Crookston Hoped for League Membership

The city of Crookston, MN was excited about its prospects to field a team in the Red River Valley League. Coming off a successful summer of 1896 playing various local teams, the Crookston community treasured the possibility of membership in an organized league for the 1897 season. There were promising signs that this dream would be fulfilled. The community had pledged sufficient financial support, and the city’s cranks were working on a new ball park for the team.

 

As late as May 19, Crookston looked like a lock to become part of the league. They had posted the $250 in forfeit money necessary to gain admittance, money that would be returned to the team as long as they stayed together and completed their entire schedule. Unfortunately, the news brought to fans the next day by the Crookston Daily Times explained with disappointment that the team would not be a Red River Valley League member after all. Unable to secure a sixth club for the league, officials meeting in Fargo decided it would not be feasible to attempt to form a schedule for five teams. Such a schedule would leave one team idle at all times. With a thin margin for error regarding finances, the clubs could not afford extra days without gate receipts coming in. As a result, Crookston was the odd man out, and the league would proceed with just four teams.

 

No photos? No problem.

I've commented regularly on the descriptiveness and creativity found in newspaper accounts of baseball games in the late 19th century. Today a game can be summarized by a few nice snapshots, or even video highlights. Writers in the Red River Valley certainly didn't have these luxuries, however, and actual photographs of any baseball games in the era are quite rare. In the summer of 1897, the Fargo Forum, Sunday Argus, Grand Forks Herald, and Moorhead Independent never featured a single photograph relating to baseball. Fortunately, written accounts of the games were usually quite good, being both descriptive, and at times, even entertaining. A few days ago, I posted a cartoon drawn in the Grand Forks Herald satirizing the 1897 league and the plight of the umpires. This is the only drawing that appeared in the Herald during the 1897 season concerning the Red River Valley League, but illustrations from the cartoonist Straub were fairly common in chronicling the 1896 season. The following is one of my favorites. It captures the spirit of a strong rivalry between Crookston and the Company F team of Grand Forks, with a good dose of humor injected as well. The Grand Forks squad won the game 15-9. Several members of the 1897 Grand Forks Senators appeared in the game, including Charles Hutton, Harry Walker, and Jack Turner.




Grand Forks Herald July 17, 1896 "Fixed 'Em Plenty"

The Comiskey Connection

Charles Comiskey managed the St. Paul Saints of the Western League from 1895 to 1899, occasionally taking the field for the team. A career .264 hitter in 13 major league seasons, Comiskey later gained recognition as the cheapskate owner of the Chicago White Sox of the American League. Interestingly, his brother Ignatius, who was a deaf/mute, played baseball for the Crookston team in 1896. The Crookston Giants club played teams from Fargo and Moorhead during the course of the summer. On August 13, the younger Comiskey broke his arm in two places when one of the team's wagons tipped over following a game against Morris, MN. Sadly, Ignatius Comiskey died of a heart condition at age 25. He was found in Charles's house in Chicago on July 3, 1900.

St. Paul Globe August 14, 1896 p.5 "Young Comiskey Injured"

St Paul Globe July 4, 1900 p.8 "Ignatius Comiskey Dead"