The First Pro Baseball Team
The Cincinnati Red Stockings were America's first professional baseball team. They began their existence on March 15, 1869.
Amazingly, the Red Stockings played an entire season without losing a game. The season had fewer games in it than today's seasons do, but the Red Stockings still went undefeated, 65–0. The manager that year was Harry Wright. They played other groups of men and then other pro teams, traveling across the country at times to do so. They went 130 games before finally losing, to the Brooklyn Atlantics. Immediately, Cincinnati fans stopped coming to the games. Investors backed out as well, and the team was in danger of disappearing. The team did disappear, sort of. The city of Boston lured the team, its players, and its manager to New England, where the Boston Red Stockings were born. The sport of baseball caught on, despite the reluctance of many early Cincinnati fans. The city got another baseball team in 1882; this team had the same name, the Red Stockings. It is still in existence today, as the Cincinnati Reds. |
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Social Studies for Kids
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David White
