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[ music ]
[ Dan Cagley ] Long before DIRECTV,
long before television,
and even long before radio,
baseball was already known as
the Great American Pastime.
The game that became very popular
during the American Civil War
when it was played in army camps,
really took off in the northern
states after Union soldiers
returned home from the War.
By the turn of the 20th century,
almost every area of the country
was saturated with the game.
Minnesota was no different.
It became common for businesses
to have company teams.
Churches started up leagues of teams.
Students at schools were forming
teams and challenging other schools.
Town ball teams had been present
since the Civil War, but there were
more teams playing all over the State
by the beginning of the 20th century.
Making the local town team in those days
was an automatic mark of civic prestige.
In leagues like the Great Soo League,
fans would go out on Sundays in mostly
German towns like Holding ford or
St. Joseph and root the farmers and
merchants that represented the
community on the ball field.
Previous to the Twins
first season in 1961,
the Minneapolis Millers and the
St. Paul Saints were staples of
professional baseball dating back to
the 1880s when overhand pitching
first became a legal part of the game.
Besides having great players over the
years like Willie Mays, Ted Williams,
Joe Hauser, and Roy Campanella,
it was also the rivalry between the two
cities that brought out huge crowds
when they played against each other.
Many seasons saw 22 games between
the Millers and Saints with holiday
doubleheaders played in the parks of
both cities on July 4th and Labor Day.
Stillwater’s only season in professional
baseball saw both the team and the
Northwestern League fold in 1884.
Perhaps the best player on the team
was a man who was the first black
player to ever play in professional
baseball – Bud Fowler.
Decades before Jackie Robinson
played for the Dodgers,
Fowler played baseball with over 15
professional teams during his career.
However, unlike some of his white
Stillwater teammates he never got to
play in the big leagues.
He was a real talent as he could play a
number of positions, was a good hitter,
and was a threat to steal bases.
During this time in American history
when the frontier was closing
in the eyes of many, Native Americans
were also starting to play baseball.
Charles Albert Bender was a member of the
Ojibwa tribe born in Crow Wing County
who went on to play in the Major Leagues
for the Philadelphia Athletics.
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1953, he is considered one of the
best World Series pitchers ever.
In what is a record that may never
be broken, the ace of the Athletics threw
a complete game in each of the nine games
that he pitched in various World Series.
Baseball was important to some of the
groups who immigrated to the
United States in the late 19th century.
The American game was picked up quickly
by Scandinavians who not only played for
town teams and at the local schools,
but also at the college level.
The students at St. Olaf College in
Northfield and at Luther College in
Decorah, Iowa used to celebrate Norwegian
Independence Day, the 17th of May,
with parades, speeches, and food.
One of the mainstays of the syttende mai
festivities at the two schools was the
baseball game that was played between
Luther and St. Olaf every season.
Both schools have strong baseball
traditions and used to play to large
crowds before World War II.
Within the large following and support
of the game of baseball, barnstorming
was also in its heyday as well.
Before 1950, there were only 16
Major League teams in ten cities, and none
of those were located west of St. Louis
or south of Washington D.C.
Fans around the country followed
the Major Leagues in the newspapers or
watched the out of town scoreboard in
some cities before radio coverage
started in the 1920s.
For many followers of the game,
the best chance to see some of the
most talented players in the country
was either when players were in the
minor leagues or when Major League
or *** League players barnstormed
around the country in the offseason.
The teams used these trips to bring in
additional revenue, build up interest,
or sometimes to scout the
local talent in the area.
Babe Ruth came to Minnesota many times
during his Hall of Fame career.
He stopped through Sleepy Eye
in 1922 as part of a tour of the
western part of the country.
There are also several photos in the
collection from his trips through
Minneapolis when he played
at Nicollet Park.
One of the games was in 1924 and the
Yankee team even autographed a ball.
Another trip was a decade later
as part of the 1934 U.S. team
that would barnstorm in Japan.
In that era, Ruth’s visits to these
towns were often one of the highlights
of the community, almost like the
President coming to your town.
There is much to discover about baseball
in the Minnesota Historical
Society’s Collection,
from the early days to recent seasons.
Visit Collections Online or the
Library to learn more about
the Great American Pastime!
This is Dan Cagley of the
Minnesota Historical Society.
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