Fargo's 1897 club was the beneficiary of apparent financial instability on the part of the Winona, MN team. Though the Winona team continued to play late into the summer, in early June they lost three of their key players to the Divorcees of the Red River Valley League. Fargo, interested in bolstering its roster after a slow start, added Bill Zink, outfielder Hopkins, and infielder Jack Murphy to try to provide a boost in run production. All three men, likely seeking better pay, had starred for the Winona club earlier in the summer of 1897. Their departure left pitcher Ignatius Comiskey, brother of then St. Paul manager Charles Comiskey, to lead the Winona team.
Winona Daily Republican Summer 1897.
Showing posts with label Rosters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rosters. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Moorhead's Chances for 1897: A Team Preview
The Moorhead Barmaids would be a formidable group led by shortstop and Captain Jack Page. The Moorhead Daily News regarded Page as “one of the best infielders in the northwest.” Joining Page was a tough and talented catcher Tim Keefe, who would quickly make his presence known both with his play and with his mouth. Moorhead was led by its two pitching aces, Lawrence “Pike” Mullaney and Bob Brush, who would get plentiful support from a cast of solid, well-established players. The Daily News predicted Mullaney would perform well enough to be “the star pitcher of the league.” Compliments were showered upon all of manager William J. Bodkin’s squad. Local papers commonly exaggerated and overhyped their town’s teams during this era, even if a club had little chance of contending for a pennant. Unfortunately for the rest of the Red River Valley League¸ the comments from the Daily News were not simply another display of biased, blind hope. Moorhead’s chances were truly the brightest among the teams of the 1897 league.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Let's Play Some Hobos!
The situation: You are a professional minor league baseball team and your league has ties to nationally organized baseball. You just finished your shortened season in a respectable second place. You are waiting for your league to transfer a team from one town to another, so you and the other clubs can continue playing.
So what do you do with your off-day? Well, its also 1897, so you play a game against some hobos, of course!
On August 2, 1897, the Grand Forks Senators and the other Red River Valley League teams were anxiously awaiting the transfer of the bankrupt Wahpeton-Breckenridge team to Crookston. The newly constituted league was scheduled to kick off with a game between Grand Forks and Crookston, a rivalry that promised to be exciting for both towns. While the Senators waited for the details to fall into place, they wanted to stay sharp, so they scheduled a game for Monday afternoon. Their opponent? Local hobos, or more specifically, migrant workers who were in the valley to assist with the harvest season. As strange as it may sound, Grand Forks took on a team with players claiming nicknames such as "Shorty Swatts", "Pie-faced Charley", and "Bowlegged Pete", among others.
Though the Herald took a shot at the work ethic of the region's migrant workers, the paper didn't have much to brag about in its account of the game. That is because, amazingly, the Senators lost the five-inning contest 3-2. How the Grand Forks club managed to lose the game is hard to conceive, but the hobos apparently had a fair amount of baseball talent. Pitcher "Milwaukee Mike" earned praise for having "as many graceful curves as a ballet dancer", and the game account also lauded the team's fielding and base-running abilities. Furthermore, without a box score, it is unclear whether the full squad of Senators joined in the challenge of playing against the "weary willies". Only pitcher Hoar and Joe Marshall are mentioned by name as participating in the game for Grand Forks. Hoar started on the mound for the Senators, and was later replaced by Marshall, who notably did not pitch in any other game for Grand Forks during the season. And to be fair to the hobos, minor league baseball players in the era were often equally nomadic and of questionable character. Also, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that some minor leaguers both played baseball and performed farm labor as means of income. In any event, the anonymous group of vagrants notched the win over the Senators in what the Herald reported simply as "a unique game of ball."
Grand Forks Herald August 3, 1897 p.4 "Hobos at Ball"
So what do you do with your off-day? Well, its also 1897, so you play a game against some hobos, of course!
On August 2, 1897, the Grand Forks Senators and the other Red River Valley League teams were anxiously awaiting the transfer of the bankrupt Wahpeton-Breckenridge team to Crookston. The newly constituted league was scheduled to kick off with a game between Grand Forks and Crookston, a rivalry that promised to be exciting for both towns. While the Senators waited for the details to fall into place, they wanted to stay sharp, so they scheduled a game for Monday afternoon. Their opponent? Local hobos, or more specifically, migrant workers who were in the valley to assist with the harvest season. As strange as it may sound, Grand Forks took on a team with players claiming nicknames such as "Shorty Swatts", "Pie-faced Charley", and "Bowlegged Pete", among others.
