1909 Chicago Unions

A Calendar, Including Newspaper Clippings, of the 1909 Chicago Unions

1909 Chicago Unions

Stories are placed in order of the date they appeared.

January 16, 1909

Chicago, IL
"The Chicago Unions to Have Strong Baseball Team - Several of the Indianapolis Boys Will Land Berths - Prospects of the Fastest Team in Years. - Special to the Freeman. - The Chicago Unions of the coming season will be one of the strongest teams in the field. The team will be composed of some of the fastest players in the game, most all of whom will be new to this team. Several of the Indianapolis stars will land berths on the Union team. The players already booked are as follows: Jas. Shawler, left field; W. N. Pryor, third base; Frank Young, second base; John Lolla, first base; G. Washington, catcher; Hutchinson or Toney, shortstop; G. Brinkenship, right field; John Reeves, center field and manager; Lewis Johnson, William West and Frank Talbert, pitchers, and Samuel Thompson, catcher."

February 27, 1909

Chicago, IL
"The Chicago Union Giants will play their thirtieth season when the game opens."

"CHICAGO UNIONS’ PROSPECTS. - Several Hoosier Players Will Try to Make Good. - Special to The Freeman. - CHICAGO. Ill.—Special.—The Chicago Unions are no longer known as an independent team. W. S. Peters, president of the team, has entered it in the Lake Shore and Wisconsin League. The Unions are expected to be a strong contestant for the pennant. The team will be composed of some fast young players with two or three exceptions, and indications show that these will make a fast bunch to pick from. The following boys will try for positions Shawler, left field; Young, second base; Blankenship, right field; Reeves, center field; Talbert and Dougherty, pitchers. All of these boys are from Indianapolis. Among others there will be: Tooley, first base; Knight, of St. Louis, catch; Pryor, of Chicago, third base; Lindsey, of Kansas City, Mo., shortstop; West, of Danville, 111., pitch Johnson, of Champaign, 111., pitch; Lolla, first base, and Thompson, of Indiaanpolis, catch. Reeves, the new manager, hails from St. Louis and was a member of the Unions in 1906. He is one of the fastest outfielders on the team and is a fast base runner."

March 13, 1909

Chicago, IL
"UNIONS HAVE JOINED LEAGUE. - Team Has Existed for Thirty Seasons — League Season Opens May 2. - CHICAGO, Illinois - Special. - The Chicago Union Giants will do down once more in the history of baseball for being the first Colored team to own a franchise in a white league. The Unions are the oldest Colored team in the West, this being their thirtieth season. They have seen such clubs as Bowen’s Eclipses, Chicago Models, Chicago Giants, Fuque Giants, Chicago Clippers, all come and go. The Unions are the first Colored team to be admitted in the Lake Shore League, one of the best paying leagues in the lower part of Wisconsin. The towns are Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Menasha, Manitowoc, Port Washington nd Sheboygan. At the meeting Sunday, in Milwaukee, Wis.. after accepting the Unions to membership, they agreed to open the league May 2 and play every Saturday and Sunday until the last Sunday in October. The Unions are out for the pennant, and if they win this year, next season one of the largest and best ball parks in the West ever put up by a Colored team will be built. Manager Peters has picked one of the Indianapolis boys to captain the team this year - James Shawler. He is a gentleman and a first class ball player."

"UNION GIANTS. - There seems to be quite a discussion among the players just as to who will form this team, but when they get straightened out they wall line up near this shape: Washington and Thompson, catchers; Ramsey, West, Taylor, pitchers Robinson or Latta, of Louisville, first base; Frank Young, Toney and Pryor will fill the other infield vacancies, while Green, Ramsey and the battery men will round up the ball in the outfield."

March 27, 1909

Chicago, IL
"The Chicago Union Giants will depend a great deal on the boys from the Hoosier metropolis."

May 15, 1909

Chicago, IL
"Hutchinson and Shawler, of the A.B.C.s, have joined the Chicago Unions."

Manitowoc, WI
"Manitowoc Fails to Score - Chicago Union Giants Take Lake Shore Game 1 to 0. - Manitowoc, Wisconsin. - Special. - The Union Giants of Chicago and members of the Lake Shore League defeated Manitowoc in their first game of the season. Pryor's double, followed by an out and a single to left field by Hutchinson, sent Pryor home with the only run of the game."

"Notes of the Game. - Shawler hit the ball hard and often, but could not get them safe. Young played a marvelous game at first base. Pryor put up a fast game at third, and gave some fine exhibition of throwing to first base. Campbell, the midget second baseman, fielded his position in the Johnny Evers style. Washington caught a great game and his throwing to the bases was a feature. Davis showed his class as a pitcher when three men were on base and no one down by striking out two of the opposing batters and making the third batter pop up an easy out. Reeves, who is managing the team on the road, did some fine coaching in tight places and showed he is capable of running a ball team."

May 16, 1909

Sheboygan, WI
"Sheboygan, Wisconsin. - The Chicago Unions defeated the home team here the 16th in a hard-fought game. The wind was high and made fly balls hard to judge. The colored boys are going to make a hard fight in the Lake Shore League. The feature of the game was the batting of Hutchinson. W.S. Peters is proud of his 1909 Leauge team, and is confident of finishing not lower than third place."

"Notes of the Unions' Game. - With the addition of Hyde at first base, Hutchinson at shortstop and Shawler in left field, the Unions are stronger. - The feature of the game was the hitting of Pryor, Hutchinson and Washington. In the seventh, four hits, with Hutchinson's three two-baggers of the game, netted three runs. - Harry Hyde played a star game at first base, taking every chance with ease and fielding in his old-time form. - Pryor, the third sacker of the Unions, keeps up his good work in fielding and throwing to bases. - Young played center field like a regular outfielder, accepting everything coming his way, and saved the day for his teammates by throwing out a man at home from deep center in the last inning, stopping the enemy from tying the score. - Shawler played a star game in left field, going into the crowd and pulling down a hard drive with one hand which looked good for a home run. He runs bases like a deer, stretching a single into a two-bagger. - Davis, the star pitcher, is pitching fine ball. In a tight place he is a master of the spit ball. - Ramsey is playing a fine game in the right garden, throwing men out at first on clean hits. - Washington is catching superb ball, not having a passed ball this season. He has not had a man steal on him in three games. - Campbell played a star game at second. Reeves is having quite a success with his team in the Lake Shore League. He has pulled his team from last place to second in one week."

May 24, 1909

Indianapolis, IN
"Puggy Hutchinson is playing good ball with the Chicago Unions. An Indianapolis lad, of course."

May 29, 1909

Sheboygan, WI
"Puggy Hutchinson made three two-base hits in the Chicago Unions - Sheboygan game of the Lake Shore League."

June 5, 1909

Chicago, IL
"Scraps from the Sporting World - Pryor, of the Chicago Unions, is playing a good game."

June 12, 1909

Minneapolis, MN "Three long games with small scores: Colored Keystones - Faribault, fifteen innings, score 0 to 0; Union Giants - Hyde Park, sixteen innings, 1 to 0; Leland Giants-West Baden, twelve innings, 1 to 0."

July 10, 1909

Chicago, IL
"What has become of the Chicago Unions, are they still in old-time form?"