Westville Sports /
The "Alpha" Baseball Club,
1876 / Burns Dunbar: A Great Left Fielder
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Sporting Career of George Dawson /
Jimmy
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Babe Ruth at Westville
The “Alpha” Baseball Club
Men in Westville in 1876 decided to form a baseball club designating themselves the “Alpha” Baseball Club. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and refers to the first of anything, and apparently the “Alpha” club was one of the first baseball clubs in the county.
According to the minutes of the Alpha Baseball Club, beginning May 4, 1876, Thomas Grant was appointed the first chairman, while A.M. Fraser was assigned the job of president. These ancient minutes, preserved in an immaculate hard-cover book, indicate the first meetings were used to find a playing field, and forming the Club’s by-laws.
A field at Ballarat Street was considered too small, so the managing committee was instructed to find another field. Another field was found at French’s Farm and W.W. White gave his permission to use the field. The Alpha Club was allowed to use the Cricket Club’s field when not in use.
Being a member of the Alpha Baseball Club was taken seriously. One by-law stated if any member was absent for two successive meetings he was fined 25 cents unless written notification was given to the secretary. If any member was not present fifteen minutes after roll call, he was considered absent unless he was excused by a vote of the majority.
The entrance fee for members was 50 cents and annual dues were set at one dollar. The members must have had trouble paying their dues because as of July 6, 1876, the annual dues were reduced to 50 cents.
New members were admitted to the Club by a vote of the existing members. Three “black balls” against the new member meant he was rejected.
The men held their weekly meetings in the Stipendiary Magistrate’s Office and, occasionally, at Munro’s Hall.
The Westville ballplayers had a long playing season beginning on the first day of May and ending the first day of November. October 27, 1876, was the last meeting of the Alpha Baseball Club’s first season. Players met at the Westville House for the team’s first game on Wednesday, May 17, 1876. Dr. Jones, acting as an umpire at the game, reported the following meeting that the play was very poor, but no score was recorded in the minutes.
On July 5, 1876, the Intercolonial Baseball Club challenged the “Alphas” to play a game but the results of the game also was not recorded in the club’s minutes.
On June 28, 1877, members were given their final notice to pay their dues in a week. Those who did not pay were removed from the roll. Only two names were subsequently removed the following week.
The ball club gave the contract to clean the ball field to Jesse Harris. Harris agreed to fulfill the contract for $30, after William MacDonald had “thrown up his contract’ with the club.
The last entry in the club’s minutes on July 31, 1877, is a motion for Thomas Grant to correspond with a ball club in Pictou and “try a friendly game.”
Thus ends the short-lived but historic account of the Alpha Baseball Club.
The minutes were in a book owned by Thomas M. Grant, father of Isabel Grant MacLean. Tom Grant was principal at the Old Drummond School which occupied a site in today’s Victoria Park. Due to his efforts, baseball began in Westville, and the Halifax Herald referred to him in his obituary as “The Father of Baseball” in Pictou County, as well as a noted runner.