Historical Minor League Schedules

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by swampdragon

I don't know. There were some interesting schedule quirks in the 1870s and 1880s.

Having done nearly a hundred of these things, I'm well aware of the oddities in early minor-league schedules. Nevertheless, I'm reasonably confident that there was no scheduled double-header in Binghamton on that date, for the simple reason that it would have been the only double-header in the league that year. Furthermore, scheduled double-headers were extremely rare in that time period - the majors didn't have one until 1882. Had this been a schedule from 1898 rather than 1878, therefore, I'd be somewhat more inclined to think that the published version was accurate.

[joefromchicago]

1927 SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION

Teams:

Atlanta Crackers
Birmingham Barons
Chattanooga Lookouts
Little Rock Travelers
Memphis Chicks
Mobile Bears
Nashville Volunteers
New Orleans Pelicans

SCHEDULE CHARACTERISTICS:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G154_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="154" start_month="4" start_day="12" start_day_of_week="3"

Each team plays 154 games. Teams play each other 22 times.

Season starts on April 12 and ends on September 18. Weekday games start at 3:00. Weekend games start at 1:00. Double-headers start at noon and 3:00. No Sunday games at Atlanta, Birmingham, and Little Rock.


This is the revised schedule as published in The Sporting News (3/24/1927). The revision was made necessary when the governor of Arkansas bravely vetoed a bill that would have subjected the virtuous citizens of that state to the dangers of Sunday baseball. I had to use a fair amount of guesswork on this one because the original source material is in really terrible shape.

Southern Association 1927.lsdl

[joefromchicago]

1884 NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE

Teams:

Bay City (MI)
Fort Wayne (IN) Hoosiers
Grand Rapids (MI)
Milwaukee (WI) Brewers
Minneapolis (MN) Millers
Muskegon (MI)
Peoria (IL) Reds
Quincy (IL)
Saginaw (MI) Greys
Saint Paul (MN) Apostles
Stillwater (MN)
Terre Haute (IN)

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G110_T12_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="110" start_month="5" start_day="1" start_day_of_week="5"

Each team plays 110 games. Teams play each other 10 times.

Season starts on May 1 and ends on October 9. Weekday games start at 3:00. Saturday games start at 1:00. Holiday double-headers (Decoration Day, Independence Day) start at noon and 3:00. No Sunday games.


1884 was a bad year for minor leagues. With the Union Association challenging the duopoly created by the National League and the American Association, it was open season on the Northwestern League, whose rosters were raided by all sides despite the fact that it was a member of the "Tripartite Pact." The league gradually collapsed as teams folded, until Milwaukee and St. Paul, the last remaining clubs, joined the Union Association.

There were a number of errors in the published schedule (The New York Clipper 3/22/1884). Muskegon, for instance, is listed as playing at Fort Wayne on July 12-14. That should be June 12-14. I'm reasonably confident I corrected all of the errors.

Northwestern League 1884.lsdl

[abell1198]

1948 SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION

Teams:

Atlanta Crackers
Birmingham Barons
Chattanooga Lookouts
Little Rock Travelers
Memphis Chicks
Mobile Bears
Nashville Volunteers
New Orleans Pelicans

SCHEDULE CHARACTERISTICS:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G154_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="154" start_month="4" start_day="16" start_day_of_week="6"

Each team plays 154 games. Teams play each other 22 times.

Season starts on April 16 and ends on September 12. Weekday games start at 7:00 p.m. Last game of series starts at 1:00 p.m. Double-headers start at noon and 4:00 p.m.

[thehef]

Not sure if this is helpful or already known, but I happened to stumble upon an article in the 4/7/28 Deseret News regarding the reorganized Utah-Idaho League.

The schedule format was announced as follows:

- Mondays = traveling days
- Six-day schedule format
- Seven-game series'
- Seven inning doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays

No info on number of games or start times. Opening day was 5/15/28.

