Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 28. Chapters: Al Hubbard (baseball), Arlie Latham, Bill Harbridge, Bill Rollinson, Bill Schenck, Bob Ferguson (infielder), Charlie Householder, Chief Roseman, Cyclone Miller, Dan O'Leary, Denny Mack, Ed Trumbull, Elias Peak, Fred Goldsmith (baseball), George Baker (baseball), Harrison Spence, Harry Arundel, Jim McElroy (baseball), Joe Blong, John Cassidy (baseball), John Curran (baseball), Juice Latham, Larry Corcoran, Levi Meyerle, Lip Pike, Mert Hackett, Mike Ledwith, Mike McGeary, Morgan Murphy (baseball), Norm Baker (baseball), Peter Connell (baseball), Phil Powers (baseball), Pop Smith, Ri Jones, Sam Crane (second baseman), Silver Flint, Steve Brady (baseball), Tommy Tucker (baseball), Tom Dolan (baseball), Tom Healey. Excerpt: Robert Vavasour Ferguson (January 31, 1845 May 3, 1894) was an American infielder, league official, manager and umpire in the early days of baseball, playing both before and after baseball became a professional sport. In addition to playing and managing, he served as president of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players from 1872 through 1875, the sport's first entirely professional league. His character and unquestioned honesty were highly regarded during a period in baseball history where the game's reputation was badly damaged by gamblers and rowdy behavior by players and fans. However, his bad temper and stubbornness were traits that created trouble for him at times during his career, and caused him to be disliked by many. His nickname, "Death to Flying Things," was derived from his greatness as a defensive player. A native of Brooklyn, Ferguson played for two of New York's earliest semi-professional clubs in the late 1860s and early 1870s, the Atlantics and Mutuals. On June 14 1870, Ferguson provided the hit that created the tying run and he later scored the winning run in a match against the famous Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first team that was composed entirely of professional players. This win brought to an end the Red Stockings' 81 consecutive game winning streak. He is credited with being the first player to bat from both sides of home plate, known as switch-hitting, but the practice was not popular at first. Among the explanations for this, it is claimed that, due to his personality, players did not want to emulate him. Managers, however, recognized the practice's importance soon after, and began to play their players according to the opposing pitcher that day, known today as platooning, and the advantages that switch-hitting posed would later become accepted strategic baseball philosophy, and many players began to experiment with the idea. In 1871, Ferguson took over the Mutual team as the player-manager. In 33 games, he batted .24