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Expanding Its Horizons: League Reaches South, Midwest
Just as the Colonial League was bidding farewell to its greatest players, it was preparing to expand its reach into the South and into the Midwest.
Thanks to bustling ticket sales and the end of World War I, the Colonial League enjoyed unprecedented financial success. It was becoming the sport of choice among Colonists, and it was time to expand its borders.
In 1878, the Colonial League doubled in size with the addition of four new franchises: the Bayouville Barons, Dixie Dukes, Atlantis Neptunes, and Dullsville Ducks.
The southern teams -- Bayouville, Dixie, and Atlantis -- had jumped ship from the Gulf League, which was on the verge of collapse after losing many of its top players to the Colonial League. Dullsville, though small, represented an obvious choice for expansion as the birthplace of baseball. It also marked the Colonial's first foray into the Midwest.
Holding the first overall pick in the expansion draft, the Dixie Dukes selected Maxis City pitching prospect Phillip Cannon. Not unexpectedly, the expansion teams finished at the bottom of the standings after their inaugural season, playing with second-hand players and leftovers from the Founding Four. With Cannon on the hill, Dixie also became the unwitting victim in baseball's first-ever no-hitter, thrown by Greenwich pitcher John "Dingo" Allison, who happened to be playing in just his 7th career big league game.
While the expansion teams struggled, Maxis City enjoyed unparalleled success during the '87 season, winning its seventh straight championship that year. Though there was optimism among the new teams, it was clear the odl guard would rule the Colonial League for quite some time.
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