Now that the World Series has returned to Boston for the second time in a decade-- something which hasn't happened since the 1940s-- this is as good a time as any to pay tribute to Ivers Whitney Adams, who brought professional baseball to the city in 1871 when he founded what is now the oldest continually operating franchise in the major, or any other, leagues. Ivers was the son of Sarah-8 Whitney (Ohio7 Silas6, Samuel5, William4, Nathaniel3, John2, John1), and her father's WRG page is here: http://wiki.whitneygen.org/wrg/index.php/Family: Whitney%2C_Ohio_%281789-1870%29 Ivers was born in Ashburnam, Mass., where there were other Ivers Adamses and Ivers Whitneys, suggesting the three families were (how shall we put this?) multiply related. He went to Boston where he became a successful businessman and sportsman who owned recreational properties in Virginia and Ontario. Details of these activities can be read in the excerpts on this page: http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=313217456 At the time the Cincinnati Red Stockings were the only professional club, barnstorming against amateur and pick-up clubs in other cities, much like the Harlem Globetrotters do today, and, like them, winning every time. When Boston spectators asked why can't we have such a team, Ivers said, we can. The Cincinnati club folded shortly after their first loss (sore losers!), and Ivers took their name and many of their players for his new Boston team. Of course, they no longer go by the "Red Stocking" name, having over the years condensed it to the much snappier... Atlanta Braves. (The modern "Red Sox" were formed in 1901 with the American League.) Ivers was president of the club for only a year, turning its management over to others. However, his decision to forgo barnstorming and create a league of permanent opponents is what led to our modern professional sports leagues. I recently picked up a copy of "The Boston Braves: 1871-1953" by Harold Kaese. Besides having a picture of Ivers, the book mentions three Whitneys who played for the club. There was a Frank "Jumbo" Whitney who pitched for the 1876 squad in the first year of the National League, and who came back 32 years later for one of the first-ever "old timers' games". "Grasshopper Jim" Whitney was a star pitcher, centerfielder and hitter for them in the 1880s. He was from Binghamton, N.Y., a town founded by Whitneys. (Anyone know how he relates? Another James Evans Whitney was born in Binghamton in 1836, and I have that fellow's line.) And infielder Arthur Carter "Pinky" Whitney, a Texan, played a couple of seasons in Boston in the 1930s, between longer stints in Philadelphia. All three are on the WRG site, but only Frank's ancestry is shown. The prize for the most important Whitney in baseball would have to go to Joan Whitney Payson, who founded the New York Mets after her Giants left for San Francisco. She would be seventh cousin, twice removed to Ivers Whitney Adams, if I've calculated it right. Cheers, Ron Kyser