They leased land on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn to build Washington Park, the team's original home, which cost $30,000.

In its first year, the team played in the minor-league Inter-State Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, winning the league championship.

Having attracted a following, the owners moved the franchise in 1884 to the American Association (AA), a competitor to the more established National League (NL), that catered to a more working-class crowd.

Under his tenure, the team, known variously as the Brooklyns, Bridegrooms and Grooms, posted a record of 567-506 and won two league championships (the AA in 1889 and the NL in 1890).

[4] Byrne was in ill health at the time of the National League meeting in November 1897,[1] but he insisted on making the journey from Virginia, where he had been recovering, to the event in Philadelphia.