ter for me to get my release
from Chicago, and being naturally anxious to please her I made two trips
to Chicago that winter for the purpose, and finally did what no ball
player ever did before--offered $1,000 to be released from my promise.

It was no go, however, as both Messrs. Hulbert and Spalding had made up
their minds that I should play on their team, and both of them knew me
well enough to know that I would keep my word at all hazards, no matter
what my personal likes or dislikes in the matter might be.

The last few months of my stay in Philadelphia passed all too quickly,
and a short time before the opening of the regular season found me in
the Garden City ready to don a Chicago uniform and do the very best I
could to help win the pennant for the latest city of my adoption.

The constitution of the new league provided for an entrance fee of $100
per club, and also provided that no city of less than 75,000 inhabitants
could become a member. It also provided that each city should be
represented by one club only, this prohibiting the danger of local
opposition, such as the Professional Players' Association had suffered
from in Philadelphia, St. Louis and other cities. Other reforms were the
adoption of a player's contract, which enabled the clubs to keep their
players and prevented them from being hired away by rival organizations.

This was the first step toward the reserve rule that followed later. It
also provided for the expelling of players who were guilty of breaking
their contracts or of dishonesty, and such players were to be debarred
forever afterwards from playing on the league teams. Gambling and liquor
selling on club grounds were prohibited and players interested in a bet
on the result of games or purchasing a pool ticket were liable to
expulsion.

The make-up of the Chicago team in full for the National League's
initial season was as follows; A. G. Spalding, pitcher, captain and
manager; James White, catcher; A. C. Anson, third base; Ross Barnes,
second base; Cal A. McVey, first base; J. P. Peters, shortstop; J. W.
Glenn, left field; Paul A. Hines, center field; Robert Addy, right
field; and J. F. Cone, Oscar Bielaski, and F. H. Andrus, substitutes.

All through the season of 1876 the most intense rivalry existed between
the Chicago and Boston Clubs. The management of the latter organization,
smarting under the fact that the "big four" had been hired away from
them by the Western Metropolis, ha