On January 4, 1884, representatives of the Union League of Professional Base Ball Clubs met in Philadelphia to discuss affairs of their organization in the coming year.
[1] Delegates were on hand representing ball clubs located in Baltimore, Richmond, Virginia, Wilmington, Delaware, and Reading, Pennsylvania.
[1] According to one newspaper account of the day, the decision to change the league's name was related to a desire to avoid confusion with the rival Union Association of Base Ball Clubs.
[3] In a change from past practice, teams were also required to remove "all obnoxious persons from the grounds in the space of fifteen minutes" under penalty of forfeiture of the game.
[6] The Union Association of Base Ball Clubs stood in opposition to this agreement and was a bitter rival in the battle for organizational hegemony.