First Professional Team
When the NABBP permitted professional members for 1869, Harry Wright and probably George Ellard organized a fully professional team: ten men on salary for eight months, March 15 to November 15. Wright played center field and coordinated the team defense, a novelty from any position. Younger brother and shortstop George Wright, new to the team in 1869, was its best player, maybe the best of his time.
The professional Cincinnati Red Stockings played their first game May 4, 1869, with a 45-9 win over the Great Westerns of Cincinnati. The team won 57 games and lost zero, counting only matches with Association clubs. They played over 70 games counting outside teams. Its commercial tour of continental scope, visiting both Boston and San Francisco, was unprecedented and may be essentially unrepeated. The first season ended November 6 at home with the Cincinnatis beating the Mutuals of New York 17-8.
With the same regular nine, the 1870 team continued to win regularly, perhaps 24 games before losing 8-7 in eleven innings to the Brooklyn Atlantics in Brooklyn, June 14. The Red Stockings remained one of the few strongest teams on the field, losing only six games, but attendance declined badly, especially at home.
Read more about this topic: Cincinnati Red Stockings
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