Controversy
The challenges facing the Youngstown Indians reflected perennial difficulties within the Ohio-Pennsylvania League, including weak financial support for teams and uneven ticket sales. The Spalding Guide's Youngstown-based correspondent, W. A. Mason, noted that support for the league in that city had eroded because of the local club's poor performance. "Youngstown had the tailend team and the fans had been used to winning ball", Mason wrote. He added, however, that the league, "taking together the gate receipts and the moneys received from the sale and drafting of players", proved to be a "moneymaker" for the first time since its establishment.
Despite its improved financial situation, the Ohio-Pennsylvania League narrowly escaped the prospect of dissolution late in the 1909 season. As the Spalding Guide reports, the league's unraveling was prevented only by the guidance of the league president, Sam L. Wright, who had earlier managed the Youngstown Champs. Toward the end of the season, Wright took the extraordinary step of backing the Youngstown Indians, when their New Castle owners "gave it up". This move preserved the eight-team league, which also included teams from Akron, East Liverpool, McKeesport, New Castle, Canton, and Steubenville.
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