1845 September 10 – A baseball game is played that is described the following day in the New York Morning News.1845 September 23 – The New York Knickerbockers draw up the Knickerbocker Rules, which are written down by Alexander Cartwright.1845 October 22 – 34 first known box score appears in the New York Morning News a month after the first set of rules are written by Alexander Cartwright and some of his fellow New York Knickerbockers.1846 June 19 – The New York Knickerbockers play the "New York Nine" at Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey. The Knickerbockers lose to the New Yorks by a score of 23 to 1 in four innings of play.1854 – The Excelsior club established in Brooklyn.1855 – The Atlantic and Eckford clubs established in Brooklyn.1856 – The Union of Morrisania club established in the latter-day Bronx, New York.1857 – The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) is formed in meetings of sixteen New York area baseball clubs. The New York Mutuals and Newark Adriatics teams are formed.1858 – The first all-star games, and the first baseball games to charge admission, took place in Corona, Queens, New York, at the Fashion Race Course 1859 – The Potomac Club is formed in the summer and the National club in November in Washington, D.C.1859 July 1 – Amherst College defeats Williams College 73–32 in a game played in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.1860 – The Philadelphia Athletics team is formed. The Philadelphia Olympic Club changes from "Philadelphia rules" townball to New York (NABBP) rules. The Newark Eurekas team starts playing other teams in the NABBP. The Union Club of Lansingburgh team is formed, which would later become the Troy Haymakers of the NABBP.1860 February 22 – First recorded baseball game played in San Francisco, California between the San Francisco Eagles and the San Francisco Red Rovers.1860 September 28 – The first baseball game reported between two named black teams. At Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, the Weeksville of New York beat the Colored Union Club 11–0.1862 April – The Summit City Club is formed in Fort Wayne, Indiana (the club would reform as the Kekiongas in 1866).1865 October – The Milwaukee Cream Citys team is formed.1866 – The Fort Wayne Kekiongas team is reformed after the end of the Civil War.1866–1868 – The Rockford Forest Citys feature future superstars Albert Spalding and Ross Barnes.1866 June 23 – The Cincinnati Base Ball Club is formed and plays four outside matches.1867 – The Cincinnati Base Ball Club plays in the NABBP.National Association of Base Ball Players:1857: Atlantic of Brooklyn1858: Atlantic of Brooklyn1859: Atlantic of Brooklyn1860: Atlantic of Brooklyn1861: Atlantic of Brooklyn1862: Eckford of Brooklyn1863: Eckford of Brooklyn1864: Atlantic of Brooklyn1865: Atlantic of Brooklyn1866: Atlantic of Brooklyn1867: Union of Morrisania1868: Mutual of New YorkAt its December 1868 annual meeting, the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) permitted professional clubs. Twelve existing members did "go pro" and constitute the professional field for 1869.
Marshall Wright publishes 1868 season records for 98 teams, many of them incomplete ("(inc)" in the table). Bill Ryczek calls 15 of that season's teams "major" (not marked). This table covers all of those "majors" (not marked), all of the 1869 "pros" (*), all 14 member clubs with at least twelve wins on record, and a few others. For the seven listed clubs in Greater New York, no city is named in the first column; the comment gives their locales.
At least four Association clubs not listed here would someday try professionalism: Riverside of Portsmouth, Ohio (1870); Kekionga of Fort Wayne, Indiana (1871); Middletown of Mansfield, Connecticut (1872); Resolute of Elizabeth, New Jersey (1873).
Meanwhile, only two brand new professional baseball clubs would be established in the next three years, the Chicago White Stockings for 1870 and the Boston Red Stockings for 1871. Their commercial origins may be related to their survival alone by 1877, and on to 2010, while all of their rivals with older and amateur roots fell away.
