Southern League (1885–1899)

[2] Henry W. Grady, managing editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was selected as the league's first president.

[1] Charleston Seagulls pitcher Gus Wehling had the lowest earned run average (0.78) for the season.

[1][11] A meeting was held on July 1, at which the league's president, Hart, resigned despite those in attendance asking him to reconsider.

[11] Between mid July and early August, The Birmingham team transferred to Pensacola, Florida, but soon found themselves quarantined from the rest of the league due to an outbreak of yellow fever.

[11] This development, in addition to ongoing financial debacles, caused the league to end the season on August 12.

[12] In 1894, some teams were forced to sell their players to other clubs in order to stay financially solvent, while others refused to continue play in the second half.

[13] This prompted the Southern League to call the rest of the season off nine games into the second half on July 7, 1894, as the result of league-wide financial instability brought on by the expense of travel and poor attendance.

[16] In the ensuing months, baseball leaders across the South considered which cities to include in the next iteration of the league.

[18] Membership was granted to clubs in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Evansville, Little Rock, Memphis, Montgomery, Nashville, and New Orleans, thus lessening the expense of travel incurred in the past with the inclusion of cities such as Charleston and Savannah.

[23] Though the Atlanta Crackers and Nashville Seraphs ended the 1895 season tied for first place, a meeting of the league's directors resulted in the nullification of an August 10 game between the two in which the umpire improperly made an out call following fan interference.

This ruling caused the Seraphs' winning percentage to rise to .676 (71–34) and Atlanta's to fall to .667 (68–34), making Nashville the pennant winner.

[1] This was the final season of competition for the original Southern League—a lack of interest and financial support caused the league to fold for good.