Despite the loses, Von der Ahe figured his pitching staff (Jack Stivetts, Icebox Chamberlain, and Toad Ramsey) was the best in the league and that his Browns were still be good enough to win their fifth title in six seasons. Three regulars from the previous season, RF Tommy McCarthy, SS Shorty Fuller, and CF Charlie Duffee returned in 1890. McCarthy had probably the best year in his Hall-of-Fame career, batting .350 with a .430 OBP and a league-leading 82 SB; he was among the league leaders in almost every catagory. In addition, newcomers Count Campau in LF and Ed Cartwright at 1B finished 1-2 in the league in home runs (with 9 and 8 respectively). However, the rest of the cast was a mishmash of players - 35 total played for the Browns in 1890, and only 8 non-pitchers even appeared in more than half of the Browns games (with only McCarthy and Fuller appearing in more than 100 of the 135 games). Third base proved to be a big hole all year. Pete Sweeney, who had hit .368 in a brief stint with the Browns the previous season (and who had only brief major league experience over the past two season), was expected to fill the position, but he only played 49 games for the Browns (half at 2B), during which he hit .179. He went to Louisville and Philadelphia before the season ended and didn't do any better in brief stints there. The Browns used 11 different players at 3B alone, including both Duffee and McCarthy for extended periods. They didn't fare much better at second base, where nine players were used during the season. Von der Ahe was partially right about the pitching; Stivetts won 27 games and Ramsey won 23 games for the Browns. However Chaimberlain, who had won 32 games the previous year, only won 3 for the Browns in 1890 before going to Columbus. Unlike in previous seasons, where the Browns had been able to produce a fresh starter or two as the season progressed, they never found a third starter in 1890; after Stivetts (27-21) and Ramsey (23-17), the five other Browns pitchers combined for a 27-19 record.
Replacing Comiskey as manager was not easy either. The season started with Tommy McCarthy at the helm. He managed an 11-11 record before Von der Ahe replaced him with John Kerins. Kerins lasted 17 games, with a 9-8 record, but was released for only hitting .127. Chief Roseman lasted 15 games (7-8) at the helm, but played in 80, hitting .341 for the Browns. Count Campau fared pretty well as the fourth manager of the season, with a 27-14 record (.659 winning percentage), but was unexpectedly relieved of the post by Von der Ahe nonetheless. He did hit .322 in 75 games for the Browns that season. After a brief second stint by McCarthy (4-1), Joe Gerhardt became manager number six after being acquired from Brooklyn. Gerhardt and the Browns finished the season 20-16, and he was released after the season. These changes were a culmination of his continued meddling through the years, and in 1891 this meddling would prove to be a fatal problem for the Browns and the Association.
The entire 1890 season was rocky for the Association, marred by disputes over Sunday baseball in several cities and the late-season collpase of two clubs. (Four clubs played Sunday 'home' games at nearby locations rather than their true home parks due to disputes over Sunday games.) Brooklyn, after a quick start, lost the battle for fans in Brooklyn and late in August dropped out of the league. Baltimore, who had left the Association that winter, jumped at the chance to rejoin in their place. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Athletics, who had a four game lead on June 27th and were still as close as 5 games out on August 1st, fell onto financial hard times as the season progressed. They were constantly outdrawn by the Philadelphia clubs in the other two leagues, and in early September they lost most of their players when they were unable to pay them. They finished the season with 22 straight losses, and managed only 8 wins in their last 50 games to plunge to 8th, just ahead of the Brooklyn club. Their park and all its seats were sold to pay debts before the season even ended. At the final bell the club was found to be $18,000 in debt, despite taking in $42,000 while paying only $24,000 in salries. The club folded immediately at season's end. On the other end of the spectrum, the Louisville club (whose players were largely ignored by the Brotherhood in their efforts to raid the Association) stayed near the top all season, and they ran off 39 wins in their last 54 games to leave the rest of the league behind. (They were the only club in any major league to go from worst to first until the Twins managed the feat in the 1991 season.) The Browns finished the season 77-58, two and a half games behind second place Columbus, who finished the season with 37 wins in their last 50 games to edge past the Browns, and 12.5 games behind Louisville.
The World Series was played between the National League champion Brooklyn Bridegrooms (the defending Association champions), and the Louisville club. The series was scehduled to be a best of nine affair, but bad weather and poor attendance caused the series to be called after seven games all tied at 3-3-1. The best club of the year, however, was probably the Players League champion Boston Reds. The Players League was thought by some to have been the best league that season. The fans seemed to agree; the best attendance figures available suggest that the Players League, with a total attendance of about 1,000,000, out drew the National League by about 165,000. The Association figures were never released, but it is clear they were well below the levels of the others. All three leagues lost money, with the Association losing the most. (Exact attendance figures and financial statements were not released as all three leagues tried to claim victory.)
Casulties from the Players War were high. Brooklyn and Philadelphia collapsed in the Association. Buffalo in the Players League dissolved when the season ended, and the New York club was on the verge of going under. The National League club in Cincinnati was purchased by the Players League shortly after the season ended, and the New York Giants of the NL stayed afloat during the season only because the other League owners bailed it out. It was clear going into the off-season that one way or another, a compromise had to be reached between the Brotherhood and the National League. Rumors had swirled almost since the start of a merger between the Players League and the Association, and a meeting between Von der Ahe and two other Association members and a delegation from the Players League in September helped fuel the rumors. However, the National League held firm despite its own internal shakiness and manuevered the Players League into folding first. In late November, the New York franchises in the Players League and the National League merged, and the Pittsburgh clubs quickly followed suit. While the Brotherhood tried to continue the fight, their backers negotiated with the combined forces of the National League and the American Association. The two Chicago clubs reached an agreement in late December, and when the Brooklyn backers were poised to close with their National League counterparts, the Brotherhood folded. On January 14th, 1891, the Players League shut down.
Disposing the remaining four Players League clubs became a point of contention between the two leagues. The Association jetisoned the three minor league clubs added for 1890 - Rochester, Toledo, and Syracuse - arranging to buy them out for $24,000 total. This left only three clubs from the start of the 1890 season still in the league (St. Louis, Louisville, and Columbus), as well as the Baltimore franchise which had returned late in the summer. The National League wanted to give the Association slots in Boston and Chicago (NL territory), and in exchange they wanted all Brotherhood players sent back to their pre-1890 clubs. The Association instead chose to take the Boston and Philadelphia clubs from the Players Leagues more or less intact (the latter replacing the collapsed Philadephia Athletics). The Cincinnati club became a sore point between the two leagues, as both leagues wanted sole control of the city. The NL club had been bought out by the Players League after the 1890 season with the intention of placing a Players League franchise there the following season. Parties from that franchise requested a slot in the Association, and before the matter was fully resolved, the rivalry between the two leagues broke into open hostilities and the National Agreement was dissolved. The skirmishes quickly turned into a war from which only one league would emerge intact as the National League set out to destroy the Association and claim a monopoly on professional baseball in America.
Part 5: The fall from the top (1889)
Part 7: The end of the American Association (1891)