• The American League's Philadelphia entry had yet to procure a place to play ball and league president Ban Johnson attributed the problem solely to “red tape” and the “Philadelphia way of doing things” rather than to any effort by the National League's Phillies to block the move

< Dec 14, 1900 Back to Calendar Jan 3, 1901 >

• The American League's Philadelphia team was trying to lease grounds at 26th and Jefferson, the site of the old Athletics during the American Association days, but the city's Property Committee delayed a vote on the matter to give potential opponents more time to submit their arguments

< Jan 1, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 5, 1901 >

• A bit in Sporting Life repeated a story attributed to the Milwaukee Sentinel that the American League's Philadelphia team was “backed by Milwaukee capital”

< Jan 3, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 9, 1901 >

• All seven current American League teams, including Philadelphia, submitted 51 percent of their team's stock and rights to land for ballparks in trust to the league to prevent the possibility of defection during what was expected to be a costly battle with the National League for survival

< Jan 5, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 13, 1901 >

• Connie Mack said he had talked to about 75 potential players so far about joining his team and that he expected to be able to form a roster from that group

• American League president Ban Johnson said that work would begin on a Philadelphia ballpark on the 17th, but didn't say at which site

< Jan 9, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 16, 1901 >

• The Philadelphia city council considered, but made no decision about, the team's request to lease grounds for a ballpark at 26th and Jefferson

• Representing the team at the meeting were sportswriters Frank Hough and Samuel Jones

• One of the council members said that the terms of the lease—$1,000 per year for three years—were too low and a local land developer complained that a ballpark would reduce property values in the area and would increase vandalism, though several council members objected strongly to this assertion

• Due to procedural reasons, the council could not vote on the measure at this meeting and planned to bring it up again in a week at their next meeting

< Jan 13, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 19, 1901 >

• The team announced the hiring of Billy Sharsig as business manager

• Sharsig had been a founding member of the Athletics team in the old American Association and had been their field manager for a few seasons in the late 1880s

< Jan 16, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 20, 1901 >

• Connie Mack voiced his hope that the council would approve the team's lease of the grounds at 26th and Jefferson, but that the team had options three other sites: 29th and Columbia, 22nd and Lehigh, and 6th and Lehigh

< Jan 19, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 21, 1901 >

• Though the team had yet to announce they had signed a lease on a site, Connie Mack said they were ready to receive bids from construction firms for the building of a grandstand

• American League president Ban Johnson said he expected the team to complete an agreement within a week

< Jan 20, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 22, 1901 >

• The team announced they would continue a local tradition and call themselves the Athletics

• The team also announced they had signed a ten-year lease on the grounds at 29th and Columbia for the construction of a ballpark

• The site was bounded by 29th Street on the east, 30th Street on the west, Columbia Street on the north, and Oxford Street on the south and enclosed a space 400 feet by 460 feet

• The grandstand would be built by a firm headed by James Foster at an estimated cost of $35,000

• Total capacity would be 12,000, with 4,000 in a single-tier grandstand behind the plate, and the remaining 8,000 to be divided between two sets of bleachers down each foul line

• A separate one-story building was to be built for locker rooms and the completion of all structures was scheduled for April 1

< Jan 21, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 26, 1901 >

• While attending league meetings in Chicago, Connie Mack said he had signed “many” players, but would not identify any of them

< Jan 22, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 28, 1901 >

• At the organizational meeting in Chicago, the American League formally granted a Philadelphia franchise to the Athletics and Connie Mack was invested as team president

< Jan 26, 1901 Back to Calendar Jan 29, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack was named to the American League's rules committee along with Baltimore manager John McGraw and Chicago owner Charles Comiskey

• While the Inquirer reported a week ago that the team had decided to call themselves the “Athletics”, Mack said nothing had been decided and added that “so long as our team performs to suit the fans, I don't care what name they use to designate our team”

< Jan 28, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 6, 1901 >

• The team signed left-handed pitcher Billy Milligan

< Jan 29, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 10, 1901 >

• A story was making the rounds that Connie Mack had signed Phillies second baseman Nap Lajoie, though both Mack and Phillies owner John Rogers said it wasn't true

