[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

In regards to the real 1971 minor leagues, here's a little something to keep in mind. That year, both the Southern League and Texas League were down to 7 clubs. To get around the scheduling issues that posed, the two leagues basically merged for that one season, forming a combined entity called the Dixie Association.

However, many references (including the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball and Baseball-Reference) list the standings separately for the two leagues, as if they operated as two individual 7-team leagues but which played some interleague games. I do not think that is an accurate representation.

If one looks at the standings as published in The Sporting News from that time, it is shown as a single consolidated entity. It's a three-division league, with a 6-team East Division (all Southern League clubs), a 4-team Central Division (1 Southern League and 3 Texas League clubs), and a 4-team West Division (all Texas League clubs).

The schedule published for the league (association) is also a consolidated one. The Central Division teams played interdivisional games against both other divisions, but the East and West Division teams did not play each other due to travel considerations. The one thing that was still separate is that each 'league' had its own All-Star Game.

The Dixie Association only lasted one season. In 1972 both the Southern and Texas Leagues were back up to 8 teams, and they returned to being wholly separate entities.

This would definitely come under one of the things I was talking about which make it difficult to put together an automatic MilB database...

Very cool to hear about never the less.