Red River Valley League

Red River Valley League

Sport	Minor League Baseball
Inaugural season	1897
Ceased	August 8, 1897
President	Chauncey Wheeler (1897) Senator W.A. Gordon (1897)
No. of teams	4
Country	United States
Most titles	1 Moorhead Barmaids (1897)
Classification	Independent (1897)

The Red River Valley League was an Independent status minor league baseball league that played in the 1897 season. The four–team 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.

History[]

The Red River Valley League played several seasons as a semi–pro league before becoming a full minor league in 1897.^[1]

The Red River Valley League began minor league baseball play in the 1897 season. Four teams competed in the 1887 Red River Valley League: the Moorhead Barmaids, Grand Forks Senators/Grand Forks Black Stockings, Wahpeton-Breckenridge Methodists and Fargo Divorcees. The league Presidents were Chauncey Wheeler and Senator W.A. Gordon and player salaries were capped at $40.00 per month. Gordon also served as manager of Grand Forks. The Red River Valley League permanently disbanded on August 8, 1897 eight days after the first half of the season had ended.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

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. Moorhead was 10.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Grand Forks Senators/Grand Forks Black Stockings (19–21). They were followed by the Wahpeton-Breckenridge Methodists (16–21) and Fargo Divorcees (17–29).^{[5][3][7][8][9][10]}

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.^[11][12][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.^[13][6]

1897 Red River Valley League teams[]

^{[18][14][19][20][21][22][4][2]}

1897 standings[]

^[2][5]

References[]