1898 Interstate League

The roots of the fabulous American Association were sown by Charles Powers in the form of the Inter-State League amid the fertile baseball soil between Indiana, Ohio and southern Michigan in 1896. In 1897 the league took on it's strongly Ohio flavor by adding teams in Dayton, Mansfield, and Springfield and in 1898 the Wheeling, WV team was dropped in favor Grand Rapids, MI. The American Association would finally come to be after its 1901 re-incarnation as the Western Association.

In 1898 Toledo became a rare loser in a trellice type pennant race despite holding a 7.5 game lead over Dayton with 15 games remaining; a loss approached on the major league level only by the 1964 Phillies (6.5 game lead, 15 games remaining).