7. It Might Sound Weird, but the Distance from the Baseball Diamond to Death Row Was Not That Far
Back before football and basketball overtook it in popularity, baseball was the undisputed king of American sports. In the early twentieth century, baseball was the game in America, and just about everybody who was into sports and athletics played or watched or did both. Back then, many players associated with the professional clubs, majors, minors, or semi-pros, had reputations as hooligans, ruffians, or worse.
So as a simple matter of statistics, there was a steady infusion of professional baseball players who ended up behind bars for offenses minor or serious. Of the serious offenses, some were serious enough to land some pretty good players on death row. Wyoming’s State Penitentiary in Rawlins had a warden, Felix Alston, who was a big-time baseball lover. It did not seem at all weird to him to use the available talent to form a team, which came to be known as Alston’s All-Stars.
Also Read: When the World Series brought America to a Standstill.