[legendsport]

from the Richmond Courier, August 10, 1891:

Mr. Albert G. Spalding and his touring band of sportsmen have wrapped up their tour of the Confederacy, which both began (in June) and ended (yesterday) here in the capital city. Spalding is the world's largest proponent of the sport of base ball, a game played in a few corners of the Confederacy, but much more popular in the United States, especially in the urban centers of New York, Philadelphia and Chicago (the hometown of Mr. Spalding).

Spalding admits to a mercenary reasoning for his tour: "I make no bones about it - I am here in the Confederacy to spread the word about the great game of base ball, my chosen career. I plan to make my living as the progenitor and guiding force of a professional circuit of base ball clubs."

The tour met with mixed reviews. Here in the capital, with a more metropolitan mix of personalities, the exhibitions of Spalding's club received good reviews and a match was played with local sportsmen, which of course, was won by the Yankee nine. But in the balmier climes of the Deep South, where the main industry remains agricultural in nature, Spalding's nine received some negative notice - particularly for the prescence of one of his players, King Solomon White, the son of former slaves, who received a less than hospitable welcome in Montgomery, Jackson and Baton Rouge on a swing through the cotton states.

"It's a shame that Sol, who is a capital fellow, would be the object of scorn by some of the Confederate citizenry," said Spalding. "He accepts this as part and parcel with the job of growing the game, and lets the insults roll off his back as water does a round log."

The success of Spalding's tour can be best measured by the fact that last week the formation of the Richmond Base Ball Club was announced, and it is rumored that similar clubs are forming in Washington City, Raleigh, Charleston and in Louisville, Kentucky.