the pirates recruited most of the white stocking's players, and for this reason the pirate's attendance was nearly fifty percent higher than the white stockings. the pirate's owner, john addison, was a wealthy contractor. although addison and his partner white stocking second baseman fred pfeffer had signed mostly white stocking players, they also signed four players from the st. louis browns of the american association as well as a pitcher from the columbus solons of the american association. the team was managed by charles comiskey.