Major League Letters To The Spa City

During the years that baseball’s spring training was held in Hot Springs there was much correspondence between the teams that trained here and Stephen E. Dillon, the General Manager of the Hot Springs Utilities Company that owned the baseball practice fields.

The following letters include correspondence to Mr. Dillon from several of those teams.

View Letters

The letters to Dillon from the Pittsburg Base Ball Club were sent by Barney Dreyfuss who was the owner of the Pittsburg Pirates from 1920-1932. In 1903, Dreyfuss brokered a peace with the rival American League, arranging for the first World Series. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

J. L. Wilkinson who formed the Kansas City Monarchs Base Ball Club in 1920 sent letters to Mr. Dillon on behalf of his professional team. Wilkinson was the only white owner when the Negro Leagues were formed. “Wilkie’ as he was known to all was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

The New York Giants field requests were handled by William H. “Bill” Terry who played for the team from 1923-1936 and managed the team from 1932-1941.Terry is considered one of the greatest players of all time. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954.