New York Mutuals

The team was initially formed from firefighters of New York's Mutual Hook and Ladder Company Number One.

Boss Tweed took control of the Mutuals in 1864 and operated the team until his arrest following the deadly riots of 1871 and the public exposing of his corruption that followed.

In 1876, the Chicago White Stockings initiated the National League and recruited its members from West to East, partly to wrest control of professional baseball from Eastern interests.

Weak (sixth place at 21–35) and cash-poor, the club refused to complete its playing obligations in the West; and was expelled.

[4] On May 13, 1876, the Mutuals executed the first triple play in major-league history in a game against the Hartford Dark Blues.