1900 International League

Where and how this league came to be, I don't know. It is amazing how many leagues like this saturate the 1880-1920 period. Town ball and semi-pro baseball must have saturated the country at a level we can never imagine, save for the image of the boy who leaves home with a glove, a bat, and a sandwich to seek out his fortune.

Three Canadian teams, all ex-Canadian League cities: Hamilton, London, and Chatham; counter balance three American teams in Michigan: Port Huron, Saginaw, and the ex-Western League city of Grand Rapids. London jumped out to a quick 8-0 start and settled into a trellice type race before a lack of interest killed the league, right after the Fourth of July games. I'd bet these games on the Fourth were all scheduled in Michigan, yet the games on the Queen's birthday, May 24, were probably all scheduled in Canada. So too, I'd bet the league directors knew they'd disband after the Fourth of July games for at least three weeks. They probably held out to that date just to make that extra holiday crowd money.