Sheriff William Bodkin, 1897 Moorhead Manager, Dies at Age 70

Grand Forks Herald, May 3, 1916

A more complete biography of Sheriff Bodkin is included in my upcoming book.

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.

Top 5 "Good Guys" from the 1897 RRVL

In a season filled with plenty of bad behavior, here are five of the most gentlemanly personalities from the Red River Valley League of 1897:

1) George Challis - umpire; Fargo manager
It is nearly impossible to find a single bad word written about George Challis. His umpiring work was unanimously considered to be the best in the region. Challis was so respected that after he became Fargo's manager during the 1897 season, he was called upon to finish umpiring one of Fargo's own games after umpire O'Donnell quit the game. A benefit game was played after the season to raise money and show appreciation for Challis.

2) Deacon Phillippe - Fargo's promising young pitcher
Phillippe, on his way to stardom, was by all accounts a humble player during his time in Fargo. His disposition made him instantly popular among local fans, and his work ethic eventually made him a star pitcher in the majors. 

3) Umpire O'Donnell - umpire in 1897
O'Donnell regularly had to deal with nonsense while umpiring league games, particularly from Moorhead catcher Tim Keefe. Early in the season, O'Donnell fined but did not eject Keefe in back-to-back games for arguing and foul language. Later in the season, Keefe's antics caused O'Donnell to leave the field rather than finish umpiring a game between Moorhead and Fargo. Earlier in that game, O'Donnell had ejected Fargo catcher Hartman and had a cop escort him from the field. Impressively, O'Donnell didn't respond in anger at any point despite dealing with plenty of reckless behavior.

4) Peaceful Valley Brown - popular Fargo player
Despite an incident in which he vociferously argued with umpire Tige Lyons and was ejected, Charles "Peaceful Valley" Brown generally lived up to his nickname. He was a consistent player, generally considered to be a gentleman, and became a fan favorite after first playing for Fargo in 1896.

5) Sheriff Bodkin - Moorhead manager
The local sheriff and Moorhead team manager was well-respected in the community. A Civil War veteran who fought for the 104th Illinois infantry, Bodkin achieved the rank of sergeant, spent over three months as a prisoner of war, and was wounded on two separate occasions. In 1876, he began the first of two stints as Clay county sheriff. In 1897, Bodkin took on additional responsibility as manager of the Barmaids. In this role, Bodkin was a strong advocate for the RRVL and his team, the pennant winners for the season. (The Record Vol 3 Issue 8 p. 152 Feb. 1898).

Great Team Names from 1897

Though the team nicknames of the 1897 Red River Valley League probably did not appear on any uniforms, they were unique nonetheless. The local newspapers in the valley get some credit in helping form the nicknames.
 "Divorcees" was used for Fargo, its origin being in the city's permissive divorce laws. The team's gray uniforms led to the occasional use of the term "greybacks" to describe the Fargo players. The ND Globe, Wahpeton's weekly, liked to diminish the Fargo team by calling them the "Bobolinks". A bobolink is a migratory songbird, so if anyone knows why this is an insult, please let me know!
"Barmaids" was one of the nicknames given to Moorhead, for the prevalence of alcohol in the city as compared to its dry neighbor across the river. Another name used to refer to Moorhead's team was the "Sheriffs", a reference to Manager W. J. Bodkin, who was a local sheriff. The players were sometimes called the "deputies". Occasionally, the Moorhead club was deemed the "Maroons", owing to the color of their uniforms.  
"Senators" was the moniker for Grand Forks, for their manager and North Dakota state Senator W. A. Gordon. The Grand Forks Plaindealer proposed calling the club the "undertakers", which was used occasionally but not as often as Senators.
Finally "Methodists" was used a few times for Wahpeton-Breckenridge, likely owing to the strong Protestant presence among the Red River Valley's largely Scandinavian and German population. The Moorhead Independent preferred to refer to the W-B squad as the "kickers", for the frequency with which their manager argued with league umpires.
The creative and sometimes insulting nicknames even drew attention from the weekly paper in Fergus Falls. The city, home to a prominent insane asylum, commented that it was probably better that they didn't field a team in the Red River Valley League, because if they had, the "wild-eyed diamond reporters" might have deemed them the "Lunatics." 

