5. Death Row Team Meets Gambling Mad Town
Rawlins, WY, was a baseball-mad town, and The Alston All-Stars played before packed crowds. It was a harshly conservative community, which punished wrongdoers to the full extent of the law, and then some. The townspeople were not big on waiting for the law to run its course: desperados caught in the act of murder, rape, or robbery, were often killed on the spot. The vengeance continued even after the miscreants’ death: Rawlins’ vigilantes had a weird penchant for skinning their lynching victims.
The good people of Rawlins were not only baseball mad, but also gambling mad. That was one thing they had in common with the All-Stars, as well as with warden Felix Alston. Indeed, during the All Stars’ run, team captain George Saban developed a sideline as a bookie, going to local saloons and dives, taking bets on his team’s games, and pocketing a 20% commission.