Atlantic League (1896–1900)

The Atlantic League was a minor league baseball league that operated between 1896 and 1900 in the Northeastern United States. It was the successor of the Pennsylvania State League, which had operated from 1892 to 1895. The name has subsequently been reused twice, for another short-lived league in 1914, and for a contemporary independent minor league.

Atlantic League (1896–1900)
The 1896 Paterson Silk Weavers with the Soby Cup
FormerlyPennsylvania State League
ClassificationClass A, Class B
SportBaseball
Founded1896
CeasedJune 1900
President
No. of teams8
CountryUnited States
Most titlesRichmond Bluebirds (2)

History edit

 
Ed Barrow, president of the Atlantic League for three of its five seasons

League champions edit

Season Champion Record Class League
size
Ref.
1896 Newark Colts 82–61 (.573) A 6 teams† [1]
1897 Lancaster Maroons 90–45 (.667) A 8 teams [2]
1898 Richmond Bluebirds 77–44 (.636) B 8 teams [3]
1899 Richmond Bluebirds 63–25 (.716) A 8 teams‡ [4]
1900 Scranton Miners 26–7 (.788) A 8 teams‡ [5]
† In 1896, eight teams competed; at any point in time, there were six teams active.
‡ In 1899 and 1900, there were only six teams active at season's end.

Source: [6]

Teams edit

 
Oyster Burns, player-manager of the Newark Colts in 1896
 
Jake Wells, the only manager of the Richmond Bluebirds
Team City 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
Allentown Peanuts Allentown, Pennsylvania      Y  Y  Y
Elmira Elmira, New York          Y
Harrisburg Ponies Harrisburg, Pennsylvania          Y12
Hartford Bluebirds Hartford, Connecticut  Y  Y      
Hartford Cooperatives      Y    
Jersey City Jersey City, New Jersey          Y
Lancaster Maroons Lancaster, Pennsylvania  Y12  Y  Y  Y  
New Haven Texas Steers New Haven, Connecticut  Y12        
New York Metropolitans New York, New York  Y12        
Newark Colts Newark, New Jersey  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y
Norfolk Jewels Norfolk, Virginia    Y  Y    
Paterson Silk Weavers Paterson, New Jersey  Y  Y  Y    
Paterson Giants        Y  
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  Y12  Y      Y12
Reading Coal Heavers Reading, Pennsylvania    Y  Y  Y  Y
Richmond Bluebirds Richmond, Virginia    Y  Y  Y  
Scranton Miners Scranton, Pennsylvania        Y  Y
Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania        Y  Y
Wilmington Peaches Wilmington, Delaware  Y        
Total league size 6 8 8 8 8

Notes:

In 1896, New Haven disbanded on July 12; Lancaster entered the league on July 13; New York was expelled on July 13 and was replaced by Philadelphia.
In 1899, Paterson disbanded on July 4, and Scranton followed on July 9.
In 1900, Philadelphia moved to Harrisburg on June 4; Newark and Jersey City disbanded on June 2; the league disbanded on June 14.

Source: [6]

Results by season edit

Teams denoted in italics disbanded during the season.

1896 (Class A)[6]: 170 

April 23–September 13

Team W L Pct. GB
Newark 82 61 .573
Hartford 73 56 .566 1
Paterson 74 60 .552 3.5
New York / Philadelphia 57 69 .452 13
Wilmington 58 79 .423 20
Lancaster 26 30 .464 N/A
New Haven 21 38 .356 N/A
New York was 30–32 when replaced by Philadelphia
1897 (Class A)[6]: 173 

April 26–September 19

Team W L Pct. GB
Lancaster 90 45 .667
Newark 89 52 .631 4
Hartford 78 55 .586 11
Richmond 71 59 .546 16.5
Norfolk 66 72 .478 25.5
Paterson 68 79 .463 28
Philadelphia 49 89 .355 43
Reading 40 100 .286 51


