Big-league baseball had been unified, but also separated. It was impractical to place all 60 clubs under one roof and have them all play each other, so two Conferences had been created: the Federal (or Eastern) and the Liberty (Western), which teams only playing in their conferences, meeting only in an All-Star Game (set to begin in 1898) and the Centennial Cup Final.
In the Federal Conference, Emil Gross won his second straight MVP award (unanimously) and Kid Nichols took Pitcher of the Year honours (almost unanimously):
In the Liberty Conference, Baseball Commissioner Jim Creighton, ironically enough, handed both trophies to Altoona's Charlie Ferguson, hailing Ferguson as the LC's best hurler
and hitter...familiar territory to Big Jim.
And in Hoboken, two Tri Mountain legends were inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals: Ross Barnes and George Sanderson. Joining them in the Shrine was White Stockings stalwart Mike Powers. All three players were in the original National Association when it began in 1871.