< Feb 6, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 12, 1901 >

• The team signed catcher Doc Powers on or before this date

< Feb 10, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 13, 1901 >

• One of the great mysteries around the new Athletics franchise was who was bankrolling the operation

• Connie Mack wouldn't say who, but he did say the available capital was better than $100,000

• The fence around the new ballpark was complete and work had begun on the grandstand

< Feb 12, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 17, 1901 >

• The effort to find out who was bankrolling the Athletics franchise turned up the name of Cleveland owner Charles Somers on the ballpark grounds lease and the grandstand construction contract

• Rumor said Somers owned a piece of the Boston team, too, and the news reinforced jibes that the American League was guilty of “syndicalism”

< Feb 13, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 19, 1901 >

• The team's ownership picture cleared somewhat by the election of Philadelphia sporting goods manufacturer Ben Shibe to the position of team president by the still- unidentified members of the board of directors

• At the same meeting, the team officially named Connie Mack field manager and team treasurer

• Phillies manager Bill Shettsline accused Mack of trying to poach one of his best players, though according to Shettsline, the unnamed player told Mack that he was still under contract to the Phillies and wouldn't break the agreement

• When asked about the matter, Mack said “he really cannot say which player Mr Shettsline refers to” as he had “talked with a number of his men”

• Later reporting in Sporting Life suggested the player in question was center fielder Roy Thomas

< Feb 17, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 20, 1901 >

• The team reported that they expected ballpark construction to be completed by March 15 and added that work would begin on the playing field by March 1, supervised by John Murphy, considered to be one of the best in the business

< Feb 19, 1901 Back to Calendar Feb 28, 1901 >

• After weeks of rumors and denials from the principals, it was generally reported around the country that the team had signed Phillies second baseman Nap Lajoie

< Feb 20, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 2, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack was out West on what was assumed to be a recruitment tour, with right-handed pitcher Amos Rusie reputed to be on his list of potential talent

< Feb 28, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 4, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack was in Cincinnati trying to scare up players for his new team, including left-handed pitchers Theodore Breitenstein and Jesse Tannehill, middle infielder Tommy Corcoran, and shortstop Bill Gleason

• The team had yet to report any official signings

< Mar 2, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 5, 1901 >

• The team signed third baseman Lave Cross on or before this date.

< Mar 4, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 6, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack continued his recruitment trip in the Midwest and had reported signed seven players, with another seven on the hook

• The team wouldn't confirm any of the names that had been rumored, though third baseman Lave Cross, who had played for Brooklyn and St. Louis in the National League last year did affirm his intention to sign with Mack

• First baseman Pat Crisham and outfielder Socks Seybold were signed on or before this date

< Mar 5, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 7, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack held forth on a number of topics, including player signings, the reserve clause, and the work of the league's rules committee

• Mack said he had signed 12 players, but declined to name any of them

• He did, however, say that none of the following were on that list: right-handed pitcher Amos Rusie, left-handed pitcher Jesse Tannehill, catcher Ed McFarland, and outfielder Elmer Flick

• Regarding the reserve clause he said the National League “haven't a leg to stand on,” implying that the presence of the clause in a player's contract wouldn't dissuade him from signing NL players

• He said the American League would not be adopting any of the recent rule changes made by the National League, including the rule that foul balls in a 0- or 1-strike count would now be called strikes, calling it a “doggy” rule, and the new rule that batters would not automatically be awarded first base upon being hit by a pitch, saying it was an invitation to trouble

• The American League announced that each team would play a 140-game schedule and that the season would be a little longer than usual, given that the Eastern cities didn't allow play on Sundays

• The team signed outfielder Dave Fultz on or before this date

< Mar 6, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 8, 1901 >

• The team signed catcher Harry Smith on or before this date

< Mar 7, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 9, 1901 >

• The team, for the first time, offered confirmation of a player signing: outfielder Phil Geier

