Following the formation of baseball's first professional organization, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, which became known as the National Association, the Association, or NA, in 1871, Spalding joined the Boston Red Stockings ( precursor club to the modern Atlanta Braves ) and was highly successful ; winning 206 games ( and losing only 53 ) as a pitcher and batting. 323 as a hitter.

Many statistics are also available from outside of Major League Baseball, from leagues such as the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players and the Negro Leagues.

In 1857, sixteen New York area clubs, including the Knickerbockers, formed the National Association of Base Ball Players ( NABBP ).

In the 1860s, aided by the War, " New York " style baseball expanded into a national game, as its first governing body, The National Association of Base Ball Players was formed.

The first attempt at forming a " major league " produced the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which lasted from 1871 to 1875.

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players operated from 1871 through 1875, and is considered by some to have been the first major league.

The Union Association survived for only one season ( 1884 ), as did the Players League ( 1890 ), an attempt to return to the National Association structure of a league controlled by the players themselves.

The nickname was first used for a baseball team by the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who were members of the pioneering National Association of Base Ball Players.

The Mitchell Report, commissioned by Selig, concluded that the MLB commissioners, club officials, the Players Association, and the players all share " to some extent in the responsibility for the steroid era.

The MLB Players Association and MLB reached an agreement in November on the new policy.

The rules of skat are governed by The International Skat Players Association and in Germany by the Deutscher Skatverband which publishes the Skatordnung.

In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players ( NA ), the first professional league.

The Chicago club was founded in 1870 as the White Stockings and played a season in the National Association of Base Ball Players, where they won a championship, and five seasons in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players.

* An A-Z of Variants, Association of British Scrabble Players

In 1957 Ted Lindsay, who scored 30 goals and led the league in assists with 55, teamed up with Harvey to help start the National Hockey League Players ' Association ( NHLPA ).

On March 25, 2003, Kemp was selected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of USA Football, a national advocacy group for amateur football created by the National Football League ( NFL ) and the NFL Players Association.

* North American Scrabble Players Association ( NASPA ) ( sanctions Club and Tournament play in North America )

* Association of British Scrabble Players

During the rough and tumble years of the American-National struggle, player contracts were violated at the independents as well: Players that the team had developed would sign deals with the National or American leagues without any form of compensation to the indy club.

In 1912, Adolph Zukor had formed Famous Players in Famous Plays – later Famous Players-Lasky and then Paramount Pictures – one of the first American feature film companies.

By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success.

Beginning in 1914, both Lasky and Famous Players released their films through a start-up company, Paramount Pictures Corporation, organized early that year by a Utah theatre owner, W. W. Hodkinson, who had bought and merged several smaller firms.

The Giants already had their share of stars during its brief history at this point, such as Smiling Mickey Welch, Roger Connor, Tim Keefe, Jim O ' Rourke and John Montgomery Ward, the player-lawyer who formed the renegade Players League in 1890 to protest unfair player contracts.

As a result, his cricket sometimes had to be set aside and in 1883 he missed a Gentlemen v Players match for the first time since 1867.

Players also had to land on another player in order to make suggestions about that player's character through the use of special counter-tokens, and once exhausted, a player could no longer make suggestions.

During this time Valentino began to contemplate not returning to Famous Players, although Jesse Lasky already had his next picture, The Spanish Cavalier, in preparation.

In September 1922, he refused to accept paychecks from Famous Players until the dispute was solved, although he owed them money he had spent to pay off Jean Acker.

Earlier that season, Rose had been ranked at number 25 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Average salaries of NFL players were among the lowest in the four major North American sports, and the National Football League Players Association had gone on strike in July 1974 in an effort to lift many of the rules suppressing free agency and player salaries.

Players such as Liam Jurrah had begun to emerge as top young talents and were catching the eye of the footballing public.

Players also had the choice of betting on the “ high card ” bar located at the top of the layout.

In late 1997, John Doherty ( a former United player who had left the club shortly before the disaster ) approached club chairman Martin Edwards on behalf of the Manchester United Former Players ' Association to request a testimonial for those victims of the Munich disaster – both the survivors and the dependants of the ones who were lost.

Players believed that in those few years he had transformed the LSO ; Neville Marriner felt that he had " made them feel like an international orchestra ...

He won two hard-court titles, including the Lipton International Players Championships, the same tournament where his career had nearly ended just eight years earlier — by defeating Sergi Bruguera in the final, after Bruguera had defeated Pete Sampras in the semifinals.

Following that production, the show had its US premiere with the Pegasus Players in Chicago.

The President of the Harvard Dramatic Society, Charles Leatherbee, along with the President of Princeton's Theatre Intime, Bretaigne Windust, who together had established the University Players on Cape Cod the summer before, persuaded Sullavan to join them for their second summer season.

Another member of the University Players and one who had the comic lead in Close Up was Henry Fonda.

Some of them had connections with The Players ' Theatre in London, but only Wakefield had actually appeared in the show's London production ( in the very first run at the Players ').

Angered, Famous Players in turn filed suit against him.

On June 5, 2008, a lawsuit was filed in Oakland, California alleging Electronic Arts is breaking United States anti-trust laws by signing exclusive contracts with the NFL Players Association, the NCAA and Arena Football League, to use players ' names, likenesses and team logos.

The NFL Players Association filed a grievance, saying the team violated the collective bargaining agreement and challenging the suspension and fine received by Burress.

" He officially filed his retirement papers with the Players Association on February 12, 2007.

A week later, on September 8, the Major League Baseball Players Association filed a grievance on Ponson's behalf.

Players ' union executives asked him to add his name to the grievance it had filed in opposition to the reserve clause and he agreed.

The NBA Players Association filed a grievance against the Pacers on Tinsley's behalf on February 11, 2009.

On December 4 it was announced that Ramirez had formally filed the papers with the league to be reinstated to baseball and that an agreement had been reached between MLB and the Players Association that he would only need to serve a 50 game suspension instead of the original 100 games.

The Major League Baseball Players Association filed a legal challenge, but Major League Baseball argued that, since the Players Association did not represent amateur players, it was not necessary for the union to agree to the change.