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Northwestern League

Defunct sports league of minor league baseball in the United States

Northwestern League
Summary

Defunct sports league of minor league baseball in the United States

FieldValue
sportBaseball
inaugural1879
folded1891
classification
teams4 to 12 each season
countryUnited States

The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for six seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, 1886–1887, and 1891. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the Western Association, although the Northwestern League returned for its final season in 1891 as an independent baseball league.

The Northwestern League of 1883–1884 is considered the first baseball "minor league", as it was party to the National Agreement of 1883, along with the National League and American Association, whereby the leagues agreed to honor each other's suspensions, expulsions, and player reserve clauses, and established territorial rights.

An unrelated Northwestern League, located in the Pacific Northwest, later formed in 1905.

Results by season

The league operated for a total of six seasons, during a span of 13 years.

1879

Ted Sullivan

Four teams participated in the 1879 season, which ran from May 1 to July 7.

TeamRecordGBManager
Dubuque Red Stockings—Ted Sullivan
Rockford White Stockings5James McKee
Omaha Green Stockings11
Davenport Brown Stockings12J. W. Green

Source:

1883

Charlie Morton

The 1883 season featured eight teams and ran from May 1 to September 29.

TeamRecordGBManager
Toledo Blue Stockings—William Voltz / Charlie Morton
Saginaw Greys2Arthur Whitney
Peoria Reds7Charles Flynn / Charles Levis / A. C. Harding
Grand Rapids (MI)8Charles Eden / Henry Jones
Springfield (IL)19C. J. Frichtel / John Peters / John Crawford
Bay City (MI)21John Crawford / William Montgomery / Chester Morgan
Fort Wayne Hoosiers22Jack Remsen / Milton Scott
Quincy Quincys33Charles Overrecker / Ed Hengel / Dickey Pearce

Source:

1884

The 1884 season began on May 1 with 12 teams. The Bay City team disbanded in late July and was replaced by Evansville. In early August, multiple other teams disbanded. Play continued through August 13, at which time Milwaukee had the best record of teams still active. Milwaukee was later offered the league championship for the abbreviated season, but declined it.

Horace Phillips
TeamRecordGBManager
Grand Rapids (MI)—Horace Phillips
Saginaw GreysWilliam Dyer
Quincy QuincysGeorge Brackett
Peoria Reds9James Whitfield / Charles Flynn
Milwaukee BrewersCharles Cushman / James McKee / Tom Loftus
Minneapolis MillersBenjamin Tuthill
Muskegon (MI)27A. R. Bradford / Charles Cushman / John Rainey
Fort Wayne Hoosiers29John McDonough / Harry Smith
St. Paul ApostlesLem Hunter / Andrew Thompson
Stillwater (MN)31Joseph May / Joe Miller / Fred Gunkle / John Peters
Terre Haute (IN)36Al Buckenberger / George Hammerstein
Evansville (IN)n/aStephen Hagan
Bay City (MI)n/aBill Watkins

Source:

[[Tom Loftus

The league reorganized on August 14, and started a second season with a limited schedule of 24 games planned for each of four teams. This short season would also end early due to financial difficulties, with the final game played on September 7.

TeamRecordGBManager
Milwaukee Brewers—Tom Loftus
Minneapolis Millers2Benjamin Tuthill
St. Paul ApostlesAndrew Thompson
Winona ClippersJohn Rainey

Source:

The St. Paul and Milwaukee teams were late-season additions to the major league Union Association. Main article: St. Paul Saints (UA), Milwaukee Brewers (UA)

1886–1887

In 1886, the league was recreated when the Duluth Jayhawks; Eau Claire Lumbermen; St. Paul Freezers, Minneapolis Millers, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Oshkosh, Wisconsin based Oshkosh team composed the league. Duluth won the championship.

In 1887, the Northwestern League featured the Des Moines Hawkeyes, Duluth Freezers, Eau Claire, LaCrosse Freezers, Milwaukee Cream Citys, Minneapolis Millers, Oshkosh and the St. Paul Saints. Oshkosh won the championship.

1891

Teams

  • Bay City, Michigan: Bay City
  • Dayton, Ohio: Dayton
  • Detroit, Michigan: Detroit Wolverines
  • Evansville, Indiana: Evansville Hoosiers
  • Fort Wayne, Indiana: Ft. Wayne
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan: Grand Rapids Shamrocks
  • Peoria, Illinois: Peoria Distillers
  • Terre Haute, Indiana: Terre Haute Hottentots

Standings

League president: W. H. Ketcham

Team standingsWLPCTGBManager(s)
Evansville Hoosiers4429.603–Andy Sommers
Ft. Wayne3933.5424½Guy Hecker
Terre Haute Hottentots2841.40614Billy Clingman / George Brackett
Grand Rapids Shamrocks2844.38915½John Murphy
Peoria Distillers4217.712NAGeorge Brackett
Dayton2730.474NAHarry Fisher
Bay City1217.414NAFred Craves / John Whalen
Detroit Wolverines1019.345NARasty Wright

Note: Peoria and Dayton disbanded July 16; Bay City disbanded June 7; Detroit disbanded June 6 Peoria won the first and second split-season. Evansville won the third split-season.

Schedule:

References

References

  1. Thornly, Stew. (2006). "Baseball in Minnesota: The Definitive History".
  2. (April 2000). "How Minor League Baseball Teams Work: History of the Minors".
  3. "1879 Northwestern League".
  4. (2007). "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball". [[Baseball America]].
  5. "1883 Northwestern League".
  6. (August 7, 1884). "Two More Gone". [[St. Paul Globe]].
  7. (August 14, 1884). "Northwestern League". [[Chicago Tribune]].
  8. (August 15, 1884). "The New Northwestern League". [[St. Louis Globe-Democrat]].
  9. (September 8, 1884). "The Northwestern League Winds Up Its Career at Milwaukee". [[St. Paul Globe]].
  10. "The 1884 St. Paul Saints".
  11. "The 1884 Milwaukee Grays".
  12. "1886 Northwestern League".
  13. "1887 Northwestern League".
  14. (April 20, 1891). "Schedule". [[Chicago Tribune]].
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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