Loading...
 

St. Louis Cardinals Indoor Baseball Game

The St. Louis Cardinals played an Indoor Baseball Game at the YMCA Gymnasium in Little Rock, AR on March 23rd, 1909.

History

St. Louis Cardinals manager Roger Bresnahan was approached by Henry F. Alciatore and Lee Miles of the YMCA Business Men's gymnastics class on March 15th, 1909. The two proposed an indoor baseball game between their class and the Cardinals and Bresnahan accepted their challenge.

The game was originally scheduled for Thursday, March 18th. However, an over booking of the gymnasium forced the game to be postponed until Tuesday, March 23rd. Admission was charged for men spectators, but not for ladies. Seven innings were played and St. Louis easily won by a score of 23-2.

The game was played under regulation rules that featured a smaller diamond, underhanded pitching and a larger, softer baseball.

Location

It's not entirely clear where the game was played. The Little Rock YMCA had two gymnasiums at the time, one of the first floor of the YMCA building at Capitol and Scott streets, and one of the third floor of the YMCA building at 7th and Scott streets. The latter of the two was larger, seemingly providing a better place to play indoor baseball.

Teams


YMCA
NamePos.
AndrewsC
Lee MilesP
Taylor1B
Marion2B
Wonder3B
Fred JordanSS
AlertonOF
ZatonCF
HarrisOF


St. Louis
NamePos.
Ed PhelpsC
Ed KonetchyP
Steve Evans1B
Billy Gilbert2B
Tom Reilly3B
Bobby ByrneSS
Eddie HigginsLF
MorseCF
Chappy CharlesRF


Results

Inning123456789R
St. Louis 23
YMCA 2


Sources

1) "Cardinals will try Indoor Baseball Game", Arkansas Gazette, 3/16/1909
2) "Indoor Game Postponed", Arkansas Gazette 3/18/1909
2) "Stevie is the Cut-Up", Arkansas Gazette, 3/24/1909