• The Reds considered Geier to be “under reserve,” but he was in a dispute with the team over transportation costs and considered himself to be a free agent

< Mar 8, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 10, 1901 >

• The Record reported that the team had signed outfielder Lefty Davis and pitcher Vic Willis, though these signings were unconfirmed by the team

• The team reported that the ballpark stands were to be “practically completed” within a week, with a seating capacity of 10,500

• That figure included 3,500 seats in the covered grandstand, 4,000 in the bleachers along the left field line, and 3,000 in the bleachers along the right field line

• Home plate would be in the southeast corner and the distance down the lines would be 354 to the left field corner and 290 feet to right

• Bad weather had prevented the grading and leveling of the playing surface, but according to the contractor, little work was needed as the field was within eight inches of being level already

• Manager Connie Mack said he expected to begin team workouts on April 1

• The team's first exhibtion was scheduled for April 6 against Roxborough at their park on the northwest end of town and their first game in the new park would be against a “picked team” called Moss's Professionals on April 8

< Mar 9, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 14, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack retured from a recruitment trip saying he had signed “ten or twelve good, fast players” and that there would be both stars and surprises on the list

• He added that he had signed only players who wouldn't “'bullfrog' it back to the National League tomorrow”

• Still, catcher Ed McFarland, who ha reputedly signed with the Athletics was, in fact, “bullfrogging” it back to the Phillies after having second thoughts

• The team was reputed to have signed left-handed pitcher Win Kellum

< Mar 10, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 16, 1901 >

• Sporting Life reprinted a story originally published in the Chicago Journal that included what purported to be 1901 salaries owed by the Athletics to several players

• To wit: third baseman Lave Cross ($3,000), outfielder Elmer Flick ($3,000), second baseman Nap Lajoie ($3,500), catcher Ed McFarland ($2,800), left-handed pitcher Win Mercer ($3,000), and right-handed pitcher Vic Willis ($2,700)

• By the time of the reprint both Flick and McFarland had said they would be returning to the Phillies

• Catcher Harry Smith, a recent Athletics signee, was likely to be the subject of a lawsuit by the Pirates, who claimed they held his rights following a trade with Milwaukee

• Athletics manager Connie Mack said it was nothing to do with him and that the Pirates should take up the matter with Milwaukee

• The team signed right-handed pitcher Chick Fraser

• Fraser had played for the Phillies and presumably that team still believed had a reserve on him

• According to some sources the signing was performed by American League president Ban Johnson, not the team

< Mar 14, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 18, 1901 >

• The team reported that the new ballpark was “practically ready”, that the infield had been graded, and that the laying of sod would begin tomorrow

• After weeks of rumors, the team definitively announced the signing of third baseman Lave Cross

• Following the news, manager Connie Mack said the team that would take the field in 1901 was largely in place.

< Mar 16, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 20, 1901 >

• American League representatives gathered in Philadelphia to work out a schedule and announced the league would start play April 24

• While it was an open secret for several weeks, the team officially acknowledged the signing of second baseman Nap Lajoie and named him team captain

< Mar 18, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 21, 1901 >

• Phillies manager Bill Shettsline responded to news of Nap Lajoie's signing by the Athletics, saying his team would contest the matter “immediately”

• Outfielder Lefty Davis, who had reputedly signed a contract with Connie Mack earlier in the month said he would stay with Minneapolis, his old team

• The American League announced their complete schedule, though a least one conflict had already been spotted

• The Athletics would open at home on April 24 against Washington and close on September 28 in Cleveland for a double header

• Twenty-two of the 70 home dates coincided with Phillies home dates

• Both Washington and Philadelphia were scheduled to play each other at home on July 3, a conflict that would have to be resolved in the coming days

< Mar 20, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 22, 1901 >

• The team announced they had signed right-handed pitcher Bill Bernhard to a contract

• Bernhard had played with the Phillies last year and that team considered him to still be under contract to them via the reserve clause

< Mar 21, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 23, 1901 >

• The team still lacked a left fielder, but manager Connie Mack said he had two men in mind, but would not identify them

