Union Association

The Union Association, abbreviated UA, was launched by Henry Lucas in 1884. Lucas rigged the schedule to make things easier for his St. Louis Maroons, who dominated the league. Only five of the league's original eight teams survived the season, while four (or five, depending on how you figure things) others appeared at one point or another. Only two teams survived the season in sound financial shape - Lucas's Maroons joined the National League, while Justus Thorner's Cincinnati Outlaw Reds failed in an attempt to replace Detroit in the NL. When the league failed to set up for a second season, two teams, the Milwaukee Cream Citys and Kansas City Cowboys formed a new Western League out of its ashes, but it failed to complete the 1885 season.

The UA has often been included in lists of major leagues, but Bill James devoted several pages in his Historical Baseball Abstract to argue otherwise.

There was also a class D minor league called the Union Association which operated from 1911 to 1914 in the Rocky Mountains.

1884 Teams & Statistics

1884 Union Association
President: Henry Lucas

Team Standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
St. Louis Maroons	94	19	.832	0	Henry Lucas
Cincinnati Outlaw Reds	69	36	.657	21	Dan O'Leary /Sam Crane
Baltimore Monumentals	58	47	.552	32	Charlie Levis / Bill Henderson
Boston Reds	58	51	.532	34	Tim Murnane
Washington Nationals	47	65	.420	46.5	Mike Scanlon
Milwaukee Cream Citys	8	4	.667	NA	Tom Loftus
Chicago/Pittsburgh (3),(5)	41	50	.451	NA	Hengle / Battin / Ellick
Philadelphia Keystones (2)	21	46	.313	NA	Fergy Malone / Tom Pratt
St. Paul Apostles	2	6	.250	NA	Andrew Thompson
Altoona Mountain City (1)	6	19	.240	NA	Ed Curtis
Kansas City Cowboys	16	63	.203	NA	Ted Sullivan
Wilmington Quicksteps (4)	2	16	.111	NA	Joe Simmons

(1) Altoona disbanded May 31 & Kansas City replaced them June 7.
(2) Philadelphia disbanded Aug. 7 & Wilmington replaced them AUG. 18.
(3) Chicago moved to Pittsburgh August 20.
(4) Wilmington disbanded September 15 & Milwaukee replaced them September 27.
(5) Pittsburgh disbanded September 19 & St. Paul replaced them September 27.

Player	Team	Stat	Tot		Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Fred Dunlap	St. Louis	BA	.412		Bill Sweeney	Baltimore	W	40
Fred Dunlap	St. Louis	Runs	160		Hugh Daily	Chi/Pitt/Wash	SO	483
Fred Dunlap	St. Louis	Hits	185		Jim McCormick	Cincinnati	ERA	1.54
Fred Dunlap	St. Louis	HR	13		Jim McCormick	Cincinnati	Pct	.875; 21-3

Further Reading

• Bill James: "State of the Union", in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, The Free Press, New York, NY, 2001, pp. 21-34.
• Justin Mckinney: Baseball’s Union Association: The Short, Strange Life of a 19th-Century Major League, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2022. ISBN 978-1-4766-8060-6
• David Nemec: The Beer and Whisky League, Lyons Press, Guilford, CT, 2003 (originally published in 1995). ISBN 978-1558212855
• Brian A. Podoll: The Minor League Milwaukee Brewers: 1859-1952, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2003.