įortunately for the Alleghenys, the Players' League collapsed after a single season and the players were allowed to return to their former teams. The Alleghenys ended up playing their last 29 home games on the road, and finished the season with a total attendance of about 16,000 fans. The allegiances of Pittsburgh baseball fans also jumped to Players League, leading to trouble at the box office for the Alleghenys. With a decimated roster, the team experienced what is still the worst season in franchise history, going 23–113. The Alleghenys were severely crippled during the 1890 season, when nearly all of their stars jumped to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League. Nimick was club president and Horace Phillips manager. team to switch to the older National League in 1887. an 80–57 record and a second-place finish - Pittsburgh became the first A.A. The next year's team, aided by the signing of many players from the disbanded Columbus Buckeyes, rebounded to a marginally winning record and a third-place league mark.
500 inaugural season was followed by two inept campaigns, including a disastrous 1884 effort in which the Alleghenys went 30-78 and used five different managers.
The Alleghenys had limited success during their five years in the American Association. The team played its games at Exposition Park I & II, located between the present-day site of Heinz Field and the Pirates' current home, PNC Park, before persistent flooding forced a move in 1884 to higher ground at Union (Recreation) Park. Chartered as the Allegheny Base Ball Club of Pittsburgh, the team was listed as "Allegheny" in the standings, and was sometimes called the "Alleghenys" (rarely the "Alleghenies") in that era's custom of referring to a team by its pluralized city or club name. Clair Hotel to organize a new Allegheny club, which began play in 1882 as a founding member of the American Association, which had started up to take on the established National League. On October 15, 1881, Denny McKnight held a meeting at Pittsburgh's St. But the Allegheny was hit hard in 1878 by player defections and competition from other, better-established teams in Pittsburgh, and the club folded. The team joined the minor league International Association in 1877 and posted a decent 13–6 record, featuring future Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin. Pittsburgh lost its bid in February to join the newly created National League, so several local organizers formed the Allegheny Base Ball Club, an independent (non-league) club.
Professional baseball in the Pittsburgh area began in 1876. The teams often competed at Union Park in what was then known as Allegheny City, across the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh.
After the Civil War, baseball was sufficiently popular that the city fielded several amateur teams considered to be strong: the Enterprise, Xantha, and Olympic clubs. The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal of "Uncle" Al Pratt, who recalled playing the game on the "Commons of Allegheny" in 1858. 1.10.3 2016–2019: End of the Huntington eraįranchise history Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association.1.7 1980–1985 Galbreaths looking to sell.1.2 Early struggles in the National League.1.1 Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association.