But there were other gems among the minor league teams of 1897. Some of my favorites:

Grand Rapids (MI) Bob-o-links (Western League)
Paterson (NJ) Silk Weavers (Atlantic League)
Des Moines Prohibitionists (Western Association) - I really wish they had played against Moorhead!
Cairo (IL) Egyptians (Central League)
Palmyra (NY) Mormons (NY State League) - Palmyra was the sight of Joseph Smith's first vision of the angel Moroni.
Williamsport (PA) Demorest Bicycle Boys (Central Pennsylvania League) - Williamsport is now the site of the Little League World Series
London (Ontario, Canada) Cockneys (Canadian League) - a reference to the British Londoners
Junction City (KS) Parrots (Kansas State League)
Columbus (GA) Babies (Southeastern League)
Asheville (NC) Moonshiners (Southeastern League)

Best Major League team name:
Brooklyn (NY) Bridegrooms (National League) - several players married around the same time in 1888, the year of this nickname's origin

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/league.cgi?year=1897

Updated 9-15-12

On This Date: League's Last Ditch Efforts

August 3, 1897 - Tuesday, August 3 was the beginning of the end for the Red River Valley League. Wahpeton-Breckenridge was scheduled to play its first game representing Crookston at YMCA park in Grand Forks against the Senators. It never happened. Manager Ed Corbett brought his team to Morris, MN instead, apparently to complete the season playing independent ball. In response, on August 4 an unnamed official was sent by Moorhead's manager Bodkin to Morris in an effort to try to convince the W-B team to come to Crookston (without Corbett, who stubbornly refused to compromise). The hope was to enlist Moorhead pitcher Ed Jess to manage the players in Crookston. However, Corbett's actions, coupled with the inaction of the Crookston magnates, equaled the death knell for the newly-formed league. On August 6, the Forum finally conceded the fact that the league was dead. Fargo and Moorhead would play out their scheduled six-game set, and thereafter, organized baseball in the Valley would be done for 1897.

The recent developments were especially disappointing for Red River Valley fans in light of the competitive and balanced play in recent weeks. On Tuesday afternoon, amidst the chaos concerning the future of W-B, Fargo again played Moorhead tough in a game on the Fargo grounds. With the score 6-4, Fargo scored two runs in the ninth to force extra innings, but Moorhead struck back with the winning run in the tenth.

Fargo Forum and Daily Republican
August 3, 1897 p. 4 "Stuff Is Off"
August 4, 1897 p. 4 "Patching It Up"
August 5, 1897 p. 4 "Chaotic"
August 6, 1897 p. 4 "The Wind-Up"

On This Date: League Instability Widespread

July 30, 1897 - The Forum, in their Friday evening edition, published an interesting piece of news from the paper across the river, the Moorhead News. The article highlighted just how unstable the league situation had become by the end of July. Wahpeton-Breckenridge was not the only team in trouble. In recent meetings, re-organization of the league was a topic on the table, but not solely because the W-B franchise was struggling. The News revealed rumors that both Fargo and Grand Forks had withdrawn their forfeit money from the league's coffers. Though this fact was rebuffed by the Moorhead daily, other problems remained for the league. The transfer of the W-B franchise to Crookston was still in question, but a change needed to be made. The current arrangement for the team in the southern Valley was no longer sustainable. W-B had withdrawn their forfeit deposit in order to keep their gates open, but this act of desperation couldn't change the fact that the franchise was failing.

Further trouble was brewing with the Moorhead franchise. The Barmaids were 25-10 and in first-place in the RRVL - in fact, they were the only team even above .500. Despite the franchise's clear superiority, attendance was lagging. In a late-July home contest for Moorhead, those identified as fans of the home team accounted for less than one-fourth of the total gate receipts. The attendance total of Moorhead supporters was regularly matched or outnumbered by the visiting team's fans. Struggling to break even, folding the franchise was not outside the realm of possibilities. Moorhead's Manager Bodkin and other league officials held out hope that a new schedule and a franchise in Crookston would keep them playing in 1897.

Fargo Forum and Daily Republican July 30, 1897 p.4 "Moorhead's Tale of Woe" (citing the Moorhead News)