Carthage Orioles

Pre-pro Baseball

Tunis, Tunisia Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games Tunisia Firsts, Games, Clubs, Fields, Predecessor Games

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Nick Name	Orioles
Earliest Known Date	1921
Last Known Game
Location	Tunis, Tunisia
Modern Address
NABBP Status
Nine Class	Senior
Tags
Description	Dr. Caleb Guyer Kelly (d. 1960), a Methodist missionary, former Baltimore City College ballplayer, and friend of Ned Hanlon, organized a baseball league in Tunis, Tunisia (then a French colony) in 1921. The team was called the "Carthage Orioles", Carthage being the historic name for the area around Tunis. This eventually led to the "ligue Tunisienne de Baseball." Kelly boasted of forming 107 teams in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco in North Africa, and was known as "the father of North African Baseball." In 1937 he invited the Pittsburgh Pirates to train in Tunis. An article in the Baltimore Sun, Nov. 4, 1934 (C. G. Kelly, "Baseball in the Garden of Allah," reprinted in "Muslim World", April 3, 2007, pp. 39-47. See also Dallas Morning News, March 12, 1933, shorter version in the San Diego Union, March 13, 1933), says that in the July of 1933 a team of American tourists and ship crew, off the visiting ocean liner "President Johnson", played and defeated a picket local Tunis team 19 to 5. The African team obtained uniforms and bats from the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees. Teams also were established in Sfax and Bizerte. See "Baseball is Thriving Sport on North African Shores," Dallas Morning News, March 12, 1933; Elias, "The Empire Strikes Out," p. 113; Vlasich, "A Legend for the Legendary. The Origin of the Baseball Hall of Fame," pp. 90-91; St. Petersburg Independent, Jan. 15, 1961; "Bucs Invited to Train in Africa," Springfield (MA) Republican, Dec. 25, 1937; San Diego Union, June 5, 1928.
Sources	See "Baseball is Thriving Sport on North African Shores," Dallas Morning News, March 12, 1933; C. G. Kelly, "Baseball in the Garden of Allah," reprinted in "Muslim World", April 3, 2007, pp. 39-47; Elias, "The Empire Strikes Out," p. 113; Vlasich, "A Legend for the Legendary. The Origin of the Baseball Hall of Fame," pp. 90-91; St. Petersburg Independent, Jan. 15, 1961; "Bucs Invited to Train in Africa," Springfield (MA) Republican, Dec. 25, 1937; San Diego Union, June 5, 1928.
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Found by	Bruce Allardice
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