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55-571: Although a short-lived facility, the ballpark witnessed some significant history. First, its occupants won league pennants in their two years of existence. Despite its success, the club was dropped during the NL-AA merger of 1892, as there was already an NL entry in Boston. Then, between May and June 1894, Congress Street Grounds was the home to the Boston Beaneaters while their home grounds,

110-534: A "nickname" was often the team name itself, with its base city "understood" and was so listed in the standings; for example the Atlantic Base Ball Club, which was located in Brooklyn. Rather than "Brooklyn Atlantics", the team was simply called "Atlantic", or "Atlantic of Brooklyn" if deemed necessary by the writer. Another common practice was to refer to the team in the plural, hence the "Bostons"

165-695: A monogram-style device to their front. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, and lost 100 or more games six times. In 1907 , the renamed Doves (temporarily) eliminated the red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected (as noted in The Sporting News Baseball Guide during the 1940s when each team's entry had a history of its nickname(s). See details in History of baseball team nicknames ). The American League club's owner, Charles Taylor, changed his team's name to

220-567: A winner, but the damage from the years prior to his arrival took some time to overcome. The Braves finally managed to compete in 1933 and 1934 under manager Bill McKechnie , but Fuchs' revenue was severely depleted due to the Great Depression . Looking for a way to get more supporters and more money, Fuchs worked out a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire Babe Ruth , who had, coincidentally, started his career with

275-474: A year earlier, his conditioning rapidly declined in the first month of 1935. While he was still able to hit at first, he could do little else. He could no longer run, and his fielding was so terrible that three of the Braves' pitchers threatened to go on strike if Ruth were in the lineup. Ruth soon discovered that he was vice president and assistant manager in name only, and Fuchs' promise of a share of team profits

330-518: Is now Nickerson Field of Boston University . The franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuously operating professional baseball franchise. The Boston Braves had an overall win–loss record of 5,118–5,598–138 (.478) during their 77-year major-league tenure in Boston. Six former Boston Braves players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame . The Cincinnati Red Stockings , established in 1869 as

385-591: The Atlanta Braves . During its 82-year stay in Massachusetts , the franchise was known by various nicknames, including the Red Stockings , Red Caps , Rustlers , Bees , and "Braves". While in Boston, the team won 10 National League pennants and a World Series championship in 1914 that came after a season in which the Braves were in last place as late as July 15—a turnaround that led to

440-464: The Boston Red Sox . Fuchs named Ruth vice president and assistant manager of the Braves, and promised him a share of team profits. He was also to be consulted on all player transactions. Fuchs even suggested that Ruth, who had long had his heart set on managing, could take over as manager once McKechnie stepped down—perhaps as early as 1936. At first, it looked like Ruth was the final piece

495-658: The Brooklyn Dodgers , on April 18, 1950, Sam "Jet" Jethroe was added to the Boston Braves roster. The Dodgers had another young CF in Duke Snider rising in their system, resulting in the trade to the Braves. Going on to be named National League Rookie of the Year at age 32, Jethroe broke the color barrier with Boston. In 1950, Jethroe hit .273 with 100 runs, 18 home runs and 58 RBI. His 35 stolen bases led

550-637: The National Association ( NA ), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball . The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season. It succeeded and incorporated several professional clubs from the previous National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) of 1857–1870, sometimes called "the amateur Association". In turn, several NA clubs created the succeeding National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (the National League , founded 1876), which joined with

605-629: The South End Grounds , were being rebuilt after the Great Roxbury Fire of May 15, 1894. It had a close left field fence, which benefited Boston's Bobby Lowe just a couple of weeks later, on May 30, 1894, as he became the first batter to hit four home runs in a single game, all of them down the line in left field. In parts of the years between 1892 and autumn of 1896, the field was used for various local sports, including Gaelic football, hurling, and track-and-field events. [1] By

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660-571: The St. Louis Brown Stockings from the NA plus independent clubs Louisville and Cincinnati. Several factors limited the lifespan of the National Association including dominance by a single team (Boston) for most of the league's existence, instability of franchises as several were placed in cities too small to financially support professional baseball, lack of central authority, and suspicions of

715-466: The "Chicagos" or the "Mutuals". Frequently sportswriters would apply a creative pseudonym to call the team by in newspaper articles, often using one with something to do with the team colors, such as the Red Stockings or Red Caps (Boston), White Stockings (Chicago), Green Stockings (Mutual of New York), and Canaries (the yellow-uniformed Lord Baltimore). This practice of using the singular form of

770-443: The "major leaguers" who define the scope within baseball references such as Retrosheet . In 1969, Major League Baseball's newly formed Special Baseball Records Committee decided that the National Association should be excluded from major league status, citing the association's "erratic schedule and procedures" as well as a history of gambling and "poor newspaper coverage". Thus, when the landmark 1969 Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia

825-538: The "nickname" as the team name faded with time, although as recently as the early 1900s the team generally known as " Philadelphia Athletics " was shown in the American League standings as the traditional way of "Athletic". That team sported an old-English "A" on its jerseys, as had its nominative predecessors. Later, the Encyclopedia of Baseball attempted to retrofit the names into a modern context. In

880-401: The 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters won eight pennants during the 19th century. Their manager was Frank Selee , the first manager not to double as a player as well. The 1898 team finished 102–47, a club record for wins that would stand for almost a century. In 1894 the Braves became the first major league baseball team to wear letterforms on their uniform caps when they added

935-887: The A's moved to Oakland after the 1967 season. Earl Averill Dave Bancroft Dan Brouthers John Clarkson * Jimmy Collins Hugh Duffy * Johnny Evers Burleigh Grimes Billy Hamilton Billy Herman Rogers Hornsby Joe Kelley King Kelly Ernie Lombardi Rabbit Maranville * Rube Marquard Tommy McCarthy * Bill McKechnie Joe Medwick Kid Nichols * Jim O'Rourke Charley Radbourn Babe Ruth Frank Selee * Al Simmons George Sisler Billy Southworth Casey Stengel Ed Walsh Lloyd Waner Paul Waner Deacon White Vic Willis * George Wright * Harry Wright Cy Young National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players ( NAPBBP ), often known simply as

990-571: The American League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (the American League , founded 1901) to form Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1903. In 1869, the previously amateur National Association of Base Ball Players, in response to concerns that some teams were paying players, established a professional category. The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first team to declare their desire to become fully professional. Other teams quickly followed suit. By 1871, several clubs, wanting to separate fully from

1045-557: The Braves actually had a better record in games that Spahn and Sain did not start than in games they did. (Other sources include pitcher Vern Bickford in the verse.) The Braves lost the 1948 World Series in six games to the Cleveland Indians (who had beaten the Red Sox in a tie-breaker game to spoil an all-Boston World Series). This turned out to be the Braves' last hurrah in Boston. Acquired earlier by trade from

1100-468: The Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4–18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish. On July 4, 1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers . The consecutive losses put their record at 26–40 and the Braves were in last place, 15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants , who had won

1155-506: The Braves were 9–27, their season all but over. They ultimately finished 38–115, easily the worst season in franchise history. Their .248 winning percentage is tied for the seventh-worst in baseball history , and the sixth-worst in National League history. It is the second-worst in modern baseball history (behind only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics ), and the worst in modern National League history. Insolvent like his team, Fuchs

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1210-495: The Major League Baseball of its day", but they nevertheless decided not to combine their NA records with later leagues, to avoid confusing conflicts with totals shown in the "official records". Professional baseball clubs in the 19th century were often known by what is now regarded as a "nickname", although it was actually the club's name. This was a practice carried over from the amateur days. The singular form of

1265-594: The NA have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame : George Wright was the first NA inductee ( 1937 ) and Deacon White is the most recent ( 2013 ). Four of the eight had significant playing careers in the National League or other major leagues after their time in the NA: Anson, Galvin, O'Rourke, and White, each of whom was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player. The other four—Cummings, Spalding, and brothers George and Harry Wright—were each inducted into

1320-771: The NA should be included in the major leagues, despite its acknowledged flaws, pointing out the same flaws existed in other leagues as well, and called the Committee's decision "a modern-day value judgment that doesn't hold up". The committee's decision has been criticized for favoring the owner-run National League over the player-dominated National Association. David Nemec 's The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Major League Baseball includes players' National Association statistics in their major league totals; Nemec states that his compendium "is not bound by major league baseball's decision to treat its statistics separately", points out that "the National Association contained most of

1375-420: The National Association are its status as the first fully professional baseball league, the fact that several of its teams continued on as part of the National League when it was founded in 1876, and the much more complete state of National Association records today than they were in 1969, thanks to research efforts by a number of baseball historians. In 1982, Sports Illustrated writer Marc Onigman argued that

1430-535: The National League gave permission for the move. After a 3 1 ⁄ 2 -hour meeting at the Vinoy Park Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida, league approval was granted after Perini promised not to sell the team. During a game against the New York Yankees on March 18, the sale was announced final and that the team would move to Milwaukee, immediately. The All-Star Game had been scheduled for Braves Field. It

1485-406: The National League to move the Braves to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After the franchise's long history in Boston, the day became known as "Black Friday" in the city as fans mourned the team's exit after eight decades. Perini, however, pointed to dwindling attendance as the main reason for the relocation. He also announced that he had recently bought out his original partners. He announced Milwaukee as that