• Bad weather was causing delays in work on the ballpark, but the bleachers and the roof over the grandstand had been finished, as were the wooden walls and brick facade of the exterior

• However, the grandstand's folding seats were not yet installed and the outfield had yet to be graded

< Mar 22, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 24, 1901 >

• The team announced that the total seating capacity of the ballpark had been increased to 13,000, with 4,000 in the grandstand and a combined 9,000 seats in the left field and right field bleachers

< Mar 23, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 26, 1901 >

• The team, which was being called the “Athletics” more often in the press, announced their home uniform colors would be blue on white, with the letter “A” on the left breast, and their road uniforms would be blue on gray, with a similar insignia

• Phillies owner John Rogers said he was preparing paperwork to request an injunction from the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to prevent Bill Bernhard, Chick Fraser, and Nap Lajoie from playing for the Athletics

• A rumor appeared in the press that the team was negotiating a contract with right-handed pitcher Christy Mathewson

• The team signed outfielders Fred Ketchum and Johnny Flournoy

< Mar 24, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 27, 1901 >

• First baseman Pat Crisham reported to the team, making him the first player to do so

• Phillies owner John Rogers filed an injunction request with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in the hope of preventing Bill Bernhard, Chick Fraser, and Nap Lajoie from playing for the Athletics

• The request specifically argued that the players were still under reserve to the Phillies and that by signing with Connie Mack, they were in breach of their contracts

< Mar 26, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 28, 1901 >

• The American League issued a revision of their 1901 schedule to resolve the conflict that had both the Athletics and Washington playing against each other at home on July 3

• According to the new schedule, the teams would play in Philadelphia on July 3 and the game in Washington would be added as part of a double header on an as yet unspecified date in early August

< Mar 27, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 29, 1901 >

• Team president Ben Shibe announced that uniforms would be provided free to players

• This was in contrast to National League teams that billed players $30 for their playing togs

< Mar 28, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 30, 1901 >

• Nap Lajoie filed a demurrer with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas requesting that the court dismiss the injunction request filed by Phillies president John Rogers on the 27th

• The request specified several grounds for demurrer, including that his contract for the 1900 season covered that season only, that the document had been signed by fewer than the requisite three “team managers,” and that, despite Rogers's assertion to the contrary, the services Lajoie provided to the Phillies could readily be provided by many other people

< Mar 29, 1901 Back to Calendar Mar 31, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack revealed that both right-handed pitcher Christy Mathewson and outfielder Lefty Davis had signed contracts two months ago to play for the Athletics and that they had each received monetary advances against those contracts

• This while both players were stating their intention to return to their old teams

< Mar 30, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 1, 1901 >

• The team officially gathered for the first time, for a quick introductory meeting

• Among those attending were right-handed pitcher Bill Bernhard, left-handed pitcher Billy Milligan, catcher Doc Powers, first baseman Pat Crisham, second baseman Nap Lajoie, and outfielders Fred Ketchum and Dave Fultz

• Crisham left town almost immediately for his home in Altoona after learning that his daughter was serious ill

• Chick Fraser, Phil Geier, Socks Seybold and Christy Mathewson were expected to arrive tomorrow

• Lave Cross, Harry Smith, and Vic Willis were expected to arrive later in the week

• The team signed outfielder Jack Hayden and left-handed pitcher Wiley Piatt

< Mar 31, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 2, 1901 >

• First baseman/outfielder Socks Seybold reported to the team

< Apr 1, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 3, 1901 >

• A storm blew threw town overnight forcing the team to cancel what would have been the team's first practice

• Instead, the players gathered in the clubhouse and began to get to know one another

• The Inquirer reported that pitcher Vic Willis was reneging on his Athletics contract and was returning to Boston, his old team

• Manager Connie Mack said he didn't believe the report until he actually heard it from Willis, pointing out that the team had given him a $450 advance on his 1901 salary

• The team announced an 11-day exhibition schedule, beginning with a road game against Roxborough on the 6th

