Fun Fact #334 Rockford Forest Citys

Fun Fact #335

Rockford Forest Citys

In 1871, Baseball fans who loved the sport were treated with a wonderful surprise. Baseball was finally going professional with the creation of the National Association (NAPBBP) which took the most successful teams of the day and brought them together in one league (9 teams in total). It also just so happened that one of these teams was The Forest Citys, from Rockford Illinois.

Yet their season would be rocked in controversy when they lost 21/25 games of the season and had to forfeit their 4 wins after a scandal broke out around one of their players joining the club midseason, pushing the Philadelphia Athletics above the Chicago White Stockings (Now the Cubs) to win the first professional Baseball season in history. After the season The Forest Citys disbanded entirely, when several of their key players went to The White Stockings to assist in rebuilding the team and surrounding areas after The Great Chicago Fire.

The Forest Citys field is actually the only NA field that you can still go see today now known as Fairgrounds Park, as part of the Rockford park district. So if you’ve ever wanted to play ball on the Home field of Professional Baseball itself, feel free to give it a visit.