Why do we play sports? Some play for leisure, some play for the thrill of competition,
and some play for the glory of writing their name down in history.
But just over a century ago, inmates of The Wyoming State Penitentiary played baseball
to stay alive. For these inmates, baseball wasn’t just a game - it was the choice between
running the bases and walking down the green mile. Today on Nutty History, we’re bringing
you the story of the death row inmates who played baseball to postpone their executions. Batter up!
The story of the Wyoming State Penitentiary All-Stars may sound like a cliche Hollywood
redemption movie where inmates used Baseball to find a new purpose in their life,
but the reality had a far less rosy outcome. In truth, the group of criminals was lured in
by the promise that if they played well enough, they could commute their sentences, meaning that
they were very literally playing for their lives. In 1911, Wyoming was still living in the shadow
of the dying Wild West. The state legal system was a far cry from what it is today. Vigilante
Justice and Law of the Gun were still a norm in the small city of Rawlins, where the Penitentiary
was located. As gambling and Baseball were pretty much the only two extracurricular activities back
in the Old West, it’s no surprise that two ended up overlapping. When betting on games increased,
so did the demand for more teams. As a result, nearly every local business started
amateur teams so that the men could compete with one another both on and off the field.
The Wyoming State Penitentiary’s new warden, Felix Alston, who happened to be the former sheriff of
the town, had a more compassionate approach towards the inmates than his predecessor,
some of them were his own collars. One such inmate was George Saban, who practically had a free
life under Alston’s authority as long as he was back in his cell by night time. During the day,
he was permitted to visit the town, where he would brag about the baseball playing skills of the
prisoners. Word about the fly-catching convicts started getting around, and soon the rumor reached
the mayor. Like Saban, Mayor Joseph Carey was a friend of Warden Alston. It’s a small town,
after all. Alston’s friendship with the mayor got him permission to play ball at the prison
grounds in the first place. But when Carey heard about how good the inmates were at baseball,
he saw a golden opportunity to make a profit off of the team. Aside from being mayor, Carey
was a compulsive gambler, and Alston used this weakness toward his baseball team pet project.
Saban was rewarded for his boasts with the captaincy of the team,
as spreading the word in town riled up gamblers to bet on them. But while
spectators and organizers were betting money, the players were betting days to stay alive.
The Wyoming State Penitentiary All-Stars were a force to be reckoned with on the baseball
diamond - an invincible team that never lost a game. With an official inmate baseball team,
you’d think this was a pretty lax, minimum security prison. In fact, it was quite the
opposite. These men were all convicted of heinous crimes. The 12-man roster of All-Stars consisted
of three murderers, five burglars, one forger, and three rapists. Every All Star member was
on death row, including team captain, George Saban. Two of the inmates were African American,
making All-Stars an integrated team long before Jackie Robinson came along. The All-Stars played
all four of their fateful games against the same opponent - the Wyoming Supply Company Juniors. And
given that their rival was one of the best teams in the area, it was no small feat that the inmates
ended up winning all four games. In the very first fixture on July 18th, 1911, The All-Stars trounced
the Juniors with a score of 11-1. The massive victory was recorded by newspapers with headlines
like “The Slayers Slayed Home Runs” and “Killers Killed Local baseball champions on the field”.
You might think that’s foul, but I guess, like us, they couldn’t resist a pun.
Winning every game gained the team a celebrity-like status inside the prison.
They were given more and better food at mealtimes, cleaner uniforms, and preferential treatment by
the guards. And if needed, they might get a stay of execution. Since the fourth and the
last game against Juniors was scheduled on August 25th, 1911, the team’s star player Joseph Seng’s
execution on August 21st, 1911 was postponed. Given that Seng was playing like a pro in every
game and had hit at least one home run in every match, they couldn’t afford to lose their Most
Valuable Prisoner. This was the last straw for the non-bat-wielding inmates, who were growing
reasonably irate at the special privileges given to the All-Stars inside the Penitentiary. They
even tried to kill Seng after the postponement of his death by throwing a sandbox on his head from
a floor above. Yeah, you heard that right, but no the prisoners didn’t have a recreational sand box.
The box was generally used for garbage, until it was instead utilized as an
impromptu murder weapon. But luckily for All-Stars, it missed Seng by a few inches.
Outside, even though Warden Alston’s baseball program was applauded for its education and
rehabilitation qualities, the open secret of prison baseball being the front for the Mayor’s
gambling activities was garnering him bad press. Thus, after the fourth game, Alston and Carey
called the curtains on the baseball team. Joseph Seng tried to appeal for commuting his sentence
but the Mayor never agreed. He was executed the next year, which still extended his life.
But the men in charge were able to earn huge profits playing on the hopes and dreams of these
incarcerated athletes. The only remaining legacy today of the WSP All Stars is the tradition of
numbers on baseball player jerseys. Back then, this wasn’t a thing, but inmates wore their
prison numbers on their uniforms, and the trend caught on. Would your baseball playing skills be
enough to postpone your capital punishment? Or would you be doing cartwheels in the outfield?
Let us know in the comments, along with what nutty history you’d like to hear about next.