Baseball's Wildest Season: Three Leagues, Thirty-Four Teams and the Chaos of 1884

At the end of the 1883 baseball season, things looked rosy--attendance had skyrocketed and the National League and American Association were at peace-. A year later the sport was in disarray. A third major league, the Union Association, waged a bitter war that rocked the baseball world. The following season, the UA dissolved in a sea of red ink, the AA dropped four teams, and the minor leagues hoped to survive until spring. Amid the chaos were some historic moments. Iron-man pitcher Hoss Radbourn won 59 games and led the Providence Grays to victory over the New York Metropolitans in the first World Series. There were a record eight no-hitters. There were fascinating figures--some famous, some lost to history--like Hustling Horace Phillips, Dan O'Leary and Edward (The Only) Nolan. This book tells the story of the momentous yet overshadowed 1884 season.