Yesterday, I talked about how some of the teams in the National Association, the first Major League (according to some), were from very small cities, cities which were in some cases smaller even than modern-day stadium capacities. Well, once the National League started in 1876, there never again would be super-small cities (like Keokuk- apologies to Keokuk) hosting MLB teams. Sure, there were cities that today would seem unlikely to host MLB teams- Troy, New York, for example. But they were big cities for their time: Troy was the 29th largest city in America in 1880, and it was very close to Albany, which was the 21st largest city. That there were teams at one point or another in Louisville, Rochester, Providence and other such cities are similar cases: back then, they were amongst the larger cities in America.

But, there have been some example, mainly because of one organization: the Union Association. Formed in 1884, the Union Association was, briefly, the third major league, to go alongside the National League and American Association. It was unique in that it didn’t have a reserve clause… and because it probably wasn’t a major league, even though it usually is counted as such. You see, the league’s founder, one Henry Lucas, showed much favoritism to his hometown St. Louis team, leading it to essentially be a Major League team in a Minor League. It went 94-19 during the 1884 season. Four teams folded and were replaced by minor league clubs. For example… (jump)

The Altoona Mountain Citys: Strategically Located!

Altoona was very small in 1884, a bit larger than 20,000 people. However, the railroad went through it, so it made sense to have, so that teams could play there on their way out west or back east. The Mountain Citys started off losing 11 straight and finished their lone season 6-19.

St. Paul and Wilmington: The Replacements

St. Paul, Minnesota and Wilmington, Delaware had top teams in the minors to start 1884, so as teams started to fold or drop out of the Union Association, they were amongst those brought in as replacements to finish the season. St. Paul went 2-6, while Wilmington went 2-16 before itself folding, at which point they were replaced for the last month of the season by Milwaukee. Seriously, the Union Association was messed up.

A special note: The Western League and the Pre-1901 American League

Although not truly a Major League, the Western League is worth mentioning it in that it later became the American League under the tenure of Ban Johnson, who took over the league in late 1893. As the name suggests, the league was primarily located in the west. But when the NL dropped cities such as Washington and Cleveland in the late 1890s, the league made a move east and changed it’s name to the “American League”, eventually making the jump to full Major League in 1901.

As a result, the histories of some of the AL’s stalwarts actually start, in a way, in some smaller cities. The Chicago White Sox, for example, can be traced back to a team in Sioux Falls. The Cleveland Indians can be traced back to Grand Rapids. Many other cities were simply dropped to be replaced by new teams founded in places like Boston.

The only AL team that remains in the same city it was in back during the Western League days is the Detroit Tigers, which I guess in a way makes it the de-facto “oldest” team in the American league.

And now you know.

This weekend: World Baseball Classic content