Marshall Wright publishes 1867 season records for 89 teams, many of them incomplete ("(inc)" in the table). Bill Ryczek calls 17 of that season's teams "major" (not marked). This table covers all of those "majors", all 13 member clubs with at least fourteen wins on record, and a few others. For the nine listed clubs in Greater New York, no city is named in the first column; the comment gives their locales.
Star (*) marks ten clubs among twelve who would go pro in 1869. Excelsior of Chicago and Buckeye of Cincinnati are listed because they were probably the strongest teams in the west after the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
Marshall Wright publishes 1866 season records for 58 of 93 association members, said to be complete for games between two member clubs. Bill Ryczek calls 20 of that season's teams "major" including three old New York rivals of the Knickerbockers.
This table covers all of those "majors", all 14 members with at least eight wins on record, and a few others. For the fifteen listed clubs in Greater New York, no city is named in the first column; the comment gives their locales.
Star (*) marks eight clubs among twelve who would go pro in 1869, three seasons later.
1865 and earlier clubs
For the preceding 1865 season Marshall Wright lists 30 members with supposedly complete records for most of them. Twenty-two of the thirty were in Greater New York. Bill Ryczek calls 19 teams "major" in the first season that he covers: sixteen of the members and three others (Lowell, Harvard, and Camden).
No one traveled much and membership was still depressed by the Civil War. There had been 59 delegates at the March 1860 annual meeting, and 55 at the next annual meeting that December (on a new baseball calendar), who thereby intended to play during the 1861 season that the war curtailed. Nine of 59 and eleven of 55 were from outside Greater New York.
1847January 28 – George WrightDecember 7 – Deacon White1848October [?] – Wally GoldsmithOctober 18 – Candy Cummings1850Date of birth missingBill AllisonRobert ArmstrongNed ConnorDickie FlowersTom MillerWilliam RexterFraley RogersJanuary [?] – John GlennFebruary 7 – Mike HooperMarch 26 – Morrie CritchleyApril [?] – Wallace TerryApril 8 – John PetersApril 12 – Sandy NavaMay 8 – Ross BarnesJune 12 – John StedronskyJune 13 – Bobby ClackJuly 13 – Tom YorkJuly 14 – Jim HoldsworthJune 23 – George BirdJuly 24 – Joe MillerJuly 26 – Tricky NicholsAugust [?] – Tommy BealsAugust 1 – Michael CampbellAugust 10 – Jim ClintonAugust 23 – Fred AndrusAugust 31 – Gene KimballSeptember 1 – Jim O'RourkeSeptember 2 – Albert SpaldingOctober 3 – Al NevinOctober 29 – George EwellNovember 22 – Favel WordsworthNovember 23 – Cy BentleyNovember 30 – Alamazoo Jennings1851September 11- Mike GoldenOctober [?] – Orator Shafer1852February 5 – Charlie HautzMarch 27 – Ed CushmanApril 17 – Cap AnsonApril 30 – Charley JonesAugust 22 – Martin MullenDecember 10 – Frank Bliss18531854September 8 – Russ McKelvyNovember 4 – John AbadieDecember 11 – Charles Radbourn1855March 21 – William CoonOctober 2 – Jack AllenOctober 2 – John Carbine1856December 25 – Pud Galvin1857January 1 – Tim KeefeJuly 1 – Roger ConnorAugust 20 – George