Date of Award

1989

Type

Thesis

Major

Specialist in Education

Degree Type

Special Degree in Education in Secondary Social Studies

Department

Teacher Education

First Advisor

Dr. Bob G. Henderson

Second Advisor

Dr. John S. Lupold

Third Advisor

Dr. Stephen P. Halverson

Abstract

The history of professional baseball in Columbus, Georgia, is a long and varied one. Columbus has been in professional baseball longer than most cities in the United States and its history is filled with both success and failure. National events such as wars and depressions have affected baseball in Columbus as have changes within the community itself. Attendance at professional baseball games in Columbus has varied from excellent to poor and the success of the local franchise has varied with attendance. Probably the major factor affecting professional baseball in recent years has been the increased use of television to broadcast games. Most believe that these competing telecasts of major league games have been the most damaging factor in the decline of minor league baseball. Despite this, professional baseball in Columbus survives, although some might say it barely survives. How long it wil1 survive in the future is an unanswered question.

The first professional baseball team played In Columbus during the 1885 and 1886 seasons as one of the eight teams in the original Southern League, although one cannot connect this league to the modern Southern League. At that time the three other professional baseball leagues in operation in the United States were the National League, the only major league where the very best played, the American Association, and the Eastern League. (1) The 1885 team, known as the Stars, finished in fifth place with a record of 49 wins and 47 losses as the Atlanta team won the championship. The leading hitter was Charles Krehmeyer with a .347 batting average. Dennis Lyons and Willlam Andrews led the team with six home runs each, and the leading pitcher was Edward Clark with 24 wins and 17 losses. (2) An event of notoriety also occurred during that first season when the first doubleheader in Southern League history was played in Columbus on June 24, 1885. (3) Details of this event, and almost any information about the 1886 team, remain a mystery. Newspapers of this day, except in very large cities, did not have sports sections and if any records of this team exist they have yet to be discovered. (4) The Southern League folded in 1899 after several seasons of mediocre support. A new Southern Association would be formed in 1901 but it would have little connection to the older league and would not have a Columbus team. (5)

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