Union Association (Baseball)

Alpepper provided some good details about this one year, very flimsy, obscure major league. Only a handful of players in this league were of true major league caliber, the best known are outfielder Tommy McCarthy, one of the worst Hall of Famers, though a good player, and Fred Dunlap, who was a pretty good second baseman in other years who took on a Ruthian form in this weak league, and a few other guys. Many of the other guys in the league who had legitimately played in the other 2 majors before (or later) were either has beens, benchwarmers, kids who weren't ready, and marginal cup of coffee guys. The league sucked, St. Louis ran away with the pennant, many teams folded during the year, and attendance was bad. Not surprisingly, it all fell apart soon after the 1884 season.

Though awarded Major League status, it was probably about a caliber in between AA and AAA ball of today. The most interesting team of the league was the Wilmington Quicksteps, who own records for lowest win percentage (.111), lowest team batting average (.175), and lowest paid attendance for a home game (Zero as in 0), resulting in a forfeit by the Quicksteps because they couldn't pay the purse to the opposing team.