1876 scorecard in REA

[oldjudge]

Gary--as someone who bid on this scorecard, I think your characterization of the price it went for being crazy is, to coin a term, crazy. On the contrary, I think it is one of the most important scorecards in existence. To put this in context, by 1875 William Hulbert was convinced that eastern baseball powers in the National Association were conspiring against western teams. After the 1875 season he spirited Al Spaulding, Cap Anson, Deacon White and Ross Barnes to Chicago and then orchestrated the formation of the National League. On May 30, 1876 Boston met Chicago for their first National League game. This was the first time that Al Spaulding played against his former team, and marked the first battle of the two baseball powers of the early years of the league. Today, 138 years after the National League was formed, only two franchises have had uninterrupted National League membership, making them the oldest National League franchises-the Cubs and the Braves--and this is the scorecard from the first time they met.
As for your question about the colors listed with the Chicago player's names, in 1876 the Chicago team had each player wear a different colored fez like hat (no tassel). The program shows the color each player wore.