What is the possibility of a Major League team playing in the South in the 1900s and 1910s? Baseball was on the rise across the country, including the South, though the biggest crowd in Atlanta could hardly rival New York or Chicago. I'm still quite new to baseball in general and its history in particular, though this possibility does intrigue me.
WI: Major League Baseball in the South, 1900s-1910s?
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Richmond wasn't THAT much farther south than Washington, Cincinnati or St. Louis. But even today, it does not have the population to support MLB. Atlanta was big, and its city population was about 200,000 in 1920. Metro population, what was it? Before air conditioning, the South was not heavily populated.
The largest city in the South at the time was New Orleans at around 340,000 in 1910. Which was larger than Washington DC and Los Angeles. So maybe if the logistics are right. But agian the heat and humidity would be crazy for fans and players to deal with.
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You have to look at a map of the rail roads and you will see that where the teams are located at are served by multiple railroad companies and fro the furthest west city of St Louis to the most northern and eastern city Boston is about a day ride from each other so if you are playing the Browns on Sunday you can be in Boston before Tuesday morning and still play a exhibition game at a small town on Monday.
But if you look at that same map it is harder to go from north to south then it is to go east to west.
But if you look at that same map it is harder to go from north to south then it is to go east to west.
In 1914, during the war with the Federal League, Ban Johnson floated the idea of starting a third major league, composed of the best players from the International League and American Association. Perhaps Organized Baseball decides to go with this strategy, but instead of a new league, they add new teams from the virgin soil of the South to the existing leagues?
Alternatively, perhaps the Federal League decides to expand into the South, where they won't have to worry with competition from one or two established teams in most of their cities?
Alternatively, perhaps the Federal League decides to expand into the South, where they won't have to worry with competition from one or two established teams in most of their cities?
Railroad and travel schedules were big limiting factors, but another one relates to the building of traditional fan bases. Baseball took off in the twenties and thirties as a sport “married” to radio, as each play is a series of one-dimensional moves easily described in words and visualized by any fan with a knowledge of the sport. Shift workers in industrial cities would attend when they had afternoons off.
The fan bases in the South grew as “new” migrants to the sunbelt settled in once the era of air conditioning arose. It wasn’t the stress of the heat on the players, as outdoor games today are played today. And, it gets pretty hot in the more traditional cities. It’s more the issue of the fan bases and the lack of tradition before the sixties.
There is another problem with introducing new sports in certain communities. The NHL Scouts came to Kansas City in 1974. They couldn’t build a large enough fan base because hockey is not played in regional high schools and colleges. The market supported minor league teams, but such teams do not need to be self supporting. The team left in 1976.
The fan bases in the South grew as “new” migrants to the sunbelt settled in once the era of air conditioning arose. It wasn’t the stress of the heat on the players, as outdoor games today are played today. And, it gets pretty hot in the more traditional cities. It’s more the issue of the fan bases and the lack of tradition before the sixties.
There is another problem with introducing new sports in certain communities. The NHL Scouts came to Kansas City in 1974. They couldn’t build a large enough fan base because hockey is not played in regional high schools and colleges. The market supported minor league teams, but such teams do not need to be self supporting. The team left in 1976.
teams with blacks.. prior to the 1956? eh.. good luck.. teams predominantly black.. no
Racism was so much apart of baseball as to be absurd .. I love baseball, always have.. always will, and im an older guy.. it wasn't uncommon in the 70's and 80's to hear things that would make ya cringe.
hell two words.. marge shott and if you want further.. the red soz were one of the most racist teams for the longest time. just cause they were northern didn't mean it didn't
in reality you could get southern teams, and western teams. you still have to surmount the distance for travel between teams. next you have to cross the racism part.
so in effect. no
1. in the 1900's its too far to go further south than st louis that had both an AL and Nl team ( this would also be the furthest west until kc, THEN ca)
once the majors decided to ingrate, looking at the south was more of .. uh.. where and how.. and how will the game be acceptable.
Atlanta worked and was for the longest time the team of the south
Sorry, I mean the white Atlanta Crackers (a white team), not the Atlanta Black Crackers.
New Orleans might have had the population, but was too far south and west for railroad based daily travel. St. Louis is a short run to the next major league cities: Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, etc. so the scheduled can create sort of a circuit. Same with Boston, New York, Philly, Pittsburgh, Washington. I would assume Atlanta lacked both the population and the potential for fan tradition. If the non-major teams in southern cities were in fact integrated or Negro League, you have the issue of racism on the sport. But if the other teams could segregate and keep an audience, so could a major team in Atlanta.
Could some sort of third Major League composed mostly of Southern teams could be created?
That's what some of the minor leagues did. The American League is only a few years newer than the National, yet to this day, it gets referred to as the "junior circuit." There was a lot of exclusivity in baseball, as there was no expansion until 1961. You had northern cities that were logistically well suited, like Indy, Milwaukee, and Buffalo. If you did it with smaller, Southern teams, there is next to no chance they could have been invited to the World Series scheme.