Blackguards and Red Stockings - Ryczek, William J.

It was a novel experiment as baseball's leading men formed the National Association, bringing order to the hodgepodge of professional and amateur clubs that made up the sport up to 1870. Now in its second edition, this book covers all the action - both on and off the field - of the NA's early years, providing the definitive history of the first professional sports league in the US.