On Feb. 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York. The St. Louis Brown Stockings joined teams from Boston, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Louisville and Hartford.
The Brown Stockings would last only two years in the National League, folding after a game-fixing scandal in the 1877 season.
Just as we are today, when we break down a Cardinals lineup featuring Nolan Arenado, we were on the scene to break down the Brown Stocking lineup. Here are the original clips from that offseason. We don't know who the writer was that year, but we are reasonably sure it was not Rick Hummel.