< Apr 2, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 4, 1901 >

• The field was too soft from recent rains for the team to practice

• Third baseman Lave Cross reported to the team

• Connie Mack received word, as reported yesterday in the Inquirer that pitcher Vic Willis was reneging on his Athletics contract

• The team also learned that Christy Mathewson was backing out of his contract with the Athletics and had returned his $50 advance

• Outfielder Lefty Davis was also breaking his contract but he had yet to return his advance

< Apr 3, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 5, 1901 >

• The team finally held its first practice after rains had forced a two-day delay

• Six hundred interested spectators attended

• Outfielders Phil Geier, Fred Ketchum, and Dave Fultz were the standout performers of the day

• First baseman Socks Seybold provided the day's sensation when two balls he hit into the stands injured spectators, one who was hit in the ear and another who was hit on the arm

< Apr 4, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 6, 1901 >

• The team was to play their first ever exhibition today, against Roxborough, but it was rained out

< Apr 5, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 7, 1901 >

• Pitcher Billy Milligan came down with the flu and was sent home to Buffalo to recuperate

< Apr 6, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 8, 1901 >

• The weather finally cooperated enough for the team to play their first exhibition, an 8-1 win over a picked team called Moss's Professionals, managed by 16-year major league veteran Arlie Latham

• Bill Bernhard started the contest, going three scorless innings, while giving up a single hit

• Carson Hodge, a local pitcher in for a spring training tryout, went the next three innings and pitched well, but gave up the opposition's only run

• Wiley Piatt closed out the game on the mound, striking out the side, and not allowing any baserunners

• Outfielder Jack Hayden had four hits and 3 RBIs

• Catcher Joe Sugden, a Philadelphia native who was under contract with the White Stockings, was given permission to train with the Athletics during the spring and played the second half of the game in relief of Doc Powers

< Apr 7, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 9, 1901 >

• The team beat the Carteret Athletic Association in an exhibtion game today, 23-5

• Second baseman Nap Lajoie hit for a super-cycle, getting a single, double, triple, and home run, adding a base on balls, and reached base on an error

• Lajoie's homer was a mammoth shot to right field and outfielder Jack Hayden hit one to nearly the same spot

• Bill Bernhard started again today, but was a bit wild in his three innings of work and gave up three runs

• Wiley Piatt and Carson Hodge spelled Bernhard on the mound

• Bad weather had prevented the groundskeeping crew from installing sod in the outfield so the flychasers were playing on bare dirt

< Apr 8, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 10, 1901 >

• Manager Connie Mack sent a pair of untried pitchers against Manayunk in an exhibition today and nearly paid the price as the Athletics just managed to win, 9-8

• The game was tied at eight in the bottom of the ninth when Dave Fultz laid down a squeeze bunt that scored Nap Lajoie with the game-winner

• Howard Wilson, a non-roster invitee to spring training made the start and gave up four runs over four innings of work while striking out four

• Another non-roster pitcher, Carson Hodge, making his third appearance of the spring, went the rest of the way

• The team's exhibition against Villanova, scheduled for the 13th, was canceled for unspecified reasons

< Apr 9, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 11, 1901 >

• With two out in the bottom of the 11th, Fred Ketchum hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Dave Fultz with the game-winning run in a 4-3 exhibition game win over Yale University

• On the play the throw beat Fultz to the plate, but Yale catcher dropped the ball and Fultz was safe

• Outfielder Jack Hayden had another good day at the plate with four hits

• Wiley Piatt started for the Athletics, going five scoreless innings while striking out three and giving up a pair of walks

• Bill Bernhard pitched the rest of the way

< Apr 10, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 12, 1901 >

• The team thumped the Quaker City All-Scholastics, 41-1

• The Athletics scored 21 runs and batted around three times in the third inning

• Nap Lajoie astonished onlookers with a mighty home run blast to left field

• Non-roster pitchers Carson Hodge and Howard Wilson toed the rubber for the A's

< Apr 11, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 13, 1901 >

• The Athletics scored 15 runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 19-2 exhibition win over Banks Business College