1898 (Class B)[6]: 176 

April 25–September 10

Team W L Pct. GB
Richmond 77 44 .636
Lancaster 82 50 .621 0.5
Reading 72 56 .563 8.5
Paterson 65 70 .481 19
Allentown 55 67 .451 25.5
Newark 58 71 .450 26
Hartford 57 76 .429 29
Norfolk 47 79 .373 35.5
1899 (Class A)[6]: 179 

April 27–August 6

Team W L Pct. GB
Richmond 63 25 .716
Wiles-Barre 49 37 .570 13
Lancaster 51 42 .548 14.5
Reading 46 40 .535 16
Allentown 37 47 .440 24
Newark 42 54 .438 25
Scranton 25 38 .397 N/A
Paterson 21 51 .292 N/A


 
Joe Delahanty, who played for the Allentown Peanuts in 1900, led the Atlantic League in batting with a .469 average.[6]: 181 
1900 (Class A)[6]: 181 

April 30–June 14

Team W L Pct. GB
Scranton 26 7 .788
Wiles-Barre 24 13 .649 4
Reading 16 16 .500 9.5
Allentown 14 20 .412 12.5
Philadelphia / Harrisburg 10 17 .370 13
Elmira 11 19 .367 13.5
Newark 8 12 .400 N/A
Jersey City 7 12 .368 N/A
Philadelphia was 10–11 when replaced by Harrisburg

Soby Cup edit

The Soby Cup, made of silver, was given to the league by tobacco businessman Charles Soby of Hartford, Connecticut, in September 1896.[7] In its first season, the cup was to be awarded to the winner of a postseason series between the league's top two teams; in subsequent years, the holder of the cup would play a series against the league's top finishing team.[8]

Standings at the end of the 1896 season, which had Newark finishing first, were formally protested by the Paterson team, claiming that some of Newark's games were actually exhibitions.[9] With that protest pending, the next two teams in the standings—Paterson and Hartford—arranged to play a series for the Soby Cup.[10] Paterson won the seven-game series, four games to two.[11] The protested standings were not ruled upon until the league's annual meeting in late November; despite inconsistencies in record-keeping, Newark was declared the pennant winner.[12]

Following the 1897 season, the Soby Cup series should have been contested between Lancaster, that year's top team, and Paterson, who had won the cup in 1896.[8] However, league officials decided to have the top two teams of 1897—Lancaster and Newark—play for the cup.[8] After Lancaster and Newark could not agree to terms for a series,[13] the Soby Cup was awarded to Lancaster, the pennant winner.[14]

Prior to the 1898 season, the league abolished the postseason Soby Cup series, and returned to the cup to its donor.[15] By 1951, the cup was at the Baseball Hall of Fame,[16] where it remains as of 2019.[17]

Notable players edit

 
Future Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, who played for the Paterson Silk Weavers in 1896 and 1897

Notable players in the Atlantic League (1896–1900) include:[6]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "1896 Atlantic League".
  2. ^ "1897 Atlantic League".
  3. ^ "1898 Atlantic League".
  4. ^ "1899 Atlantic League".
  5. ^ "1900 Atlantic League".
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007). Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 9781932391176.
  7. ^ "Meeting of Atlantic League in Philadelphia". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. September 12, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c "Who Plays for the Soby Cup?". Passaic Daily News. Passaic, New Jersey. September 16, 1897. p. 5. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Paterson Makes Protest". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. September 16, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Atlantic League Matters". Passaic Daily News. Passaic, New Jersey. September 16, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Paterson Gets the Cup". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. October 5, 1896. p. 6. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "The Atlantic League". The Evening Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. November 24, 1896. p. 6. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Base Ball Notes". The News-Journal. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. September 20, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Atlantic League Meeting". The News-Journal. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. September 21, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "The Atlantic League". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. March 25, 1898. p. 2. Retrieved July 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Fullerton Jr., Hugh (August 15, 1951). "The Missing Trophies". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. p. 20. Retrieved July 20, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Manager of Reference Services (July 25, 2019), email correspondence, Cooperstown, New York: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum