Quote:
Originally Posted by thehef
In what was most-likely an error on the printed schedule, on July 4th it had Augusta playing a morning game at Lewiston and an afternoon game as Portland, and Bangor playing a morning game at Lewiston and and afternoon game at Portland. I *could* have changed this to where, for example, Augusta played two games at Lewiston and Bangor played two games at Portland. However, that would've thrown off the balanced nature of the overall schedule. And since this these inter-city doubleheaders sounded fun (and these 35-mile trips were certainly possible), I left those "as originally scheduled."
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Thanks again for posting these schedules. My guess here is that this wasn't an error. Instead, it was a gimmick. The major leagues experimented with these "triangular" double-headers in the 1880s, probably as a way of drumming up fan interest. There was a rail link between Portland and Lewiston, and for these sorts of events it would have been common to have special trains carry the teams and fans between the two cities.
The majors quickly abandoned the experiment, but it would persist in the minors for a few more decades. I can't imagine that the players were particularly happy with traveling between games (see my second post in this thread for Lefty O'Doul's account of playing a morning game in Stockton and an afternoon game in Sacramento), but I doubt that they were consulted.
The Negro Leagues routinely played triangular (or quadrilateral?) double-headers, often with two teams playing the first game and two different teams playing the nightcap. But then so much was
ad hoc about the Negro Leagues that reliable schedules are almost impossible to find.