• Second baseman Nap Lajoie hit a pair of inside-the-park homers, both to the deep wilds of center field

• Outfielder Jack Hayden had three hits, including a homer to left over both the wall and the netting extended above the wall

• Wiley Piatt, Bill Bernhard, and Carson Hodge shared pitching duties

• This was catcher Joe Sugden's last day with the A's before he left to join his White Stockings teammates in Chicago

• First baseman Pat Crisham was still at home in Altoona taking care of his sick daughter and had taken ill himself

< Apr 12, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 15, 1901 >

• Today's scheduled exhibtion game against the New York Ironsides was rained out

Apr 13, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 16, 1901

• Under threatening skies, the rain held off long enough for the Athletics to beat Georgetown University, 13-6, in an exhibition contest at Columbia Park

• Wiley Piatt started the game, giving up four runs on three hits, before stepping aside for Bill Bernhard who finished the contest

• Jack Hayden, Nap Lajoie, and Lave Cross each had three hits to pace the A's

• With Pat Crisham out indefinitely because of illness and Socks Seybold playing out of position at first base, the team signed former Washington Senators first baseman Charlie Carr

• Carr batted .192 in 73 at bats with the 1898 Senators, but was more productive last year with Toronto in the Eastern League, batting .327 in 490 at bats

< Apr 15, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 17, 1901 >

• The Athletics beat Wissahickon, 16-4, in an exhibition contest at Columbia Park

• Roxborough right-hander Pete Loos started the game for the A's on a tryout basis and went all the way, giving up four unearned runs on eight hits and no walks, while striking out three

• Charlie Carr made his debut at first base and looked good, making some nice plays in the field and rapping out two hits at the plate

• To make room for Carr, Socks Seybold moved to left field, pushing Phil Geier to center and Fred Ketchum to the bench

• Nap Lajoie had four hits, including a double and a triple

• Pitcher Billy Milligan reported to the team, a few days later than expected

< Apr 16, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 18, 1901 >

• The Athletics beat the Atlantics, a local amateur side, 17-9 at Columbia Park

• Wiley Piatt started for the A's and went three innings, giving up a run on three hits

• Carson Hodge went the rest of the way and pitched well, except for a disastrous five-run seventh inning

• Phil Geier had four hits, including a double and a triple

• Needing a catcher to spell Doc Powers, the only backstop on the roster, manager Connie Mack gave Wissahickon catcher Theodore Schilsky a turn behind the plate

• New first baseman Charlie Carr missed today's game because of illness

• The team's three chief officers, Connie Mack, Ben Shibe, and Frank Hough filed a statement with the Court of Common Pleas denying “they they are or ever have been co-partners, trading as the Philadelphia American League Base Ball Club''

• In the statement, they added that they had never “persuaded” Nap Lajoie to sign a contract and that the Phillies had never given them “due notice” that Lajoie had an exclusive contract with them

• Pitcher Chick Fraser reported to the team

< Apr 17, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 19, 1901 >

• The Athletics beat a team of local former college players known, naturally enough, as the Ex-Collegians, 7-3, in an exhibition contest at Columbia Park

• The Ex-Collegians showed up with only eight players so the A's loaned them newly-arrived pitcher Chick Fraser who played left field

• Bill Bernhard started for the A's and went three innings, giving up three hits and striking out two

• Billy Milligan, making his spring debut, pitched the middle third and struck out three while not giving up a hit

• Carson Hodge finished the game with four strikeouts and two hits surrendered

• Catcher Doc Powers was out for a second consecutive game after having been struck in the eye by a ball, though whether it had been batted or thrown was not reported

• Theodore Schilsky again took Powers' spot in the lineup

• Nap Lajoie, through his lawyer, made a court filing in advance of tomorrow's first hearing of the Phillies request for an injunction against his playing for the Athletics

• The filing listed four assertions to the effect that Lajoie was not bound to the Phillies for the 1901 season, that the Phillies had breached one of the provisions of his 1900 contract, that the Phillies had not given him sufficient time to examine the 1900 contract before requiring him to sign it, and that the Athletics had neither “induced” nor “persuaded” him to sign with them

