The small and midsized cities of western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia reached their peaks of population and prosperity in the second quarter of the 20th century. The baseball teams from these towns formed the Middle Atlantic League, the strongest circuit in the low minors and the one with the most alumni to advance to the majors.
The MAL played from 1925 through 1951 and went through three distinct phases. In the pre-Depression years, communities rallied around the home team, which always stood one step from financial disaster. During the Great Depression, the league flourished as president Elmer Daily magically found investors and night baseball boosted attendance working class.
Middle Atlantic League clubs enjoyed a modicum of financial stability and an infusion of outstanding young players and became talent farms for major league teams. During this period Akron, Dayton, Canton, Springfield, Portsmouth and Zanesville, Ohio became the core cities of the league's strongest era. Following World War II, America and baseball experienced seismic cultural and economic shifts with television, the baby boom, suburban growth and changing family values, which overwhelmed the league and its cities.
The small and midsized cities of western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia reached their peaks of population and prosperity in the second quarter of the 20th century. The baseball teams from these towns formed the Middle Atlantic League, the strongest circuit in the low minors and the one with the most alumni to advance to the majors.
The MAL played from 1925 through 1951 and went through three distinct phases. In the pre-Depression years, communities rallied around the home team, which always stood one step from financial disaster. During the Great Depression, the league flourished as president Elmer Daily magically found investors and night baseball boosted attendance working class.
Middle Atlantic League clubs enjoyed a modicum of financial stability and an infusion of outstanding young players and became talent farms for major league teams. During this period Akron, Dayton, Canton, Springfield, Portsmouth and Zanesville, Ohio became the core cities of the league's strongest era. Following World War II, America and baseball experienced seismic cultural and economic shifts with television, the baby boom, suburban growth and changing family values, which overwhelmed the league and its cities.
William E. Akin is a professor emeritus of history from Ursinus College. His articles have appeared in The Historian, American Quarterly and American Historical Review. He lives in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
“Akin has produced the most thorough study on the Mid-Atlantic League and set a standard for future examinations for other, mostly forgotten lower minor leagues”—Journal of Sport History; “Emerging from the coal fields and mill towns of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Middle Atlantic League waged a spirited 27-year battle for survival in baseball’s low minors. At its peak, the MAL ran a minor league of its own and encompassed cities with a total population of more than 1 million. Akin presents a lively and enlightening history, replete with resourceful executives, the (possibly) first female baseball columnist and cameo appearances by notable figures from Chief Bender to Joe Medwick to Whitey Ford and MAL home run king Walter Alston.”—Mike Lackey, Larry Ritter Award-winning author of Spitballing: The Baseball Days of Long Bob Ewing.
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