(LOT 14)
Resignation of the New York Club from the Players' League
After the Boston club claimed the Players' League championship in the fall of 1890, many of the owners came to the conclusion that the League was a potentially "sinking ship". The league was basically under-funded, with a majority of the owners severely lacking the fortitude to move forward to a second season. President John Montgomery Ward's steadfast path for building a rock-solid League for years to come was in the process of crumbling, with the players "dream" for equal rights about to do a quick 180-degree turn. Slowly but surely, franchises started withdrawing from the Players' League with the New York team one of the first to pull out and cut their losses.

Although they had been a solid club, finishing with a 74-57 record, in third place behind the Boston Reds and the second place Brooklyn Ward's Wonders, the New York management simply did not see any light at the end of the tunnel. This historically significant one-sentence typed letter dated November 10, 1890 from Frank Robinson (Secretary of the Limited's) to Henry Bacon at the law firm of Bacon, Leeds, and Van Steenbergh confirms New York's exodus from the league, stating: "The New York Limited hereby resigns its membership in the Players National League." Frank B. Robinson's black fountain pen script portrays solid "8' strength, and the original mailing envelope is also included.

As an aftermath to the tragic demise of this upstart League, many of the New York players returned back to the National League Giants in 1891, including Hall of Famers Roger Connor, Buck Ewing, Jim O'Rourke and Tim Keefe. Keefe and Mickey Welch (who had never jumped to the Players' League), were nearing the ends of their great careers. Keefe was 2-5 with the 1891 Giants before being shipped to Philadelphia for his final three seasons (1891-1893), and Mickey Welch was 5-9, the last wins he would record in his glorious career.

After the Players' League officially folded, the Boston and Philadelphia franchises joined the American Association while the New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Pittsburgh clubs each merged with their National League brethren. As an extremely sad aftermath, once the players returned to their original Major League teams, the "reserve clause" remained fully intact; not to be challenged again until Curt Flood made his landmark stance against management's attempt to trade him in 1969, nearly 80 years after the players were led by John Montgomery Ward to create the historic 1890 Player's League.

MIN BID $500
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