Red River Valley League

The Red River Valley League was a minor league baseball league that played in the 1897 season. The four–team, Class F level Red River Valley League consisted of teams based in North Dakota and Minnesota. The Red River Valley League played just the 1897 season, before permanently folding. The Moorhead Barmaids were league champions.

Red River Valley League
ClassificationClass F (1897)
SportMinor League Baseball
Inaugural season1897
CeasedAugust 8, 1897
PresidentChauncey Wheeler (1897)
Senator W.A. Gordon (1897)
No. of teams4
CountryUnited States of America
Most titles1
Moorhead Barmaids (1897)

History

A "Red River Valley League" played several seasons as a semi–pro league before the league evolved to become a full minor league in 1897.[1]

The Red River Valley League began minor league baseball play in the 1897 season as a Class F league. The Four charter teams were the Moorhead Barmaids, Grand Forks Senators[2]/Black Stockings,[3] Wahpeton–Breckenridge Methodists and Fargo Divorcees/Fargo Red Stockings.[4][5][6] The league presidents were Chauncey Wheeler and Senator W.A. Gordon, who also served as manager of Grand Forks. Player salaries were capped at $40.00 per month by the league.[7][8][9]

The Red River Valley League permanently disbanded on August 8, 1897 eight days after the first–half of the season had ended.[10]

At the time the Red River Valley League folded, on August 8, 1897, the Moorhead Barmaids were in 1st place in the league standings with a 32–13 record.[11] Moorhead was 10.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Grand Forks Senators[3]/Grand Forks Black Stockings (19–21). They were followed by the Wahpeton–Breckenridge Methodists (16–21)[12] and Fargo Divorcees (17–29).[13][10][7]

Longest scoreless tie in history

Notably, the River Valley League's Fargo Red Stockings and Grand Forks Black Stockings played a 25–inning, 0–0 tie on July 18, 1891 in the second game of a doubleheader, a 4 hour and 10 minute game. William Gibbs of the Grand Forks Black Stockings, and George Raymer of the Fargo Red Stockings, each pitched a record 25 scoreless innings in the game. The game is the longest scoreless tie in baseball history. The umpire ended the game after the completion of the 25th inning because the teams had to catch a train. The 25th inning concluded at 8:10 pm. The ballgame was played at neutral site. Grand Forks owner Tom Hill relocated the series to the North Dakota State Militia Training Grounds in Devils Lake, North Dakota hoping for larger attendance.[14][15][1]

Media

The Red River Valley League was the subject of a book, Divorcees, Barmaids, and Cranks: The 1897 Red River Valley Baseball League by Jeffrey J. Bozovsky.[16][9]

1897 Red River Valley League teams
Team name City represented Ballpark Year
Fargo Divorcees Fargo, North Dakota Unknown[17] 1897
Grand Forks Senators /
Grand Forks Black Stockings		 Grand Forks, North Dakota YMCA Park[18] 1897
Moorhead Barmaids Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead ballpark[19] 1897
Wahpeton–Breckenridge Methodists Breckenridge, Minnesota
Wahpeton, North Dakota		 Unknown[20] 1897

[21][8]

Standings & statistics

1897 Red River Valley League

Team standingsWLPCTGBManagers
Moorhead Barmaids3213.711–Sheriff W.J. Bodkin
Grand Forks Senators/
Grand Forks Black Stockings		1921.47510.5Senator W.A. Gordon
Wahpeton–Breckenridge Methodists1621.43212.0Ted Corbett
Fargo Divorcees1729.37015.5Reddy Roberts /
Ad Leech / George Challis
Player statistics
PlayerTeamStatTot
Pike MullaneyMoorheadW14
Pike MullaneyMoorheadPCT.824; 14–3

[22][10]

References
  1. "Eriksmoen: 121 years ago, ND baseball teams set a record that won't be broken". INFORUM. 18 July 2012.
  2. "1897 Grand Forks Black Stockings minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  3. "1897 Grand Forks Senators Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. "Fargo Red Stockings minor league baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  5. "1897 Fargo Red Stockings minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  6. "1897 Red River Valley League (RRVL) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  7. "1897 Red River Valley League". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. "1897 Red River Valley League (RRVL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  9. Bozovsky, Jeffrey J. "Divorcees, Barmaids, and Cranks: The 1897 Red River Valley Baseball League" – via Amazon.
  10. "1897 Red River Valley League (RRVL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  11. "1897 Moorhead Barmaids Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. "1897 Wahpeton-Breckenridge Methodists Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  13. "1897 Fargo Divorcees Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  14. "Hagerty: The longest scoreless game in minor-league history – Society for American Baseball Research".
  15. "North Dakota Nothing: The longest scoreless game in history". www.sportingnews.com.
  16. Bozovsky, Jeffery (2016) Divorcees, Barmaids, and Cranks: The 1897 Red River Valley Baseball League. ISBN 978-1-7154366-9-8
  17. "1897 Fargo Red Stockings Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  18. "Unknown in Grand Forks, ND history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  19. "1897 Moorhead Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  20. "1897 Wahpeton-Breckenridge Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  21. "1897 Grand Forks Black Stockings Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  22. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, editors (Third ed.). Baseball America. 2007. ISBN 978-1932391176.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

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