Though the Herald took a shot at the work ethic of the region's migrant workers, the paper didn't have much to brag about in its account of the game. That is because, amazingly, the Senators lost the five-inning contest 3-2. How the Grand Forks club managed to lose the game is hard to conceive, but the hobos apparently had a fair amount of baseball talent. Pitcher "Milwaukee Mike" earned praise for having "as many graceful curves as a ballet dancer", and the game account also lauded the team's fielding and base-running abilities. Furthermore, without a box score, it is unclear whether the full squad of Senators joined in the challenge of playing against the "weary willies". Only pitcher Hoar and Joe Marshall are mentioned by name as participating in the game for Grand Forks. Hoar started on the mound for the Senators, and was later replaced by Marshall, who notably did not pitch in any other game for Grand Forks during the season. And to be fair to the hobos, minor league baseball players in the era were often equally nomadic and of questionable character. Also, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that some minor leaguers both played baseball and performed farm labor as means of income. In any event, the anonymous group of vagrants notched the win over the Senators in what the Herald reported simply as "a unique game of ball."
Grand Forks Herald August 3, 1897 p.4 "Hobos at Ball"
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
On This Date: Fargo Pounded, Protested Game Settled
July 17, 1897 - Fargo failed to capture a series win against Grand Forks, surrendering 14 runs to the Senators in the finale of a four game home stand. Oscar Peterson was on the mound for Fargo, and struggled mightily, allowing eleven to score while recording only nine outs. The knockout punch for Peterson was a mammoth three-run home run smashed by Sid Adams to begin the fourth inning. The young southpaw Gus Munch came in to relieve Peterson and pitched well, striking out seven in six innings of work. Fargo had to settle for a 2-2 series split with the Senators.
Some bad blood between first baseman Peaceful Valley Brown and Umpire Arthur Lyons came to the surface in the eighth inning. Presumably a rift had developed between the two while Lyons was playing for Fargo early in the season. With Brown at-bat, Lyons made a strike call that Brown clearly disagreed with. Later in the at-bat, Brown slashed a ball down the third-base line that got by Grand Forks third baseman Joe Marshall. The problem for Brown was that the ball had failed to stay fair, and the general consensus was that Lyons had made the correct call in ruling the hit foul. Nonetheless, Brown was angered by the call and barked at Lyons for some time before being ejected. Some fans who had a bad angle on the play also gave ol' "Tige" an earful, and one crank was rowdy enough for a policeman to be summoned. The Divorcees could not afford to lose Brown, since Deacon Phillippe had just returned to Minneapolis, Fred Steele was playing in Sheldon, and Catcher Hayes hadn't yet arrived from Omaha. Luckily for Fargo, team captain George Keas was able to convince Lyons to let Brown remain in the game. It wasn't much help for Fargo, though, who already trailed by double digits at the time of the ejection, and they lost 14-3.
The game wasn't a total loss for the Divorcees. Fargo's nomad second baseman, Josh Reilly, apparently had made quite an impression on the local fans by mid-July. Before one of Reilly's at-bats, a female admirer gave him a bouquet of flowers as a sign of appreciation. Reilly doubled in the at-bat.
Also on July 17, RRVL officials and managers met to discuss the matter of several protested games. While two decisions regarding protests were referred to National League President Nick Young for further review, the league board did rule on one game. The result of the June 26 Fargo vs. Moorhead match up featuring Umpire Tupper's egregious missed call was thrown out by the board, and the game was set to be replayed at a later date (see "It Was Larceny" for more details on the June 26 contest).
Some bad blood between first baseman Peaceful Valley Brown and Umpire Arthur Lyons came to the surface in the eighth inning. Presumably a rift had developed between the two while Lyons was playing for Fargo early in the season. With Brown at-bat, Lyons made a strike call that Brown clearly disagreed with. Later in the at-bat, Brown slashed a ball down the third-base line that got by Grand Forks third baseman Joe Marshall. The problem for Brown was that the ball had failed to stay fair, and the general consensus was that Lyons had made the correct call in ruling the hit foul. Nonetheless, Brown was angered by the call and barked at Lyons for some time before being ejected. Some fans who had a bad angle on the play also gave ol' "Tige" an earful, and one crank was rowdy enough for a policeman to be summoned. The Divorcees could not afford to lose Brown, since Deacon Phillippe had just returned to Minneapolis, Fred Steele was playing in Sheldon, and Catcher Hayes hadn't yet arrived from Omaha. Luckily for Fargo, team captain George Keas was able to convince Lyons to let Brown remain in the game. It wasn't much help for Fargo, though, who already trailed by double digits at the time of the ejection, and they lost 14-3.