1540-498: The National League, a feat he would duplicate in 1951. While in Boston, Jethroe was a roommate of Chuck Cooper , of the Boston Celtics who was the first African-American player drafted by an NBA team. A former Negro leagues star and military veteran, Jethroe remains the oldest player to have won Rookie of the Year honors. Amid four mediocre seasons after 1948, attendance steadily dwindled, even though Braves Field had

1595-539: The Red Sox in place of the "Americans". When George and John Dovey acquired the club in 1907, the team was named the Doves ; when purchased by William Hepburn Russell in 1911 reporters tried out Rustlers. The team adopted an official name, the Braves , for the first time in 1912 . Their owner, James Gaffney , was a member of New York City's Tammany Hall , which used an Indian chief as their symbol. Two years later,

1650-528: The Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding , the Red Stockings won four of the National Association's five championships. The team became one of the National League's charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the " Red Caps " (as a new Cincinnati Red Stockings club was another charter member). Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, while retaining red as the team color. Boston won

1705-433: The amateur association, broke away to found the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. (The remaining amateur clubs founded the National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players, which only lasted two years). In 1876, wanting an even stronger central organization, six clubs from the NA and two independents established the National League : Boston Red Stockings , Hartford , Mutual , Athletic , Chicago , and

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1760-399: The best professional players of its time", and also argues that the National Association is more entitled to major league status than the 1884 Union Association (which has been officially recognized as a major league by Major League Baseball). The editors of The 2007 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia also registered their disagreement with the NA's exclusion, arguing that the NA "was indisputably

1815-451: The end of 1896, the ballpark had been dismantled and urban development took over the property. The location is now occupied by several office buildings, and the alley behind them, which would go through the area of the outfield, was used in the 2006 film The Departed , in a key scene where Martin Sheen 's character is pushed off a roof. Historic New England has a photo of the interior of

1870-419: The end of the 1923 season, it was obvious Mathewson could not continue even in a reduced role, and he would die two years later, with the result that Fuchs was permanently given the presidency. In 1928, the Braves traded for Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby who had a very productive year in his only season with Boston. He batted .387 to win his seventh and final batting championship. Fuchs was committed to building

1925-501: The first openly all-professional baseball team, voted to dissolve after the 1870 season. Player-manager Harry Wright then went to Boston, Massachusetts —at the invitation of Boston businessman Ivers Whitney Adams —with brother George Wright and two other Cincinnati players joined the Boston Red Stockings , a charter member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players . This team and its successors are

1980-459: The following list, the bold names are the names most often used by contemporary newspapers in league standings, and the linked names after them are those typically ascribed to the teams now, using the Encyclopedia of Baseball standard. Before 1883, team order in baseball standings was determined by the number of games a team won, not by winning percentage . For each of the five NA seasons,

2035-473: The influence of gamblers. Whether to cover the NA as a major league is a recurring matter of difference in historical work on American baseball among historians, encyclopedists, database builders, and others. Major League Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame do not recognize it as a major league, but the NA comprised most of the professional clubs and the highest caliber of play then in existence. Its players, managers, and umpires are included among

2090-566: The league champion had both the most games won and the best winning percentage. The placement of other clubs may vary—for example, the 1872 Philadelphia Athletics finished in fourth place (based on their win total), while recording the second-best winning percentage. The NA did not have a postseason; champions were determined by final standings at the end of the season. † Individual statistics from tie games count towards players' career totals, but tie games are excluded when computing winning percentage and games behind . Eight people who played in

2145-483: The next 19 years in mediocrity, during which they posted only three winning seasons ( 1921 , 1933 , and 1934 ). The lone highlight of those years came when Giants' attorney Emil Fuchs bought the team in 1923 to bring his longtime friend, pitching great Christy Mathewson , back into the game. Although original plans called for Mathewson to be the principal owner, he had never recovered from tuberculosis that he had contracted after being gassed during World War I . By

2200-627: The nickname "Miracle Braves". In 1948 , the Braves reached the World Series largely as a result of their two dominant pitchers, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain , who inspired the Boston Post slogan "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." The Braves posted a losing record in all but 12 of the 38 seasons after their World Series win. The franchise relocated to Milwaukee in 1953. The Boston franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field

2255-644: The oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. (The only other team that has been organized as long, the Chicago Cubs , did not play for the two years following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.) Two players hired from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois , were pitcher Al Spalding (founder of Spalding sporting goods) and second baseman Ross Barnes . Led by

