 The Eastern League of 1916–32 was a mid- to higher classification league, beginning in 1916 as a Class B circuit and upgraded to Class A in 1919.Its president, Tim Murnane, a former sportswriter, and many of its original member clubs were inherited from the New England League, which ceased operation in 1915.While most of its teams were centered in New England and upstate New York, in its later years the Eastern League admitted teams from Pennsylvania and Virginia.