October 9, 1890: The National League, the American Association, and the insurgent Players' League, all hit hard financially by their 3-way "war" for players and fans, reach a truce. The PL folds, and their players are welcomed back to their former teams at their former salaries.
The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players in November 1889, after a dispute over pay with the NL and the AA. The NL had implemented a reserve clause in 1879, which limited the ability of players to negotiate across teams for their salaries. Both the AA and NL had passed a salary cap of $2,000 per player in 1885, equivalent to about $60,300 in 2022. The owners of the NL teams had agreed to remove the salary cap in 1887, but broke their word.
The Brotherhood included most of the best players of the NL. Brotherhood members, led by John Montgomery Ward -- who could play just about any position, including pitcher, and was also a practicing attorney -- left the NL and formed the PL after failing to change the NL's lopsided player–management relationship.
The PL had 8 teams. The New York Giants were named after their NL counterparts. The PL also directly challenged the NL with the Boston Reds, the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders ("Monte" Ward's team), the Philadelphia Athletics (no connection to the later American League team of that name), the Chicago Pirates, the Pittsburgh Burghers (the NL's Pittsburgh team was still called the Alleghenys, not the Pirates), and the Cleveland Infants.
The Cincinnati Reds were the only NL team that did not have a direct PL competitor, and the Buffalo Bisons were the only PL team not directly competing with an NL team. The AA had teams in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, and those were the 2 least-attended teams in their league -- directly leading to their being the 2 worst. The AA also had teams in Baltimore, Syracuse, Rochester, Columbus, Toledo, Louisville and St. Louis.
The Pennants were won by Brooklyn in the NL, by Louisville in the AA, and by Boston in the PL. The PL was well-attended, at least in some cities, but was underfunded, and its owners lacked the confidence to continue beyond the one season.
After the PL folded, the Boston and Philadelphia franchises joined the AA, and both folded together with the AA after the 1891 season. The PL franchises in Brooklyn, New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh each merged with their NL counterparts after the 1890 season, as the rebel players were welcomed back.
Although the league was started by the players themselves, essentially as an elaborate job-action to improve their lot, the venture proved to be a setback for them in the longer term. The hated reserve clause remained intact, and would remain thus for the next 85. The already-shaky AA had been further weakened by the presence of the PL.
One benefit of the league, from the management standpoint, was the construction of new facilities, several of which were used for a while by the established major league clubs. The most prominent of these was a new Polo Grounds, originally constructed as Brotherhood Park for the New York Giants of the PL. The NL's Giants moved in for the 1891 season, and stayed until a fire burned it down in 1911. A new Polo Grounds was built on the site, and the Giants stayed until moving to San Francisco after the 1957 season. This would be paralleled by one Federal League ballpark entering the remaining major leagues for 1916: The Chicago park that was later renamed Wrigley Field.
The NL survives to this day. The AA, however, was mortally wounded, and folded after one more season. That brought a vacuum that was filled by the American League in 1901. In 1902, a new American Association was formed, at the highest minor-league level.
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October 9, 1890 was a Thursday. There were 4 baseball games played that day, all in the American Association:
* The Rochester Broncos beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 10-4 at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Syracuse Stars, 6-3 at Oriole Park in Baltimore.
* The Toledo Maumees beat the Louisville Colonels, 7-0 at Eclipse Park in Louisville.
* And the Columbus Solons beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-5 at an early version of Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
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