March 22, 2019

On March 20, the Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics 9-7 in the opening game of the 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. Part of a special Japan Opening Series played at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, the game opened the 150th season of professional baseball. (All other teams will start the season in the United States and Canada next week.) To mark the aniversary, MLB players will wear a special “MLB 150″ patch on their caps for opening day, and a similar patch will adorn their uniforms all season.

MLB players will wear this 150th anniversary logo on their uniforms throughout the 2019 season. Credit: © MLB Advanced Media

The Cincinnati Reds claim unique ownership to the 150th anniversary of pro baseball. In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings (as the team was then called) became the first officially all-professional baseball team. That year, the Red Stockings played a 57-game season, competing against amateur and semi-professional teams in cities and towns throughout the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Red Stockings finished the season a perfect 57-0.

This trading card shows the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball’s first all-professional team. Credit: © Mark Rucker, Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

The first official game took place on May 4, 1869, in Cincinnati. On that day, the powerhouse Red Stockings drubbed their cross-town rivals, the Great Westerns, 45-9. The Red Stockings easily rolled over most of their opponents, but one team, the Unions of Lansingburgh (also called the Haymakers), gave Cincinnati a run for its money. On June 7, playing at the Haymakers home park in what is now Troy, New York, the semi-pro team fell short against the Red Stockings, 37-31. On August 26, the Haymakers gave the Red Stockings a worse scare at Cincinnati’s Union Grounds ballpark, playing to a 17-17 tie. The Haymakers left the field in the sixth inning after a disputed call by an umpire, however, and the team was forced to forfeit the game—another “W” for the Red Stockings.

Major League Baseball (MLB) logo.
Credit: © Major League Baseball

Cincinnati was not seriously challenged again that year, wrapping up the season on November 6 with a 17-8 win over the Mutuals of New York. In 1870, the Red Stockings’ winning streak reached 81 games before the team finally fell to the Brooklyn Atlantics 8-7 in 11 innings on June 14. The Red Stockings moved to Boston in 1871 (eventually becoming the Atlanta Braves), but the Cincinnati Red Stockings team was reborn in 1876 as part of the new National League. The team name was shortened to Reds in 1890.

In 1871, the National Association was organized as the first professional baseball league. Major League Baseball officially dates to the creation of the National League in 1876, so look for another “MLB 150″ in 2026.