[joefromchicago]

Hef: That's the same type of schedule that the PCL and a few other western leagues adopted. For teams that were often located hundreds of miles away from each other, it allowed for the most number of games with the least amount of travel.

You didn't happen to get a copy of the schedule, did you? It's one that I don't have.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

You didn't happen to get a copy of the schedule, did you? It's one that I don't have.

The full schedule wasn't included but as I recall the holiday matchups were listed. I'll go back and check and see if a schedule was posted on other days... I might be able to cobble one together by looking at a couple of editions each week (since the format - 7 games over 6 days each week - is pretty simple).

[thehef]

Originally Posted by thehef

At least for the Salt Lake City Bees (and probably the rest of the league), opening day was 5/29/28.

I misread something and it turns out that 5/29/28 was the date of the delayed home-opener for Salt Lake due to the ballpark not yet being ready. It looks like opening day for the league was Tuesday, May 15th, 1928.

More info as I dig it up...

[joefromchicago]

1944 PONY LEAGUE

Teams:

Batavia (NY) Clippers
Bradford (PA) Blue Wings
Erie (PA) Sailors
Hornell (NY) Maples
Jamestown (NY) Falcons
Lockport (NY) Cubs
Olean (NY) Oilers
Wellsville (NY) Yankees

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G126_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="126" start_month="5" start_day="2" start_day_of_week="3"

Each team plays 126 games. Teams play each other 18 times.

Season starts on May 2 and ends on September 4. Weekday and Saturday games start at 7:00. Sunday games start at 1:00. Sunday double-header starts at noon and 3:00. Split home-and-home holiday double-headers start at 10:00 and 3:00.

"PONY" stands for "Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York," although the league did not field any teams from Ontario in 1944. The published schedule (The Sporting News, 4/6/1944) has Wellsville playing at Hornell ten times. I deleted the May 5 game, which may have been a misprint. The schedule doesn't say which teams played in the mornings and afternoons in the holiday double-headers, so I used my judgment.

Pony League 1944.lsdl

[Outlaw Jim]

I like this thread, was importing stats from BBRef in another game. I did not find this too easily. Can this possibly be stickied? It is that good.

[lightgrenade07]

I second the call to sticky this.

[joefromchicago]

1883 INTERSTATE ASSOCIATION

Teams:

Brooklyn (NY) Greys
Merritt of Camden (NJ)
Harrisburg (PA)
Anthracite of Pottsville (PA)
Active of Reading (PA)
Trenton (NJ)
Quickstep of Wilmington (DE)

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G60_T7_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="60" start_month="5" start_day="1" start_day_of_week="3"

Each team plays 60 games. Teams play each other 10 times.

Season starts on May 1 and ends on September 29. Weekday games start at 3:00. Saturday games start at 1:00. No Sunday or holiday games.

For everyone out there who has been saying "I wish there was a schedule for my seven-team, nineteenth-century league," this is for you. Apart from having an odd number of teams, this schedule is unusual in that the league avoided playing games on Memorial Day and Independence Day (this at a time when the major leagues were already scheduling double-headers on those dates). The printed schedule (The New York Clipper, 4/14/1883) has Trenton playing at Camden on May 8 - that should be May 18.

Interstate Association 1883.lsdl

[joefromchicago]

1943 APPALACHIAN LEAGUE

Teams:

Bristol (VA) Twins
Erwin (TN) Aces
Johnson City (TN) Cardinals
Kingsport (TN) Cherokees

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G114_T4_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="114" start_month="5" start_day="4" start_day_of_week="3"

Each team plays 114 games. Teams play each other 38 times.

Season starts on May 4 and ends on August 27. Weekday games start at 7:00. Sunday games start at 1:00. Holiday split double-headers start at 1:00 and 7:00.

A compact class-D circuit located in the Appalachian foothills. Baseball Reference says that the Bristol team was from Bristol, VA, but there's also a Bristol, TN immediately adjacent to it - I don't know where the ballpark was located. There are only two breaks in the schedule - July 12-13 for the league's all-star game, and August 9-10 for Navy-Army charity games.

