Today in the Past 4-22, Dramatics of Mobile visit Montgomery, Alabama's First Baseball Conference

Today we continue our look at the history files. Before putting these items together for this post, I had no idea that there were multiple items from the same day in the same year!


As good as history is, its time to get something current. In the next post we will hear from Biscuits reliever Ivan Pelaez on what it's like to be a ballplayer with no baseball.

APRIL 22 1868 
Montgomery defeats Mobile in opening game of the year.

Baseball players from across the state have gathered in Montgomery for Alabama's first baseball convention and are on hand to take in the tilt between the host city Montgomery and Mobile.



The Mobile Dramatics are formed from a theater troupe and other notable sporting and businessmen of the port city.

Third baseman for the Dramatics John Payne is a Confederate Navy war hero.



The report from the Mobile newspaper said that left fielder Patterson was kicked by a horse during the game and had to be substituted.




The Montgomery club is likewise composed of well known businessmen and sporting names.


The Umpire for the contest is from the Selma baseball club, though he gets some complaints from the Mobile team for his close calls.

Though Montgomery wins the game, the best report of the contest is from the Mobile newspaper, which is included here.

Later the Dramatics would thank Montgomery for hosting them in the city.

John Payne, Mobile Dramatics team captain & third baseman

APRIL 22 1868 

Alabama Baseball Convention forms the states first baseball constitution and elects officers in early organization efforts.

One of the most important baseball events in state history, the many clubs of the state come together to elect officers and draft a constitution. Delegates will be selected to represent Alabama to the National Conference in New York.

On the surface, one of the most boring files in the history cabinet. Yet further inspection shows a list of convention officers, a valuable who's who of Alabama baseball of the era.

John A. Payne, best known to historians as the captain of the ill-fated Confederate submarine CSS Hunley, is elected as President of the state baseball convention. A founding member of the Mobile Dramatics club, Payne is a well known sportsman and runs an import company in Mobile.

Wetumpka, Selma, Montgomery and Greenville are also represented among the officers of the state baseball convention. This convention sets down the rules for clubs in the state, requirements include having eighteen members per club and that no club delegate can be under 21 years of age.

Missing from this list of baseball notables is Alec Pearsall, the former Excelsior is technically banned by the New York baseball authorities and his inclusion could risk the state being accepted into the National Association. This event would have taken place on Pearsall's 29th birthday. 

1868 base ball equipment ad

APRIL 22 1839 
Andrew T. "Aleck" Pearsall is born in Florence Alabama. He would be Alabama's first baseball player, playing for the famed Brooklyn Excelsiors.

Pearsall played alongside Alex Creighton, the games first star pitcher, was on the baseball first road trip and appeared in the first ever box score. A left-handed hitting first baseman, Pearsall was also known for his defense - attributed in part to his "surgeon's hands".

Pearsall would be expelled from the Excelsiors for joining the Confederate army as a surgeon during the Civil War. Following the war he came to Montgomery where he set up a medical practice and helped organize the cities first baseball teams.

Pearsall, along with John A. Payne of Mobile, is credited with bringing baseball to Alabama in 1867, although the game was already being played at Spring Hill College in Mobile before the Civil War.




APRIL 22 1893 
"Little" Joe McGinnity wins his second Montgomery start, beating Nashville for the second time in three days. This time the score is 7-4.



APRIL 22 1921
Montgomery Grey Sox win season opener vs Birmingham 2-1, before the game the 1920 NSL pennant was raised. Also, a parade was held to spark local interest in the club, which won the championship the previous season.