Babe Ruth's Yankees at Cramton Bowl

Very little to speak of as far as Biscuits, unless you want to include the mascot (what the hell did they do to Big Mo? So weird!). While we play the waiting game for one more week, there is one aspect of baseball that has a lot going on right now.

In fact, you could say March in Montgomery is....

HISTORY RICH

MARCH 26th 1903  

Nixey Callahan

White Sox manager Nixey Callahan announces that he expects his team to win every single exhibition game during the spring. “The boys are now in fair shape to show their true form. We want to return home with a full string of scalps.”

The White Sox promptly lose to Montgomery, 10-9 in 10 innings. Montgomery’s manager and first baseman, Lew Whistler, went 4-for-5 and belted two home runs to lead his team to victory.



MARCH 26 1906 
Philadelphia A's face Montgomery in another spring contest pitting the local nine against Connie Mack's American League powerhouse in front of a large crowd.

MARCH 26 1908 
The Chicago Cubs play Montgomery in exhibition game, Cubs 1 Climbers 0, Cubs great Orval Overall and Fraser are pitching for Chicago. First baseman and manager Frank Chance joins the World Champion Cubs at Montgomery for the game.

MARCH 27 1908 
The Chicago Cubs play Montgomery in an exhibition game for the second day, again the Cubs beat the Climbers, this time 4-3. Light hitting Heinie Zimmerman homers to left, notable that only once in his career did he club double digit homers.

1908 Montgomery Senators

MARCH 27 1918 
At Montgomery, an exhibition between Cleveland and Cincinnati, the Reds beat the Indians 3-1. Earlier in the month the Reds took on the players of Camp Sheridan, narrowly avoiding defeat at the hands of the doughboy nine.

March 28, 1913

Buzzy Wares

The St. Louis Browns make an unusual “trade,” sending infielder Clyde “Buzzy” Wares to a minor league team in exchange for the rental of a stadium. The Montgomery Black Sox will allow the Browns to use their stadium during spring training-rent free. Wares will return to the Browns later in the season.

MARCH 28 1926 

 The New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers at Montgomery, 2-0. Dodgers pitcher Dazzy Vance goes six innings, allows just one hit and strikes out six. For the Dodgers, ace Herb Pennock also tosses a nice game, but the people were there for more than just pitching.

Bill Dickey, Babe Ruth and Lefty Gomez seen 1926 in Mobile the day before Montgomery's game

Fans turn out to see the fabled Yankee lineup, including Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig and of course, the Babe. Of course the media covered the event heavily, hopefully the newsprint is legible...

 

MARCH 28 1941 
The Yankees beat Montgomery in a 17-1 drubbing. Even pitcher Red Ruffing gets into the act, hitting a home run and picking up the victory in the spring exhibition contest.