Owners succeed when the public thinks of baseball's labor struggle as separate from the political struggles happening all around them. The first serious attempt at unionizing professional baseball players took place in 1885, with the formation of the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players. National League executive Albert Spalding lambasted the Player’s League as “anarchy” and declared that the two leagues were “waging a war of extermination.” Even if the National League lost out on profit, the more important goal was making sure that the Player’s League did as well. According to estimates, the Player’s League lost $125,000 that season, while the National League lost $234,000.