The Pittsburgh South Side was an American basketball team that was based in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It was a member of the

Central Basketball League The Central Basketball League was an early regional professional or semi-pro basketball league based in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The league disbanded on November 12, 1912, after playing a few exhibition games. Joseph "Joe" Meech Leithead served as S ...

and the various incarnations of the

Western Pennsylvania Basketball League Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

History

The Pittsburgh South Side basketball team was formed in 1899. Joe Leithead was chosen by the South Side Y.M.C.A. to choose players for the new team. Its first members were Bradley, Leithead, Liebau, O'Donnell, Schmidt, Stamm, and Windeknecht. The team finished its first year in second place. During its second year, the team lost only one game as it won the junior league championship; during its third year, it was undefeated. The Pittsburgh South Side twice defeated the

Buffalo Germans The Buffalo Germans was an early basketball team formed in 1895 at a YMCA on Buffalo's East Side. Team members included Dr. Fred Burkhardt (coach), Philip Dischinger, Henry J. Faust, Alfred A. Heerdt (captain), Edward Linneborn, John I. M ...

, whose members once claimed that they had never lost a series to any team. The team dropped out of the league late during the 1911–1912 season. The South Siders won the Western Pennsylvania League championship in 1904 and 1913 and were co-champions of the Central League in 1905.

Notable people

The South Side team made national headlines when it made Harry Hough the highest-paid basketball player in the world on December 31, 1907. It signed him to a contract that paid him $300 per month to play eight league games per month (that's roughly $6,819 a month or $81,800 a year in 2009 dollar
past to present currency converter
.

Joseph "Joe" Meech Leithead Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(born July 17, 1882; died July 2, 1958) played and served as coach and captain of the Pittsburgh South Side team from 1899 through 1907.Joe M. Leithead Elected President
" Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: ''The Pittsburgh Post'', December 20, 1909, p. 9 (subscription required).

Year-by-year

Gallery

Image:South Side Team leithead team 1905-06.jpg, Joe Leithead, seated second row left in turtleneck, c. 1905-1906 Image:LEITHEAD.jpg, Joe Leithead, c. 1905-1906

References

{{reflist Defunct basketball teams in Pennsylvania Basketball teams in Pittsburgh South Side