BakerAugust 22 – Ned HanlonOctober 7 – Moxie HengelOctober 19 - Tom PoormanDecember 31 – King Kelly1858Date of birth missingJanuary 1 – John DoyleMay 8 – Dan BrouthersMay 25 – Tip O'NeillAugust 19 – Phil CoridanSeptember 11 – Mike DePangherOctober 15 – J. R. Malone1859July [?] – Tony MurphyJuly 4 – Mickey WelchJuly 8 – Hank O'DayAugust 15 – Charles ComiskeySeptember 29 – Dave OrrOctober 17 – Buck EwingOctober 26 – Frank SeleeNovember 1 – Bid McPhee1860June 26 – Al StrueveAugust 27 – Scrappy CarrollAugust 29 – Buck West1861August 28 – Charlie Reising1862March 3 – Jumbo SchoeneckJuly 14 – Law DanielsDecember 22 – Connie Mack1863May 25 – John Hofford1864April 17 – Jersey BakleyJune [?] – John CuffAugust 7 – Adonis TerryOctober 25 - John Godar1865January 6 - Sun DalyMay 4 – Chuck LauerMay [?] – Fred SmithJune 30 – Tim HurstJuly 19 – Jim DonnellyOctober 25 – Bill Shettsline1866January 5 – William B. HannaMarch 12 – Denny LyonsMarch 25 – Larry McKeonApril 20 – Pat HannivanAugust 26 – Ledell TitcombSeptember 16 – Joe VilaNovember 28 – Sy Sanborn1867March 29 – Cy YoungAugust 5 – Jacob RuppertOctober 7 – Brickyard Kennedy1868Date of birth missingJim AdamsFrank KnaussSparrow McCaffreyAmbrose McGannEd PabstJim PowersKid SummersFred Truax
January [?] – Tom LetcherJanuary 1 – Dave ZearfossJanuary 9 – Harley PayneJanuary 11 – Silver KingJanuary 12 – Dan DaubJanuary 14 – John NewellJanuary 15 – Jock MenefeeJanuary 28 – Dan SweeneyJanuary 30 – General StaffordFebruary 13 – Biff SheehanFebruary 19 – Sal CampfieldFebruary 22 – George DaviesFebruary 23 – Lew CampMarch 10 – Lew WhistlerMarch 10 – Theodore ConoverMarch 13 – Bill GilbertMarch 15 – Roscoe CoughlinMarch 19 – Skyrocket SmithMarch 23 – Mike SmithMarch 25 – Frank DwyerMarch 31 – Jack StivettsApril [?] – Warren FitzgeraldApril 2 – Frank BoydApril 6 – Walt PrestonApril 10 – Tom ParrottApril 25 – Fred HartmanMay [?] – Will CalihanMay 1 – Pete AllenMay 9 – Josh ReillyMay 10 – Ed BarrowMay 17 – Fred WoodcockMay 28 – John BatesJune [?] – George HodsonJune [?] – Ed KnouffJune [?] – Bob MillerJune 7 – Mike RyanJune 12 – Sol WhiteJune 27 – Bill DaleyJune 28 – John TaberJuly 5 – Pat WrightJuly 7 – Willard MainsJuly 8 – Harry H. GilbertJuly 18 – Tony MadiganJuly 29 – George RettgerAugust 11 – Dan O'ConnorAugust 12 – Charlie BellAugust 12 – Jerry HarringtonAugust 31 – Red EhretSeptember [?] – Jeremiah ReardonSeptember 1 – Mike O'RourkeSeptember 2 – Al SauterSeptember 10 – Dusty MillerSeptember 11 – Steve BrodieSeptember 15 – Frank O'ConnorSeptember 21 – Joe DalyOctober [?] – Bobby CargoOctober [?] – Tom CahillOctober 6 – Whitey GibsonOctober 10 – Dave AndersonOctober 10 – Ad GumbertOctober 14 – Fred UnderwoodOctober 18 – Boileryard ClarkeOctober 22 – Charlie WeberOctober 25 – Dan BurkeNovember 2 – Jim McCormickNovember 5 – Charlie NewmanNovember 7 – Julie FreemanNovember 9 – Bill PhillipsNovember 12 – Bill GleasonNovember 12 – Jack RyanNovember 17 – Ezra LincolnDecember [?] – Bill SullivanDecember 1 – George FoxDecember 4 – Jesse BurkettDecember 5 – Frank BowermanDecember 8 – Jocko HalliganDecember 10 – Neil StynesDecember 11 – Tom GettingerDecember 13 – Bill EverittDecember 15 – George Hemming1862October 18 – Jim Creighton 
