Mitch Lutzke of SABR Detroit looks at the 1889 season of the Michigan State League, the first significant organized professional baseball league in the state, in the new issue of Michigan History magazine. An excerpt:
The MSL began its inaugural season on Monday, May 13, 1889, with games in Grand Rapids, Greenville, and Saginaw. Lansing-hosted league games proved to be very popular. The club played on a lot at Washington and Elm Streets, not far from the State Capitol. So many elected state officials attended the games that it was “sometimes difficult to obtain a quorum.”
Enthusiastic, good-size crowds apparently set the league toward financial success. Both Lansing and Grand Rapids charged $0.25 for general admission tickets and an additional $0.10 for a grandstand seat. Lansing’s season ticket price was $10, which averaged out to slightly cheaper than $0.20 per game.
