when the nabbp permitted professionalism for 1869, harry augmented his 1868 imports (retaining four of five) with five new men, including three more originally from the east. no one but harry wright himself remained from 1867; one local man and one other westerner joined seven easterners on the famous first nine. the most important of the new men was brother george, probably the best player in the game for a few years, the highest paid man in cincinnati at $1400 for nine months. george at shortstop remained a cornerstone of harry's teams for ten seasons.