Base-ball, as it was called in the mid-1800s, was a lawless enterprise.
Alcohol, gambling, rudeness, disloyalty and quitting (by players and teams) in the middle of a season, players sitting among the spectators, spectators disrupting play on the field were symptoms of a game that was in many ways considered disgraceful.
All that officially changed Feb. 2, 1876, at the Grand Central Hotel in New York City. On that day, the constitution and founding documents of the first National League were introduced and signed by Chicago White Stockings owner William Hulbert, the driving force to reform the game, and seven other team owners.