early in the summer of 1866, wright moved from catcher for gotham, which played eight nabbp matches that year, to shortstop for union, which played 28, the leading number. the union of morrisania, now in the new york borough of the bronx, were another charter member of the first association, but one that moved toward professionalism in the postwar years, as the gothams did not. in 1867, he joined the nationals of washington, d.c., the oldest club in that city, whose approach to professionalism was arranging government jobs, mainly with the treasury. he played second base, shortstop, and pitcher in 29 of the 30 matches fully on record and in those matches led the team both in scoring and hands lost. next year he returned to the unions for the association's last officially all-amateur season and moved permanently to the shortstop position. in 1868, wright won the clipper medal for being the best shortstop in baseball.