1897 ATLANTIC LEAGUE
Teams:
Hartford Bluebirds
Lancaster Maroons
Newark Colts
Norfolk Jewels
Paterson Silk Weavers
Philadelphia Athletics
Reading Actives
Richmond Giants
Schedule Characteristics:
SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G144_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="144" start_month="4" start_day="26" start_day_of_week="2"
Team play between 139 and 144 games. Teams play each other between 19 and 22 times during the season.
Season starts on April 26 and ends on September 20. 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 Newark, Paterson, and Philadelphia.
Because only some of the teams could play at home on Sundays, the league loaded up on Sunday dates for those clubs. That was fairly typical of the time, but it led to some teams playing more games than others.
The Athletics had games scheduled for Sundays, but Philadelphia still banned Sunday baseball, so the games were probably played across the river in New Jersey (the Phillies had previously played some Sunday dates in Gloucester City). Unusual for this time period, the Atlantic League allowed the Athletics to use "farmed" players from the Phillies. As a result, Baseball Reference lists the Athletics as a Phillies' farm club, although the affiliation between the two teams was probably more informal than that. Most other minor leagues in this era had rules outlawing the use of "farmed" players, although those rules were seldom rigorously enforced.
The Paterson Silk Weavers had a very promising young infielder on their roster in 1897 by the name of Honus Wagner.
Atlantic League 1897.lsdl