 The following season, the time was right for the formation of the very first all-professional league, and thus the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was born, and the White Stockings, financed by businessman William Hulbert, became charter members of the new league.After their experiment with a race track in 1870, the White Stockings returned to the downtown for 1871, a decision that would prove fateful.The club arranged with the city to build a ballpark in the northeast corner of the public park then known as Lake Park, later named Grant Park.