Chairman of the National Board of Control which decides disputes under the National Agreement, he ruled that the AA’s Philadelphia Athletics no longer had reserve rights over Bierbauer, who jumped from the Athletics to the Players League in 1890, and then refused to return to his old team after the Players League folded.
1891 – The American Association withdraws from the National Agreement thus starting a war with the National League. The AA moves its Chicago team to Cincinnati to compete with the National League team in the city.
1891 – The New York Giants’ salary list is leaked to the press. It shows a total player payroll of $54,600 with Buck Ewing’s $5,500 salary topping the scale.
1891 – A new national agreement is signed by the National League, American Association and the Western Association, creating a three-man panel to settle problems among the leagues.
1891 – The National League votes to allow the American Association to place a team in Boston, despite the vehement opposition of the owners of the Boston Beaneaters NL club.
1890 – In the Players League, after the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Burghers clubs combine with their National League rivals, Al Spalding buys out Chicago’s PL backer, John Addison, for $18,000, some of which goes to pay off unpaid salaries and reimburse players half of their investments. Spalding gets the club’s grandstand, equipment, and player contracts.
Season Recap: 1890 League Champion: Brooklyn Bridegrooms
1890 – At the American Association annual meeting in Louisville, the Philadelphia Athletics are expelled for violating the league’s constitution. A new team in Philadelphia is admitted, plus entries from Boston, Washington and Chicago, replacing Syracuse, Toledo and Rochester.
7/10 – 7/12/1890: The Pittsburgh at Boston Players League games were thrown out because Boston illegally used a player, Gil Hatfield, on loan from the New York team in the league. There were four homers hit in the three games that were removed from the official records: 7/10: Boston’s Hardy Richardson in the second and Dan Brouthers in the eighth. 7/11: Richardson in the eighth. 7/12: Richardson in the thirdRichardson also homered, which counted, in his next two games, so he lost a streak five games.
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