< Apr 18, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 21, 1901 >

• The original exhibition schedule released by the team included a game against the West New York Field Club in Weehawken, New Jersey, but it likely didn't happen as there were no results reported

< Apr 19, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 22, 1901 >

• There were reports that first baseman Pat Crisham's daughter had died today of an unspecified illness

• He had been home since early this month to care for her

• Today's exhibition contest against North Philadelphia at Columbia Park had been canceled because of wet grounds

< Apr 21, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 23, 1901 >

• Today's exhibition game against West Philadelphia at Columbia Park was canceled because of wet grounds

< Apr 22, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 24, 1901 >

• The regular season opener against the Senators at Columbia Park was rained out

< Apr 23, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 25, 1901 >

• It rained most of the day and the already once postponed season opener at Columbia Park against the Senators was put off again until tomorrow

< Apr 24, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 26, 1901 >

• After two days of rain delays, the Athletics were finally able to open their regular season, but lost to the Senators, 5-1, at Columbia Park

• Roughly 15,000 were in attendance—about 10,000 of whom paid their way in—and 3,000 more were turned away at the gate

• The A's committed six errors in the field

• Chick Fraser had the honor of starting the first-ever Athletics game that counted, walking four and striking out five

• Because April had been so rainy there was still no grass in the outfield

• The A's scored their only run in the seventh when Socks Seybold drove in Nap Lajoie from third

< Apr 25, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 27, 1901 >

• The Senators rapped out 19 hits and beat the Athletics 11-5

• Wiley Piatt was on the mound for the A's and was ineffective throughout

• Testimony resumed in the Phillies' request for an injunction against Nap Lajoie, Chick Fraser, and Bill Bernhard

• Lajoie's lawyer emphasized the unfair nature of National League contracts, particularly the clause that allowed a team to dismiss a player after ten days notice, while not allowing the player similar severance options

• The Phillies rebutted by saying the clause was necessary to dissuade a player from dogging it after having signed a fat contract

• Both sides rested their case at the end of the day's arguments

< Apr 26, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 28, 1901 >

• It was reported that American League president Ban Johnson had secured an agreement with former major league infielder and Cornell University baseball coach Hughie Jennings to join the Athletics in early June at the end of Cornell's season

• Dave Fultz was having a tough time at shortstop—not his natural position—and manager Connie Mack was reportedly after Cleveland's Danny Shay or Detroit's Harry Lochhead as a replacement that would allow Fultz to return to the outfield

< Apr 27, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 29, 1901 >

• The Athletics won their first game today, beating Boston, 8-5, at Columbia Park

• Nap Lajoie led the way at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a pair of triples

• Bill Bernhard got the win, giving up five runs on 13 hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks

• Manager Connie Mack made a lineup change, sitting ineffective first baseman Charlie Carr and replacing him with Socks Seybold

• Fred Ketchum took Seybold's place in left field

• The team acquired shortstop Harry Lochhead from Detroit on undisclosed terms

• Lochhead was expected to be in the lineup tomorrow, with Dave Fultz going to left field and Ketchum returning to the bench

• The team released first baseman Charlie Carr on or around this date

< Apr 28, 1901 Back to Calendar Apr 30, 1901 >

• Boston beat the Athletics, 8-6 in ten innings, at Columbia Park

• Boston tied the game in the ninth on Buck Freeman's two run homer and scored two more in the tenth on Charlie Hemphill's RBI single and Lou Criger's sac fly

• Billy Milligan went all the way for the A's, despite tiring badly after the sixth inning

• He gave up 15 hits and walked five with no strikeouts

• Jack Hayden had three hits and two outfield assists for the A's and would have had a third assist, but his cannon shot from near the fence in right field was dropped at the plate by Doc Powers

• Shortstop Harry Lochhead made his A's debut but not a single ground ball went near him the entire game

< Apr 29, 1901 Back to Calendar May 1, 1901 >