1893 SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Teams:
Atlanta Windjammers
Augusta Electricians
Birmingham Grays
Charleston Seagulls
Chattanooga Warriors
Macon Hornets
Memphis Fever Germs
Mobile Blackbirds
Montgomery Colts
Nashville Tigers
New Orleans Pelicans
Savannah Electrics
Schedule Characteristics:
SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G132_T12_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="132" start_month="4" start_day="10" start_day_of_week="2"
Teams play 132 games. Teams play each other 12 times during the season.
Season starts on April 10 and ends on September 26. Weekday games start at 3:00. Weekend and holiday* games start at 1:00. Double-header games start at noon and 3:00. Sunday games only at Mobile and New Orleans.
The Sporting Life says that the league adopted a "double season" - in other words, a split season - but doesn't say when the split occurs. A quick review of the schedule shows that the first half almost certainly ends after the double-headers on July 4.
*Holidays include: 4/24 - Confederate Memorial Day (AL & GA); 5/30 - Decoration Day (LA & TN); 6/1 - Statehood Day (TN); 6/5 - Jefferson Davis Day (AL); 7/4 - Independence Day
This is another league that experimented with - and then quickly dropped - a 12-team format. The most interesting thing about the schedule, though, is the person who made it:
The man responsible for drafting the schedule, frustrated no doubt by the novelty of devising a 12-team table, went to a print shop to drop off his half-finished work. An employee by the name of Mayme Flatz recognized it as a baseball schedule, and, although she had never been to a game, volunteered to draft the schedule, which met with the league's unanimous approval. Miss Flatz refused compensation for her efforts, but the League voted to present her with a souvenir spoon from each of the twelve league cities.
You can judge whether Miss Flatz did a good job or not. There are some homestands/road trips that, even by railroad-era standards, are unusually long. Chattanooga, for instance, starts a homestand on June 14 that runs through July 15 - 27 games in 32 days. The second-half schedule is almost identical to the first-half schedule.
Southern League 1893.lsdl