Appalachian League 1943.lsdl

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

A compact class-D circuit located in the Appalachian foothills. Baseball Reference says that the Bristol team was from Bristol, VA, but there's also a Bristol, TN immediately adjacent to it - I don't know where the ballpark was located. There are only two breaks in the schedule - July 12-13 for the league's all-star game, and August 9-10 for Navy-Army charity games.

Data for the Appalachian League clubs from the 1943 Baseball Blue Book:

Bristol Twins: Bristol, VA; Shaw Stadium; park capacity, 3,500
Erwin Aces: Erwin, TN; Genson Park; park capacity, 1,000
Johnson City Cardinals: Johnson City, TN; Keystone Field; park capacity, 3,200
Kingsport Cherokees: Kingsport, TN; J. Fred Johnson Stadium; park capacity, 5,000

[joefromchicago]

1929 SOUTH ATLANTIC (SALLY) LEAGUE

Teams:

Asheville (NC) Tourists
Augusta (GA) Tygers
Charlotte (NC) Hornets
Columbia (SC) Corners
Greenville (SC) Spinners
Knoxville (TN) Smokies
Macon (GA) Peaches
Spartanburg (SC) Spartans

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G151_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="151" start_month="4" start_day="15" start_day_of_week="2"

Teams play either 150 or 151 games. Teams play each other from 15 to 25 times. Teams play from 73 to 77 home games.

Season starts on April 15 and ends on September 7. Weekday games start at 3:00. Double-header games start at noon and 3:00, except for split home-and-home July 4 double-header between Spartanburg and Greenville, which starts at 10:00 and 3:00. No Sunday games.

Sally League 1929.lsdl

Charlotte and Spartanburg are the only teams that play 150 games rather than 151. That's because they're the only teams that don't play a weekday double-header at the end of April. I've modified the schedule to give them a double-header on April 22 so that all the teams play 151 games.

Sally League 1929 (mod).lsdl

[joefromchicago]

1952 PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Teams:

Hollywood Stars
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Oaks
Portland Beavers
Sacramento Solons
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Seals
Seattle Rainiers

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G180_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="180" start_month="4" start_day="1" start_day_of_week="3"

Each team plays 180 games. Teams play each other from 22 to 28 times.

Season starts April 1 and ends September 21. Weekday and Saturday games start at 7:00. Sunday and holiday double-headers start at noon and 3:00.

In 1952, after experimenting with scheduling shorter series the previous year, the PCL reverted to its traditional format of starting series on Tuesdays and ending with Sunday double-headers.

Pacific Coast League 1952.lsdl

[joefromchicago]

LONE STAR LEAGUE 1928

Teams:

Corsicana Oilers
Mexia Gushers
Palestine Pals
Paris Colts/Rustlers
Texarkana Twins
Tyler Trojans

All teams located in Texas (of course)

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G125_T6_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="125" start_month="4" start_day="18" start_day_of_week="4"

Each team plays 125 games. Teams play either 62 or 63 home games. Teams play each other from 23 to 26 times.

Season starts on April 18 and ends on August 19. Weekday games start at 3:00. Weekend and Decoration Day (May 30) games start at 1:00. July 4 double-header games start at noon and 3:00.

125 games in 124 days for this Class-D league.

Lone Star League 1928.lsdl

[joefromchicago]

EASTERN CAROLINA LEAGUE 1908

Teams:

Goldsboro Giants
Kinston
New Bern
Raleigh Red Sox
Wilmington Red Birds
Wilson Tobacconists

All teams located in NC

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G58_T6_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="58" start_month="6" start_day="8" start_day_of_week="2"

Teams play either 57 or 58 games. Teams play each other from 9 to 13 times. Teams play from 27 to 31 home games.

