Artist and designer speaks to how the history and importance of the 1869 Cincinnati Reds Stockings influenced his design for the 1869 Pavilion. Kareem Elgazzar, kelgazzar@enquirer.com
They weren't even called baseball players. The first professional baseball team was made up of something else, actually.
Something called ballists.
The term is defined as something more than nine players who hit and threw a ball around for points. That distinction is just as important today as it was more than a century ago.
The suffix "ist" refers to a follower of a practice or system or philosophy or movement.