Hot Springs Arlingtons facts for kids

The Hot Springs Arlingtons were a professional baseball team from Hot Springs, Arkansas. They played from 1896 to 1904. This team was part of the Negro leagues, which were baseball leagues for African American players during a time when they were not allowed to play in the main professional leagues. The Arlingtons played their home games at Whittington Park. In their last year, 1904, the team was known as the Hot Springs Blues.

A famous baseball player, Rube Foster, who is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame, played for the Hot Springs Arlingtons in 1901.

Team History

The Hot Springs Arlingtons started playing in 1896. They were a professional team for African American players. Their games at Whittington Park were popular with both white and black fans. The team's main rival was the Little Rock Quapaws.

The team got its name because it was sponsored by Alfred Holden. He was the headwaiter at the famous Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs.

In 1897, the Hot Springs Arlingtons joined a new league called the Southern Negro League. Other teams in this league included the Little Rock Quapaws, Memphis Cliffords, Pensacola Acmes, Birmingham Unions, and a team from Montgomery, Alabama. It was said that the Little Rock Quapaws even traveled to games in Hot Springs by wagon! The 1897 Arlingtons also played special games against teams from other leagues, like the Little Rock Senators and the Hot Springs Bathers.

The Arlingtons continued to play until 1903. Their last recorded games were in May 1903. In June 1903, new rules made it difficult for African American fans to use public transportation to get to the ballpark. Since Whittington Park was at the end of the streetcar line and owned by the streetcar company, the Arlingtons stopped playing.

In 1904, the team changed its name to the Hot Springs Blues. The Blues played ten recorded games that year.

The Ballpark

The Hot Springs Arlingtons played their home games at Whittington Park. This park was very important in baseball history. Many major league baseball teams used Whittington Park for their spring training. These teams included the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Spiders, Brooklyn Superbas, Detroit Tigers, New York Highlanders, and Chicago Colts.

Today, you can find historical markers at the site of Whittington Park as part of the "Hot Springs Baseball Trail." There's also a marker for the Arlington Hotel. The exact spot where home plate used to be at Whittington Park is now in the parking lot of the Weyerhaeuser offices. The address is 810 Whittington Avenue, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.

The famous Arlington Hotel, which the team was named after, is still open today. You can find it at 239 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

(2005) Arlington Resort and Bathhouse. Hot Springs, Arkansas

Notable Players

Baseball Hall of Fame Players

• Rube Foster (played in 1901) - He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981.

Other Notable Players

• Eugene Milliner (played in 1900-1901)
• Dave Wyatt (played in 1897)

See also

• Hot Springs Arlingtons players
• List of minor Negro league baseball teams