1909 Birmingham Giants

A Calendar, Including Newspaper Clippings, of the 1909 Birmingham Giants

1909 Birmingham Giants

Stories are placed in order of the date they appeared.

May 5, 1909

West Baden, IN
"Southland Team Defeats Hoosiers - Birmingham Giants Take Two Games from the West Baden Nine. - Special to the Freeman. - West Baden, Indiana. - The Birmingham, Alabama Giants took two games from the West Baden team on the 5th and 6th, last week, winning the first game by a score of 2 to 0 and the second 11 to 4. The Spring Water boys were unable to cross home plate in the first game. J.B. Taylor pitched for the Giants, and played fine ball, allowing the Hoosiers but four hits. He struck out twelve batters, and had the West Baden team at his mercy all during the game. Scottland pitched the second game, and showed up well until the seventh inning, when the Hoosiers found his curves and slammed the sphere for four runs. This was the only inning in which he allowed them any runs."

May 31, 1909

Birmingham, AL
"Birmingham Wins Two. - Birmingham, Alabama. - The Birmingham Giants defeated the Chattanoogas in two fast games, Monday and Tuesday of the past week. The first game resulted in a score of 7 to 2 and the second 5 to 2. C.I. Taylor pitched the first game and allowed the visitors but three taps.

June 1, 1909

Birmingham, AL
"...the second game 5 to 2. J.B. Taylor pitched Tuesday's game, and starred with his superb control of the ball. Of the twenty-seven putouts, J.B. is credited with thirteen, which were strike-outs. The Tennessee boys have a strong team, but were helpless on the Giants' grounds."

June 12, 1909

Birmingham, AL
"Thirteen strike-outs in a nine-inning game - that's the record so far this season of J.B. Taylor, of the Birmingham Giants."

July 4, 1909

Birmingham, AL
"Birmingham Giants Take Three Games of Series. - Mobile Lost Three and Wins One of Fourth of July Series - Record Breaking Crowd See Games. - Birmingham, Alabama. - The Birmingham giants won three out of four games from Mobile in the Fourth of July series. We played them in a double-header on the 5th to the largest crowd that ever saw a colored game in this city - not excepting the record breaking crowds that saw the famous Leland Giants here early in the spring. The Giants won the first game 4 to 2, with their big side-wheeler, Ben Taylor. He was opposed by that particular bright star, Ritter, of the Mobile aggregation, and that boy went some on July 5th. He said to his manager after losing the first that it was no fault of his. 'Let me go back in the second game and I will bring back the bacon,' he said, and he did. He held the Giants almost completely at his mercy in the second game and only allowed two hits. The Giants management sent their big slab artist, Gilliard, from Talladega College, to the mound, but for some reason he could not get his shoots, stants, and curves to work well and was replaced by C. Taylor in the fourth with the score 5 to 0 in favor of Mobile. During the remainder of the game the Mobile boys never had a chance to swell the score but all the Giants could do with Ritter in the same time was to get one lone tally - final score Mobile 5, Giants 1. - Gilliard, after being driven from the slab in the second game, Monday, asked to be put back against the Mobile boys Tuesday, and what he did to them was a plenty. The score was Mobile 3, Giants 11. Wednesday, the Giants' new pitcher, Pinson, from the M and I college, Holly Springs, Mississippi, was selected to work for the local squad, while Mobile sent Ritter, of double-header fame, back for another opportunity to beat the Giants and well did he perform; while Mobile could do nothing with Pinson they had made four unearned runs up to the ninth and the Giants had only three. But up comes Meridith, the Giants' popular stortstop, reached first on a clean hit and then exhibited the greatest base running feat ever seen on the local grounds, stealing second, stealing third and stealing home, tying the score in the last half of the 9th, with only one out. Then a hit by Ben Taylor, a sacrifice by Oliver, and a hit by Cobb netted the Giants one run and the game - score Mobile 4, Giants 5. - Mobile has a splendid team. - Pitcher Ritter and shortstop Davis are the particular bright stars of that aggregation. McCoy, second baseman, is also a splendid player, but he is a kicker and often brings the wrath of the spectators down upon himself. A baseball player has to be a gentlemanly fellow these days."

July 10, 1909

Birmingham, AL
"What team can take a series for the Birmingham, Alabama Giants?"

July 30?, 1909

West Baden, IN
"West Baden Sprudels Win. - West Baden, Indiana. - The West Baden Sprudels defeated the Birmingham Giants in a loosely played game. The feature of the game was the timely batting of Woods. Score West Baden 10, Giants 6. Batteries - West Baden, Brown and Coleman; Giants, Pams and Cobb."