International Association for Professional Base Ball Players

Columbus, Ohio (Columbus Buckeyes)

Guelph, Ontario, Canada (Guelph Maple Leafs)

Lynn, Massachusetts (Lynn Live Oaks)

Final standings

Final standings of the 1877 season:

London Tecumsehs 14-4-2*

Pittsburgh Allegheny 13-6-0

Rochester (The Rochesters), NY 10-8-0

Manchester (The Manchesters), NH 9-10-0

Columbus Buckeyes 9-11-2

Guelph Maple Leafs 4-12-0

Lynn (Massachusetts) Live Oaks 1-9-0 * disbanded

Fred Goldsmith, London's star pitcher, had a 14–4 record in 193 innings pitched with three shutouts, during International Association play in 1877.

1878 season

In 1878, the league lost two teams, Guelph and Columbus; however, it added the Binghamton Crickets, Hornellsville Hornells, Lowell Lowells and Syracuse Stars. The cities of Buffalo, New York, Hartford, Connecticut, New Bedford, Massachusetts, New Haven, Connecticut, Springfield, Massachusetts and Worcester, Massachusetts also had representatives.

Bud Fowler, the first African-American player in organized baseball, pitched for the Lynn club in 1878.

Buffalo was awarded the pennant at the league's winter meetings, after resolving a controversy where the second-place Syracuse club claimed a win by forfeit that would have tied them for the league lead. The win was vacated, but the convention voted to give third-place Utica the pennant instead, citing Syracuse and Buffalo leaving the IA for the National League. They reversed their decision the next day, leaving Buffalo with the pennant.

Transformation and hiatus

The Buffalo Bisons, winners of the 1878 pennant, and the Syracuse Stars seriously hurt the International Association when they joined the rival National League for the 1879 season. At the same time, the London Tecumsehs dropped out of the league, causing it to be renamed the National Base Ball Association entering the 1879 season. Under that name, it played through the 1880 season before dissolving. Newspapers of the era referred to it more succinctly as the National Contest or National Championship, not to be confused with the National League, which was known simply as the League.

1879

Teams from nine cities competed during the 1879 season: Teams of this era were commonly referred to simply by their city, such as "the Holyokes" or "the Worcesters".

Albany, New York (known as the "Blue Stockings")

Holyoke, Massachusetts

Manchester, New Hampshire

New Bedford, Massachusetts

Rochester, New York (known as the "Hop Bitters")

Springfield, Massachusetts

Utica, New York (known as the "Pent Ups")

Washington, D.C. (known as the "Nationals")

Worcester, Massachusetts (known as the "Grays")

Standings published in early October 1879, with the season "regarded as virtually closed", were:

After the season, Worcester left the IA to join the National League.

1880

Teams from four cities competed during the 1880 season:

Albany, New York

Baltimore, Maryland

Rochester, New York (known as the "Hop Bitters")

Washington, D.C. (known as the "Nationals")

The season began on May 1, with Albany and Washington playing to a 4–4 draw in 11 innings in Albany. Rochester did not join the association until June. By early August, Baltimore had dropped out, with records of contests played between the remaining three teams published as:

Games were played as late as the first week in September, with Washington defeating Rochester, 4–2, in a game played in Baltimore on September 2.