August 10, 1909
Mobile, AL
"Even Break With Floridians. - Special to the Freeman. - Mobile, Alabama. - Mobile and Pensacola played four games here last week, and broke even on the series. Both won two games each. The Birmingham games were played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Mobile claims that she has one of the strongest aggregations in colored balldom, and a pitching staff of unusual ability, coupled with clever fielders, which gives the Mobiles a fair chance to the colored championship of the United States. The pitching staff is composed of Cooney Ritter of Mobile; Samuels, of Mobile, and James Beck, an erstwhile pitcher or Knoxville College, Knoxville. These pitchers played hard to take Birmingham's scalp. Other teams will do well to write the manager of the team if they desire dates."
Mobile, AL
"First Game to Birmingham. - Giants Present Mobile a Bull's Eye in Opener of Series. - Special to the Freeman. - Mobile, Alabama. - The Birmingham Giants are keeping up their winning streak. They defeated Mobile Tuesday afternoon in the first game of a series. Not a man on the local team crossed the pan, while Birmingham made nine big footprints on the plate. The visitors had their batting eye with them and well placed their hits. While Taylor's men played havoc with the sphere, Gilliard, who pitched an excellent article of ball and allowed the home boys but four measley scattered hits. The final score was 9 to 0."
August 11, 1909
Mobile, AL
"The Birmingham games were played Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week."
August 12, 1909
Mobile, AL
"The Birmingham Giants defeated the Mobile team again Thursday by all around superior work. Pinson, who pitched for the visitors, was at no time in danger of losing his game, and held our boys at his mercy."
August 14, 1909
Mobile, AL
"Mobiles Want More Games. - Special to the Freeman. - Mobile, Alabama. - The Mobiles and Pensacolas played three good games last week at the fairgrounds. Mr. V.F. Packer has bought the franchise of the Mobile Baseball Club. Mr. W.J. Robinson, secretary, will be glad to get a few games booked with some good, fast teams before the season closes."
September 9, 1909
Mobile, AL
"The Giants played... at Mobile September 9 and 10."
Mobile, AL
"Mobile, Alabama. - The Birmingham Giants defeated the Mobiles Tuesday, September 9, in a ten-inning pitchers' battle between Pinson for the Giants, and Turner for the locals. Both pitchers kept the hits well-scattered, but in the tenth, Moore, the Giants' fleet-footed left fielder, beat out a bunt and then exhibited his ability as a base runner by stealing second and third on the first two balls pitched. Then Houston, Birmingham's short fielder, singled and broke up one of the most exciting and hard-fought games of the season. Zimmerman, the Mobile shortstop's work was easily the feature. Birmingham Giants 3, Mobile 2."
September 10, 1909
Mobile, AL
"The Giants played... at Mobile September 9 and 10."
Mobile, AL
"The second game of the series between Mobile and Birmingham was played Friday afternoon, September 10 before a small crowd which was well repaid for its time and money. The features of the game were the playing of Zimmerman at short for Mobile, a one-hand catch by Scotland, centerfielder of Birmingham. Taylor, of Birmingham, got four hits in as many times at bat, stole four bases and made three of the four runs for his club. Mobile 6, Birmingham Giants 4."
"C. Taylor very likely established a world's record September 10 at Mobile by making four clean hits out of four times up; stole four bases and made three runs."
September 11, 1909
Indianapolis, IN
"Gilliard, star pitcher of the Birmingham Giants, has lost but five of twenty-three games."
"Ben Taylor, the big southpaw of the Birmingham Giants, has pitched twenty-five games so far this season. Of this number, Ben has lost only three games."
Mobile, AL
"The Birmingham Giants proved beyond a doubt that they are the masters of baseball in Dixie by defeating the local club September 11 in a double header, 9 to 5 and 8 to 2. Ben Taylor pitched the first game for the Giants and won it with ease, but he and his teammates grew careless in the seventh and eighth innings and let in five runs, but they had piled nine runs in the previous frames and the game was never in doubt. Pinson pitched the second game and was steady throughout, while Mobile could not check the onslaught of the hard-hitting Giants, who had got their batting eye fixed on the ball early in the first game. Mobile used all her pitchers in the last game, but the visitors piled up eight runs in six innings just the same. - From Birmingham's Camp. - Fred Zimmerman, Mobile's shortstop, is a great man in that position. Jas. Goldstucker, manager of the Pensacolas, says he is determined to get a club together that can defeat the Birmingham Giants. The Giants hereby issue a challenge to the Louisville Cubs for a series of five games to settle the championship of the South. Games to be played anywhere. L.S.N. Cobb, the Giants' catcher, is destined to be without a peer in a few more seasons. He has thrown out twelve of the last fourteen attempts at second. Deerfoot More, the steady left fielder always keeps the opposing team guessing; he lays down a bunt when the other fellow expects a hit and he hits when they dash in for a bunt. Joe Scotland is still pulling off sensational stunts in center field. Bingham, the Giants' fast little right fielder, on going from first to third on a single to right field, at Mobile September 11, was hit on the back of the head with a thrown ball from right field to catch him at third. He scored on the throw. The boys called it 'head work.'"
June 11, 1909
Mobile, AL
"Birmingham Giants Took Two of Three Games - Mobile Wins One - Failed to Score in First Game - Play Double Header Before Big Crowd Saturday. - Special to the Freeman. - Mobile, Alabama. - In a battle of ten innings, with a score of 1 to 0, Birmingham finally won over the home team Friday. The large crowd that went out to National Park to witness the game expected a great one, and they were not dissapointed. The Birmingham team stands at the head of Negro professionals in the South, with a large bunch of victories to its credit. The Mobile team so far has also made a great record this season, having lost only one game out of the three series completed with New Orleans and Pensacola. Samuels pitched in fine form for the home team, and the fact that Birmingham was able to score was no fault of his, whereas Gilliard, for Birmingham, was better supported in general team work. In the latter half of the tenth inning, Mobile succeeded in getting a man on second basse, but even before the cheering ceased the runner was caught by a nice little ruse of Taylor and Merideth."
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."
Birmingham, AL
"Saturday afternoon the two teams played a double header. The Mobile team took the first game, 1 to 0. The game was as fast and interesting as the one of Friday, in which Mobile was beaten by the Giants 1 to 0. Ritter, pitcher for the home team, was steady and strong, allowing the Giants only two hits, striking out seven, which was all that Taylor could do. In the second game both teams, tired out, fell out considerably from the fast pace set in the first, and things moved along slowly for a season. Raymore was in the box for Mobile. There was much batting, which, however, allowed some very pretty fielding on both sides. Birmingham scored in the first inning, piled them up in the third, and with this situation confronting them, Mobile sought a change of positions. Raymore went to first base and Samuels came to the box. The playing was better from then on, but it was too late to change the result. The game ended in seven innings with the score of 7 to 2 in favor of Birmingham."
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."