Players’ League deciding that its poor-performing Buffalo team should be replaced. Within days of the season’s end, Aaron Stern, owner of the Reds, sold his club for cash to a consortium of capitalists tied to the Players’ League. The club was then reorganized with Al Johnson installed as club president. The plan was for the new Cincinnati club to join the Players’ League for 1891, with the league dropping the underperforming Buffalo team in an effort to help stabilize itself financially. The sale was a controversial one: the National League never recognized the transfer, and the league contested control of the franchise. The October 18 issue of Sporting Life was filled with commentary on the transaction, with many surmising that the “”sale of human beings”” was in direct contrast with the founding principles of the Players’ League. At the same time, the Players’ League was experiencing its own issues and ultimately collapsed, filling the winter of 1890-91 with uncertainty, negotiations, buyouts, and court cases among National League, American Association, and Players’ League figures. To stabilize the team for reentry into the 1891 season, a complicated litany of stock transfers, negotiated buyouts, and court cases resulted in the Reds playing under National League control for the 1891 season. The purchase was ratified by National League owners in March of 1891, and the Reds opened the season in the Senior Circuit – where it has remained ever since. Presented here is a trove of documents highlighted by the handwritten contracts dated October 4, 1890, detailing the sale of the Reds and all its contracts and assets to Frank Brunell, Edward Talcott, Albert Johnson, and Hall of Famer John Ward for the total of $40,000. The agreements have been signed by Reds owner Aaron Stern and director Harry Stern. The documents include a breakdown of financial responsibility for the transaction on behalf of each of the teams (each team owing $7,500 with the exception of Philadelphia, which owed $2,500). The documents contain extraordinarily rare signatures from many of the figures associated with the leagues and the transactions, including Edwin McAlpin (Players’ League president), Frank Robinson (secretary of the New York Players’ League club), L.C. Krauthoff (Western Association president), John L. Rogers (NL representative), Edward Talcott, and many of the lawyers involved with the transactions. The collection includes:
• Two handwritten contracts dated 10/4/1890 detailing the sale of the Reds • An associated handwritten document breaking down the financial responsibilities of each Players’ League club • 10/29/1890 letter from attorney John Bruce to attorney Henry Bacon in response to a request for information about the sale • 12/17 and 12/18/1890 legal letters regarding the agreement
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