The game wasn't a total loss for the Divorcees. Fargo's nomad second baseman, Josh Reilly, apparently had made quite an impression on the local fans by mid-July. Before one of Reilly's at-bats, a female admirer gave him a bouquet of flowers as a sign of appreciation. Reilly doubled in the at-bat.
Also on July 17, RRVL officials and managers met to discuss the matter of several protested games. While two decisions regarding protests were referred to National League President Nick Young for further review, the league board did rule on one game. The result of the June 26 Fargo vs. Moorhead match up featuring Umpire Tupper's egregious missed call was thrown out by the board, and the game was set to be replayed at a later date (see "It Was Larceny" for more details on the June 26 contest).
Sunday Argus July 18, 1897 p. 8 "It Was Awful"
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican July 19, 1897 p.4 "We Were Easy"
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Things to come...
I thought I would take today's post to give you an idea of some ongoing research that will eventually appear in later posts:
1) I hope to get a glimpse of the rules of baseball in 1897 - Once I get my hands on a copy of the 1898 Spalding Guide to Baseball, this will go forward very quickly.
2) You will find out about an assault case involving two Fargo players against one of their teammates.
3) Fines and ejections in 1897 RRVL games
4) Access to more pictures and links - I currently have individual pictures of five of the Fargo players. My dream is to find the gem of my research - a team picture of the 1897 Fargo team (if one exists at all).
5) I will put together a comprehensive list of other teams that the Fargo players played for in 1897. Several traveled to nearby small towns on off days. Others played in the Western League during the course of the summer.
6) I will examine a questionable member of the Fargo team who, based on his erratic play, may have been involved with gambling on games.
7) More terminology from the era
1) I hope to get a glimpse of the rules of baseball in 1897 - Once I get my hands on a copy of the 1898 Spalding Guide to Baseball, this will go forward very quickly.
2) You will find out about an assault case involving two Fargo players against one of their teammates.
3) Fines and ejections in 1897 RRVL games
4) Access to more pictures and links - I currently have individual pictures of five of the Fargo players. My dream is to find the gem of my research - a team picture of the 1897 Fargo team (if one exists at all).
5) I will put together a comprehensive list of other teams that the Fargo players played for in 1897. Several traveled to nearby small towns on off days. Others played in the Western League during the course of the summer.
6) I will examine a questionable member of the Fargo team who, based on his erratic play, may have been involved with gambling on games.
7) More terminology from the era
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Nomads and Vagabonds
No fewer than 33 different men played for the Fargo team in 1897.
Major league rosters today are made up of 25 men.
Between injuries and call ups from the minors, 33 is probably close to the number of different men who play for any one team in the modern 162 game major league season. (Incidentally, the National League played a 130-132 game season in 1897.)
So what makes Fargo's number 33 notable? Consider this:
1) In 1897, most games featured no substitutions. Pitchers completing their games was expected. It was an anomaly to see 11 or 12 men used on a team in a given game. More than one relief pitcher being used was unheard of.
2) Fargo only played 55 games! Well less than half of the National League at the time, and about a third of what major leaguers play today.
3) The Red River Valley League season was only a little over 2 months long (late May to the beginning of August).
So why so many different players? A few reasons.
The unstable nature of the minor leagues in the late 19th century produced many team changes. A team or league might fold and a player would go to the next city to play for another team. A player might be picked up by another team for a couple of games when his main team had off days. This happened relatively often with Fargo's players, who traveled to small towns on off days to play with local "town" teams. For Fargo, it wasn't uncommon to pick up a local man for a game or two to fill a need - the man did not necessarily need to be a baseball pro in any sense.
Also, contracts in the minor leagues really didn't exist the way they do today. To be paid well, and be paid reliably, players were very dependent on the gate receipts from the day's game. A player might leave his current club if he found a team nearby that drew well in terms of attendance. Their salaries were far from guaranteed.
And finally, with no real scouting system, a manager might bring a player to town to try him out. If the player wasn't a "fast fielder" or a "comer", he might be let go after a very short stint with the team.
Major league rosters today are made up of 25 men.
Between injuries and call ups from the minors, 33 is probably close to the number of different men who play for any one team in the modern 162 game major league season. (Incidentally, the National League played a 130-132 game season in 1897.)
So what makes Fargo's number 33 notable? Consider this:
1) In 1897, most games featured no substitutions. Pitchers completing their games was expected. It was an anomaly to see 11 or 12 men used on a team in a given game. More than one relief pitcher being used was unheard of.
