Bush: The end of the Northern-Copper Country League

From SABR member Anthony Bush at Zenith City Online on October 21, 2013:

When the Northern League and the Copper Country Soo League merged to form the Northern-Copper Country League in 1906, the new circuit included eight clubs. Part-way through the 1906 season, the league dropped Grand Forks and Hancock. The following year, the league operated with just four clubs. In a February, 1907, meeting at Duluth’s Commercial Club, the league excised Fargo and Lake Linden, neither of which bothered to send representation. In fact, only three clubs were present at the meeting: the Calumet Aristocrats, the Houghton Giants, and the Duluth White Sox. A. H. Tulford of Winnipeg Maroons was stuck in a snowstorm. With only four teams, the Northern-Copper Country League dropped from Class C to Class D, but its biggest problem would be drawing spectators in the Copper Country.

Alfred Kuehnow was back for his second straight year as the business manager for the Duluth White Sox in 1907. Frank “Smiley” Smith replaced Arthur O’Dea as team captain. Hailing from Madison, Wisconsin, Smith had played for Houghton in 1906. O’Dea, who played for Duluth in both 1905 and 1906, signed with the Lethbridge (Alberta) Miners of the Western Canada League.

The White Sox gathered in Madison on April 15 for spring training. Their first exhibition game was a 2–3 loss to Madison of the Class D Wisconsin State League on April 27, before a crowd of 600 people. White Sox pitcher and Duluth native Alvin Cummings was playing in Madison for the first time since he pitched for the University of Wisconsin the previous year, and he received a “great ovation from the students.” The White Sox’ preseason tour included exhibition games scheduled for Madison, Freeport (Illinois), Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Hudson, and Stillwater. Duluth lost 10–0 in its last road exhibition game at Eau Claire on May 5 and headed north.

Read the full article here: http://zenithcity.com/1907-white-sox-end-northern-copper-country-league/



Originally published: November 8, 2013. Last Updated: November 8, 2013.