Season starts on June 8 and ends on August 15. Weekday games start at 3:00. Saturday games start at 1:00. Double-header games start at noon and 3:00, except for July 4 split home-and-home double-headers, which start at 10:00 and 3:00. No Sunday games.

This schedule contains a couple of oddities that may be due to errors in the published version (Sporting Life 4/18/1908). Aside from the holiday double-bills, only one double-header is scheduled. That looks like a mistake to me. Also, there are no games listed for June 15-17, which leaves an inexplicable gap in the schedule. I've modified the schedule to fill in the gap, eliminate the weekday double-header, and give Goldsboro and Wilmington a double-header on July 4 so that all teams play 61 games.

Eastern Carolina League 1908.lsdl
Eastern Carolina League 1908 (mod).lsdl

[joefromchicago]

1929 NEBRASKA STATE LEAGUE

Teams:

Fairbury Jeffersons
Grand Island Islanders
Lincoln Links
McCook Generals
Norfolk Elks
North Platte Buffaloes
Norton Jayhawks
York Dukes

All teams located in NE except for Norton (KS)

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G121_T8_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="121" start_month="5" start_day="14" start_day_of_week="3"

Each team plays 121 games. Teams play each other from 14 to 23 times. Teams play either 60 or 61 home games.

Season starts on May 14 and ends on September 8. Weekday games start at 3:00. Saturday and Labor Day games start at 1:00. Sunday and July 4 double-headers start at noon and 3:00, except for the July 4 split home-and-home double-header between Lincoln and York, which starts at 10:00 and 3:00. No games scheduled for Decoration Day (hmmm, that's odd).

The published schedule (The Sporting News, 3/21/1929) has Fairbury playing only 59 home games. That may be correct, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a home-and-away series with Lincoln got switched around. I un-switched it so that Fairbury now has 60 home games.

Nebraska State League 1929.lsdl

As was typical in this era, the schedule maker divided the league into two unofficial "divisions" for scheduling purposes. The Nebraska League was unusual (but not unique) in having teams play more games against their "divisional" opponents. I went ahead and modified the schedule to make the divisional split official. Fairbury, Lincoln, Norfolk, and York are in the East Division, while Grand Island, McCook, North Platte, and Norton are in the West Division. The schedule characteristics are as follows:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGN_G121_SL1_D1_T4_D2_T4_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="0" games_per_team="121" start_month="5" start_day="14" start_day_of_week="3"

Teams play divisional opponents 20, 22, or 23 times and play non-divisional opponents 14 times. Note that this is an unbalanced schedule, so make sure the "Use Balanced Schedule Format" box under league options is unchecked.

Nebraska State League 1929 (mod div).lsdl

[joefromchicago]

1916 PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Teams:

Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Oaks
Portland Beavers
Salt Lake City Bees
San Francisco Seals
Vernon Tigers

Schedule Characteristics:

SCHEDULE type="ILN_BGY_G209_T6_C_" inter_league="0" balanced_games="1" games_per_team="209" start_month="4" start_day="4" start_on_weekday="3"

Each team plays between 198 and 209 games. Teams play each other from 38 to 45 times.

Season starts on April 4 and ends on October 29. Double-headers on holidays - Memorial Day (5/30), Independence Day (7/4), Pioneer Day (7/24 - Utah), Labor Day (9/2), and Admission Day (9/9 - California) - and on Sundays. Weekday games start at 3:00. Weekend games start at 1:00. Double-header games start at noon and 3:00.

Another ultra-long schedule from the PCL. The discrepancy in games played is the result of Portland and Salt Lake City playing only single games at home on Sundays - all other teams play double-headers. The breakdown (away/home) is as follows:

Los Angeles - 102/106 = 208
Oakland - 102/107 = 209
Portland - 106/92 = 198
Salt Lake City - 105/94 = 199
San Francisco - 100/108 = 208
Vernon - 100/108 = 208

Pacific Coast League 1916.lsdl