The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), or simply the National Association (NA), was founded in 1871 and lasted through the 1875 season. It succeeded the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) and several of its clubs created the succeeding National League, which essentially survives as Major League Baseball. The NA is commonly considered the first professional baseball league and some historians regard it the first of the major leagues, although MLB and a majority of baseball historians do not recognize it(even though an independent statistician put NA stats on an MLB website - unauthoritzed Seven (7) players who played in the National Association later gained selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Cap Anson, Jim O'Rourke, Albert Spalding (P) Candy