Going into 1883, the Century League got serious about its new competition. When the Cleveland Cuyahogas pulled the plug, CL President William Whitney took the opportunity to go for the jugular by placing a replacement club in New York. This set up a direct head-to-head battle in the nation's largest metropolis between the Century League and Border Association. The new club would be called the New York Gothams and they would play at a newly-rebuilt Bigsby Oval - which just happened to be across the street from the home of the Association's New York Stars homefield, Riverside Stadium.
When the Cincinnati Monarchs club left the Century League (taking St. Louis along with them), there were a lot of hard feelings on both sides. Though neither club returned to the Century League, both continued to operate independently as touring clubs. But Cincinnati owner James Tice continued to keep an eye on the Century League and how it did business. And in the winter of 1881, he decided to take the lessons he felt he'd learned, and started his own professional circuit - the Border Association. The TBA would feature eight clubs (same as the Century) with six clubs in the U.S. and two others in Canada. Cincinnati and St. Louis were joined by four other clubs: New York and Pittsburgh, plus two Canadian cities - Montreal and Toronto. Tice, as Border Association President, promptly declared he would not honor Century League player contracts - and the war was on.