Minor League history: Middle Atlantic League (1931-1936)
In this episode of Minor League history, we pay attention to the period from 1931 through 1936 of the Middle Atlantic League, which was a rather successful period despite the Great Recession.
Cities represented:
Akron, OH: Akron Yankees 1935-1941
Altoona, PA: Altoona Engineers 1931
Beaver Falls, PA: Beaver Falls Beavers 1931
Beckley, WV: Beckley Black Knights 1931-1934; Beckley Miners 1935
Charleston, WV: Charleston Senators 1931-1942
Clarksburg, WV: Clarksburg Generals 1925-1932 (aka Cyrians or Ghosts 1925)
Cumberland, MD: Cumberland Colts 1925-1932
Dayton, OH: Dayton Ducks 1933-1938, moved from Central League 1932
Fairmont, WV: Fairmont Black Diamonds 1926-1931
Hagerstown, MD: Hagerstown Hubs 1931, moved from Blue Ridge League 1924-1930
Huntington, WV: Huntington Boosters 1931-1933; Huntington Red Birds 1934-1936
Jeannette, PA: Jeannette Jays 1926-1931Parkersburg, WV: Parkersburg Parkers 1931
Johnstown, PA: Johnstown Johnnies 1925-1938, PA: Johnstown Johnnies 1925-1938
Portsmouth, OH: Portsmouth Pirates 1935-1936
Scottdale, PA: Scottdale Scotties 1925-1930; Scottdale Cardinals 1931
Springfield, OH: Springfield Chicks 1933; Springfield Pirates 1934
Youngstown, OH: Youngstown Tubers 1931
Zanesville, OH: Zanesville Grays 1933-1937
After six years in which the Class C Middle Atlantic League contained mostly eight teams, the league expanded to twelve teams in 1931. But for one of the four new clubs it was a struggle to stay alive as the Hagerstown Hubs, who had moved from the Blue Ridge League to the Middle Atlantic League, moved to Parkersburg on June 28 and later to Youngstown, after only fifteen days. Due to the big expansion with four teams during the Great Recession, the league was also called the Mad Atlantic League. Next to the
expansion, the league was so confident of its future, that it experimented with its own minor league. It created a feeder league that contained small western Pennsylvania towns. Together with the Pennsylvania State Association, a Class D league, the MAL 
partnered but eventually, the Penn State Association did not function as hoped but the league provided baseball for small Pennsylvania towns until after Pearl Harbor.
During the 1930 season, Ernest Gordon “Babe” Phelps was signed by the Washington Senators, who optioned him to the Hagerstown Hubs, who were still playing in the Blue Ridge League then. Phelps hit a whopping .408. It was for the third year in a row that a player’s batting average topped .400. Before the end of the 1931 season, Phelps was called up by the Senators for which was the start of an eleven-year career in the Bigs in which he hit a .310 career batting average with the Senators, the Cubs, the Pirates and the Dodgers.
Another big player, whose career went exactly the opposite than Phelps’, Frank “Bugger” Welch, was the slugger of the league in 1931 as he clobbered thirty-eight home runs and drove in 122 runs. After spending two and a half years in the minors, Welch was called up to the Philadelphia Athletics, with whom he would spend eight seasons before he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1927. During that 1927 season, he was sent down to the Atlanta Crackers and from there, his numbers declined.
The 1931 edition of the Middle Atlantic League had four twenty-game winners of which Edward Marleau (Charleston Senators) recorded the most: twenty-three. In the championship series, Charleston faced another team with a deep pitching staff (Bill Helmick, 18-4, Vito Tamulis (fifteen victories), Marvin Duke (fifteen victories) and Jimmy Densmore (seventeen victories). Tamulis, Duke and Densmore would become pitchers for the New York Yankees. After getting behind 2-0 in games, Cumberland managed to win three straight for the series victory.
The Cumberland fans reacted as their team had won the World Series as they stormed the field and carried their heroes off the field.
The experiment with a twelve-team league in 1931, ended in a financial disaster. Only the Charleston Senators managed to make a profit and the Beckley Knights claimed to break even.
After the season, Puerto Rican shortstop Gus Daviu of the Cumberland Colts formed a barnstorming team that contained players of the Middle Atlantic League, named the MAL All-Stars. Even though it was highly unlikely that a barnstorming team contained minor leaguers, the team went on playing against army, marine and navy teams in Puerto Rico and Panama.
Since travel costs were a big problem for the twelve-team MAL, the league turned down the number of teams to eight in 1932. Also, the salary cap was dropped from $3,000 per month to 2,500 per month.
One of the teams that pulled back from the MAL was the Scottsdale Cardinals. Maintaining that team had cost the St. Louis Cardinals $8,000. Even though Scottsdale had a fair share of supporters, the number of fans was not enough to bring in enough money. As a result, the Cardinals pulled the plug.
In three of the next five seasons, the Zanesville Grays would win the MAL pennant. Only Charleston and Huntington would win the other two championships.
Something that happened more but what was not usual was the affiliation the Johnstown Johnnies had with another minor league club. The Johnnies were the farm team of the Baltimore Orioles, then playing in the International League, in 1934.
One of the many future Major Leaguers that called the MAL home was Tommy Henrich, who would make his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 1937. In his first season as a professional ballplayer, 1934, he split the season between the Pennsylvania State Association (Class D) and the MAL. With the Zanesville Grays, he played four games and batted .304 before he was promoted to the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association the next season.
In 1936, Barney McCosky would be the final batter of the Middle Atlantic League who would hit .400. Thanks to his hitting efforts, he would guide the Charleston Senators to a second place overall finish. After the 1936 season, there were a few batters that came close to .400 but never made it completely.