Club of Boston, which was established in 1854, and in
the following year participated in the first match game played in that
locality, its opponents being the Elm Tree team. The first match games
in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington were played in 1860. For
several years the Knickerbocker Club was alone in the field, but after a
while similar clubs began to organize, while in 1857 an association was
formed which the following year developed into the National Association.

The series of rules prepared by a committee of the principal clubs of
New York City governed all games prior to 1857, but on January 22d,
1857, a convention of clubs was held at which a new code of rules was
enacted. On March 10th, 1858, delegates from twenty-five clubs of New
York and Brooklyn met and organized the National Association of
Base-ball Players, which for thirteen successive seasons annually
revised the playing rules, and decided all disputes arising in base-ball.

The first series of contests for the championship took place during 1858
and 1859. At that time the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, N. J., were the
great center of base-ball playing, and here the Knickerbockers, Eagle,
Gotham and Empire Clubs of New York City ruled supreme.

A rival sprung up, however, in the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn, and its
success led to the arrangement of a series of games between selected
nines of the New York and Brooklyn Clubs in 1858. In these encounters
New York proved victorious, winning the first and third games by the
respective scores of 22 to 18, and 29 to 18, while Brooklyn won the
second contest by 29 to 8. In October, 1861, another contest took place
between the representative nines of New York and Brooklyn for the silver
ball presented by the New York Clipper, and Brooklyn easily won by a
score of 18 to 6. The Civil war materially affected the progress of the
game in 1861, '62 and '63 and but little base-ball was played, many
wielders of the bat having laid aside the ash to shoulder the musket.

The Atlantic and Eckford Clubs of Brooklyn were the chief contestants
for the championship in 1862, the Eckfords then wresting the
championship away from the Atlantics, and retaining it also during the
succeeding season, when they were credited with an unbroken succession
of victories. The champion nine of the Eckford Club in 1863 were
Sprague, pitcher; Beach, catcher; Roach, Wood and Duffy on the bases;
Devyr, shortstop; and Manolt, Swandell and