This is the first article in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In this installment are catchers and managers Professional baseball in Pittsburgh began in 1876 when a club called the Alleghenys was formed and played for one year in a minor league called the International Association. The team and league were formed by Denny McKnight, who ran an iron manufacturing company.
Five years later, the National League was in Chicago and Boston but did not have a footing in any other big cities, prompting teams from more heavily populated areas to begin clamoring for a new league to be created. At a meeting in Cincinnati in November 1881, McKnight participated as the owner of Allegheny City, one of the six teams that would play in the inaugural season of the American Association the following year and was also named the new league’s chairman. Allegheny City had mixed results in their five-year stay in the league, but McKnight was removed as president and his team left the league after an incident in 1886.
The St. Louis Browns were selling off second baseman Sam Barkley and both Allegheny City and Baltimore matched the $1,000 asking price. McKnight as president ruled in favor of his own club and the rest of the league responded by suspending and fining Barkley.
The matter was settled out of court with Barkley being reinstated and playing for Allegheny City, Baltimore getting another player as payment and McKnight being removed fro.
