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Birth of the Dixie League
from the Sporting Way, March 8, 1905:
A CONFEDERATE LOOP? - News from our men in the bushes in Richmond indicate that the one-time Rebels are about to launch their own professional baseball loop. Word is that Minister of Sport William H. Cobb has agreed to sanction a pro loop under the direction of Mr. Clark Griffith of Missouri.
"It's about time," said U.S. magnate Albert Spalding. "There are some fine ballplayers in the Confederacy and it's high time they got themselves organized."
The story circulating the capital is that an eight-team loop, to start play in 1906 is planned. Possible franchise locations include Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Louisville, St. Louis, Memphis, Birmingham, and Atlanta. In keeping with the Confederate society's rigid social strata, the so-called "Dixie" league would be segregated.
Good news for the champions of equality is the second part of the rumor - that of an integrated league to be centered around the Confederacy's Latin American territories which would also begin play next season. Sites for clubs in this circuit could include Miami, Havana, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Houston, El Paso, Hamptonburg - and possibly, Mexico City.
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