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2310-535: The only team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July . They were in last place as late as July 18, but were close to the pack, moving into fourth on July 21 and second place on August 12. Despite their amazing comeback, the Braves entered the World Series as a heavy underdog to Connie Mack 's Philadelphia Athletics . Nevertheless, the Braves swept the Athletics—the first unqualified sweep in

2365-553: The pair: First we'll use Spahn then we'll use Sain Then an off day followed by rain Back will come Spahn followed by Sain And followed we hope by two days of rain. The poem received such a wide audience that the sentiment, usually now paraphrased as "Spahn, Sain, then pray for rain" or "Spahn, Sain and two days of rain", entered the baseball vocabulary. Ironically, in the 1948 season,

2420-550: The park. 42°21′02″N 71°02′54″W  /  42.350452°N 71.048283°W  / 42.350452; -71.048283 Boston Beaneaters The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Massachusetts , and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves ). Then in 1966 they were relocated to Atlanta , where they were renamed

2475-523: The previous three league pennants. After a day off, the Braves put together a hot streak, and from July 6 through September 5, the Braves won 41 games against only 12 losses. On September 7 and 8, the Braves took 2 of 3 from the New York Giants and moved into first place. The Braves tore through September and early October, closing with 25 wins against 6 losses, while the Giants went 16–16. They are

2530-425: The reputation of being more family friendly than Fenway. For a half century, the major leagues had not had a single franchise relocation. The Braves played their last home game in Boston on September 21, 1952 , losing to the Brooklyn Dodgers 8–2 before 8,822 at Braves Field; the home attendance for the 1952 season was under 282,000. On March 13, 1953, owner Lou Perini said that he would seek permission from

2585-482: The second–place St. Louis Cardinals . They also attracted 1,455,439 fans to Braves Field , the third-largest gate in the National League and a high-water mark for the team's stay in Boston. The pitching staff was anchored by Hall of Famer Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain , who won 39 games between them. The remainder of the rotation was so thin that in September, Boston Post writer Gerald Hern wrote this poem about

2640-486: The team needed in 1935 . On opening day , he had a hand in all of the Braves' runs in a 4–2 win over the Giants . However, this could not last. Opening Day proved to be the only time the Braves were over .500 all year. A 4–20 May ended any realistic chance of contention. At the same time, it became apparent that Ruth was finished even as a part-time player. While his high living of previous years had begun catching up with him

2695-470: The young history of the modern World Series (the 1907 World Series had one tied game)—to win the world championship. Meanwhile, former Chicago Cubs infielder Johnny Evers , in his second season with the Braves, won the Chalmers Award . The Braves played the World Series (as well as the last few weeks of the 1914 regular season) at Fenway Park , since their normal home, the South End Grounds ,

2750-550: Was forced to give up control of the Braves in August 1935, and new owner Bob Quinn tried to change the team's image by renaming it the Boston Bees . This did little to change the team's fortunes. After five uneven years, a new owner, construction magnate Lou Perini , changed the nickname back to the Braves. In 1948 , the team won the National League pennant by capturing 91 games to finish 6 1 ⁄ 2 places ahead of

2805-476: Was hot air. In fact, Ruth discovered that Fuchs expected him to invest some of his money in the team. Seeing a franchise in complete disarray, Ruth retired on June 1, only six days after he clouted what turned out to be the last three home runs of his career, in what remains one of the most memorable afternoons in baseball history. He had wanted to quit as early as May 12, but Fuchs wanted him to hang on so he could play in every National League park. By this time,

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2860-616: Was moved to Crosley Field and hosted by the Cincinnati Reds . The Braves franchise moved their triple-A Brewers from Milwaukee to Toledo, Ohio. After the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953 , the Braves Field site was sold to Boston University and reconstructed as Nickerson Field , the home of many Boston University teams. The Braves Field scoreboard was sold to the Kansas City A's and used at Municipal Stadium ;

2915-527: Was published, National Association records were not included in totals for such early stars as Cap Anson . Arguments against including the NA as a major league 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), and the poor state of the NA records. The Special Baseball Records Committee's decision has faced continuing criticism. Oft-cited arguments in favor of

2970-399: Was too small. However, the Braves' success inspired owner Gaffney to build a modern park, Braves Field , which opened in August 1915. It was the largest park in the majors at the time, with 40,000 seats and also a very spacious outfield. The park was novel for its time; public transportation brought fans right into the park. After contending for most of 1915 and 1916, the Braves spent much of

3025-487: Was where the Braves had their top farm club, the Brewers. Milwaukee had long been a possible target for relocation. Bill Veeck had tried to move his St. Louis Browns there earlier the same year (Milwaukee was the original home of that franchise), but his proposal had been voted down by the other American League owners. Going into spring training in 1953, it appeared that the Braves would play another year in Boston unless

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