2) Fargo only played 55 games! Well less than half of the National League at the time, and about a third of what major leaguers play today.
3) The Red River Valley League season was only a little over 2 months long (late May to the beginning of August).
So why so many different players? A few reasons.
The unstable nature of the minor leagues in the late 19th century produced many team changes. A team or league might fold and a player would go to the next city to play for another team. A player might be picked up by another team for a couple of games when his main team had off days. This happened relatively often with Fargo's players, who traveled to small towns on off days to play with local "town" teams. For Fargo, it wasn't uncommon to pick up a local man for a game or two to fill a need - the man did not necessarily need to be a baseball pro in any sense.
Also, contracts in the minor leagues really didn't exist the way they do today. To be paid well, and be paid reliably, players were very dependent on the gate receipts from the day's game. A player might leave his current club if he found a team nearby that drew well in terms of attendance. Their salaries were far from guaranteed.
And finally, with no real scouting system, a manager might bring a player to town to try him out. If the player wasn't a "fast fielder" or a "comer", he might be let go after a very short stint with the team.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Opening Day - 1897
Opening Day, May 26, 1897
Grand Forks 6, Fargo 2
WP: Hutton
LP: Roberts
Moorhead 16, Wahpeton-Breckenridge 7
WP: Mullaney
LP: Berg
From the Sporting News:
June 5, 1897 p.4
"RED RIVER VALLEY LEAGUE.
Personnel of the Teams and the Umpire Corps.
Fargo, North Dakota. May 26. Editor "Sporting Life:" The River Valley League has at last started. The League is made up as follows: Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks and Breckenridge and Wahpeton, Breckenridge and Wahpeton being represented by one team. The various teams will line up as follows: Signed with Fargo are Jack Banning, Arthur Hill, Chas. Janke, Jack McDonald, Chas. Brown, Ed, Martin, Arthur, better known as Tiger, Lyons; Gus Munch, Tad Roberts, Hartman, Oscar Peterson and Lee Roberts, as manager.
Moorhead lines up with Jack Page, captain; Pike Mullaney, Anderson, O'Reagan. Flannery,
Harry Howe, Burke, Keefe, Dea, Clayton and Murphy.
Grand Forks will consist of Sid Adams, Chas. Hutton, Riddell, McNeal, Rudge, Hanrahan,
Jack Turner, Walker, Boblitz and Marshall.
Breckenridge and Wahpeton will be represented by the following players: Ted Corbett. manager
and captain; Swartz, Berg, L. Conrad, A. Conrad, Jim Hart, Fitch, Wm. Ploof, Red O'Donnell,
Pete Quinn and Jack O'Donnell.
The League umpires will be George Challis and Robert Irons, the first-named, a well-known
man; but the latter, being a new man. he is still an unknown quantity. The championship
season opens to-day and closes September 4."
Grand Forks 6, Fargo 2
WP: Hutton
LP: Roberts
Moorhead 16, Wahpeton-Breckenridge 7
WP: Mullaney
LP: Berg
From the Sporting News:
June 5, 1897 p.4
"RED RIVER VALLEY LEAGUE.
Personnel of the Teams and the Umpire Corps.
Fargo, North Dakota. May 26. Editor "Sporting Life:" The River Valley League has at last started. The League is made up as follows: Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks and Breckenridge and Wahpeton, Breckenridge and Wahpeton being represented by one team. The various teams will line up as follows: Signed with Fargo are Jack Banning, Arthur Hill, Chas. Janke, Jack McDonald, Chas. Brown, Ed, Martin, Arthur, better known as Tiger, Lyons; Gus Munch, Tad Roberts, Hartman, Oscar Peterson and Lee Roberts, as manager.
Moorhead lines up with Jack Page, captain; Pike Mullaney, Anderson, O'Reagan. Flannery,
Harry Howe, Burke, Keefe, Dea, Clayton and Murphy.
Grand Forks will consist of Sid Adams, Chas. Hutton, Riddell, McNeal, Rudge, Hanrahan,
Jack Turner, Walker, Boblitz and Marshall.
Breckenridge and Wahpeton will be represented by the following players: Ted Corbett. manager
and captain; Swartz, Berg, L. Conrad, A. Conrad, Jim Hart, Fitch, Wm. Ploof, Red O'Donnell,
Pete Quinn and Jack O'Donnell.
The League umpires will be George Challis and Robert Irons, the first-named, a well-known
man; but the latter, being a new man. he is still an unknown quantity. The championship
season opens to-day and closes September 4."
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