Somewhat anticlimactically, Moorhead was awarded the 1897 RRVL pennant after the league disbanded. Final standings printed in the Forum on July 31st show how the "Barmaids" truly dominated the truncated season:
W L PCT
Moorhead 26 10 .722
Grand Forks 18 21 .463
Wahpeton-Breckenridge 16 21 .433
Fargo 15 23 .395
These standings are somewhat questionable, however. Clearly Moorhead was the best team in the league, but Fargo played better than the published standings show. The sticking point is exhibition games. Occasionally, the papers would explicitly state which games were exhibitions, but not always. Fargo's record, including exhibition games and games played after the league officially disbanded, was 24-30. All of Fargo's exhibitions in 1897 were against other RRVL teams, except for a 8-6 win on June 22nd against Detroit Lakes, a team in the running for membership in the RRVL before the season began.
Showing posts with label Detroit Lakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit Lakes. Show all posts
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The League Collapses
As I alluded to in earlier posts, the Red River Valley League folded before it completed the 1897 season. When the season began, Crookston and Detroit Lakes were interested in entering the league, which would have made six teams in all. Both cities failed to get organized in time and pay the "guarantee" or "forfeit" money to the league. The forfeit money was a deposit that would be kept by the league if the team folded before it finished the season.
So, with Crookston and Detroit Lakes out of the picture, the league went on with four teams: Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Wahpeton-Breckenridge. Fargo, Moorhead, and Grand Forks drew fairly well in terms of attendance throughout the season. It appears, however, that late in July, Wahpeton-Breckenridge was having difficulty staying financially solvent. When it looked like W-B was ready to fold, two different plans were proposed. The first would have allowed W-B to use their forfeit money deposit to help them complete the season. The second idea was to have the W-B players transfer to Crookston and be sponsored by that city, as Crookston was still enthusiastic about the possibility of having a team for the remainder of 1897.
In the end, the Crookston contingent of financial backers proved too slow in accepting the plan to adopt the W-B players and form a team. The league was anxious to continue playing and organize a revamped schedule. In addition, some of the W-B players were becoming restless. The uncertainty of the situation put their short term pay in jeopardy, and they began to look for other opportunities. By the time Crookston finally got their act together, the Wahpeton-Breckenridge team had disbanded, and the now three team league was forced to fold.
So, with Crookston and Detroit Lakes out of the picture, the league went on with four teams: Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Wahpeton-Breckenridge. Fargo, Moorhead, and Grand Forks drew fairly well in terms of attendance throughout the season. It appears, however, that late in July, Wahpeton-Breckenridge was having difficulty staying financially solvent. When it looked like W-B was ready to fold, two different plans were proposed. The first would have allowed W-B to use their forfeit money deposit to help them complete the season. The second idea was to have the W-B players transfer to Crookston and be sponsored by that city, as Crookston was still enthusiastic about the possibility of having a team for the remainder of 1897.
In the end, the Crookston contingent of financial backers proved too slow in accepting the plan to adopt the W-B players and form a team. The league was anxious to continue playing and organize a revamped schedule. In addition, some of the W-B players were becoming restless. The uncertainty of the situation put their short term pay in jeopardy, and they began to look for other opportunities. By the time Crookston finally got their act together, the Wahpeton-Breckenridge team had disbanded, and the now three team league was forced to fold.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)