1914 Minneapolis Colored Gophers

A Calendar, Including Newspaper Clippings, of the 1914 Minneapolis Colored Gophers

1914 Minneapolis Colored Gophers

Stories are placed in order of the date they appeared.

July 4, 1914

Little Falls, MN
"In the afternoon the program of sports will be pulled off, after which the local baseball team will take on the Colored Gophers of Minneapolis in a game at the fair grounds. Baseball - Colored Gophers of Minneapolis vs. local team."

Little Falls, MN
"4th of July at Little Falls - Prominent Speakers - Fine Sports - Music - Baseball: Local team vs. the famous Colored Gopher ball team. Hose Race between Fire Department Companies. - This will be a feature. The Leap for Life - This will be a thriller. Come and join us; we always have a good time."

Little Falls, MN
"Big Celebration Tomorrow - To Observe the Fourth - Exercises, Program of Sports and Baseball Game - At 1 o'clock p.m. the program of sports will start with a little girls' race. After these events are over the crowd will journey to the fair grounds to see the baseball game between the local team and the Minneapolis Colored Gophers. The colored team is said to be one of the fastest in the country and a fast game is assured, ans the local aggregation will be strengthened by the addition of several outside men. Brandel, who played with the salaried team last year, will be seen in uniform at this game, and it is possible that Erickson, last year's catcher, may be secured to do the backstop work. Allison, of Anoka will be in the infield and a pitcher will also be secured. These two teams will play again on Sunday afternoon at the fairgrounds. The committee on arrangements has gone to a large expense to schedule this games and a record crowd should turn out for them. Baseball - Colored Gophers of Minneapolis vs. local team."

Little Falls, MN
"The baseball game between the local team and the Minneapolis Colored Gophers took place after the program of sports. Mention of this game and the Sunday game are given in another column.

"Take Two From Gophers - Little Falls Plays in Good Form - Score 2 and 1 and 3 to 0. - Cy Olson's Colored Gophers from Minneapolis were trimmed by the local team in two fast baseball games Saturday and Sunday. The final score in the first game was 2 to 1 in favor of the locals and in the second one the down river aggregation was handed a goose egg, the score being 3 to 0. The manager of the Winnipeg Northern league team had promised to send down a good pitcher for the game on the fourth, but the man failed to show up, and Al Dominick was put in the box. He played his game very well and allowed but few hits. The only score made by the Gophers in the Saturday game was secured in the first inning, when Clark, third man up, made first on an error by Stoll, stole second and made third on another error by Stoll and scored on a hit by Nelson. The locals made their first score in the seventh inning, when Lauermann singled and stole second. Smith struck out and Dominick, next up was put out at first base. Lauerman advanced to third on this play and Brandel made first base when the catcher fumbled the ball on his third strike and Lauermann scored. The score remained 1 to 1 until the last half of the ninth inning. The catcher fumbled the ball on the third strike of Smith, who started to first. In making the throw to first the catcher struck the runner with the ball, which bounded into the outfirld. Smith continued to second and made third when Dominick grounded out to the third baseman. Brandel was then walked to first, and stole second while the pitcher was holding the ball. Allison hit a slow grounder to the third baseman, who made a wild throw in trying to catch Smith at the home plate and the runner scored."

Little Falls, MN
"July 4 - Little Falls 2, Colored Gophers 1."

July 5, 1914

Little Falls, MN
"In the Sunday game the local played a better game than the day before and did not even allow the Colored Gophers to score. The final tally was 3 to 0. Pete Newman did the pegging for the locals and deserves much credit for the way in which the locals outdid their opponents. He struck out nine men, allowed seven hits and passed but one man. Nelson fir the Gophers struck out two and allowed six hits but did not issue any passes. Little Falls started scoring in the third inning, when with one man down, Allison got a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Tanner grounded out to short and Murphy, next up, secured a three-bagger, scoring Allison. Stoll was a third out and this ended the scoring until the sixth inning. Tanner, first up, got a hit by Stoll. The third and last score was made in the seventh inning, when Brandel made first on an error, stole second, made third after Allison went out on a pop to the infield and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tanner."

Little Falls, MN
"July 5 - Little Falls 3, Colored Gophers 0."

July 26, 1914

Little Falls, MN
"Double Header for Sunday - Colored Gophers, Twice Vanquished by Locals, are Again Scheduled - Sunday afternoon, on the local diamond, the local baseball team will try conclusions for the third and fourth time with the Colored Gophers of Minneapolis, in a double header. The locals defeated the down-river aggregation twice in the earlier part of the season and are confident that they can do the same stunt Sunday. The colored team will come up with a lineup much stronger than last time, according to Manager Cy Olson. Rat Johnson, who formerly caught for Long Prairie and who has been seen in action by local baseball enthusiasts, will do the backstop work for the visitors, and Rube Foster and Davis will twirl. The lineup of the local team will be practically the same as in the last few games. Murphy will be at the receiving end and Dominick and Newman will be on the rubber for the locals. The first game will be called at 2:30 p.m., and a record crowd should turn out and help the local boys to victory. They have won every game played since they organized for the Fourth of July and deserve better support than they have been given. The price of admission for the two games will be 40 cents. To those who do not with to remain for the second game a refund of 15 cents will be made."

Little Falls, MN
"Get Best of Colored Gophers - Locals Trim Them 11 to 2 in First Game - Second was Tie, 3 to 3. - The Minneapolis Colored Gophers were administered one bad defeat and got a tie game at the fair grounds here Sunday afternoon in contests with the local team. The first game was a farce, the score being 11 to 3 in favor of the local aggregation in the seventh inning, when the game was called. The second game was closely contested and up to the first half of the seventh inning the locals were credited with three runs, while their opponents had so far failed to cross the plate a single time. But in the first half of the seventh inning the Colored Gophers got started on some bad errors and brought in three scores, tying the locals. Little Falls had their half of the seventh inning in which to win the game, but they failed in the attempt, and the game was called, on account of the state law, which requires that baseball games be stopped at six o'clock on Sundays. In the first game the visitors secured one score in the first inning. Binga struck out, K. Jones sent the ball to the left field fence for a three bagger and scored on a grounder by Clarke, who made first safely on the throw in to catch Jones at the plate. Nelson then flew out to left field and Clarke was caught at third, retiring the side. Little Falls came back strong in the second half and every man on the team was given a chance at the bat. Brandel, first up, got a nice single and advanced to second when Allison was passed. Tanner bunted safely, filling the bags. Murphy rolled the ball into the infield and Tanner scored. Murphy was caught at first. Allison, who advanced to third on Tanner's hit, scored on a wild pitched ball by Nelson. Stoll then got a single, scoring Tanner. Berg singled, advancing Stoll to second, and Lauermann got a two-bagger, scoring Stoll. Smith got a fine hit, which scored Berg and Lauermann. Newman, next up, rolled one to the second baseman, who retired Smith at second and Newman at first on a double play. This finished the first inning with a score of 6 to 1 in favor of the locals. Everything was quiet during the next two innings, and the only play of interest was when the colored catcher got a foul immediately in front of the grandstand. He ran so fast in his attempt to get the foul, that the force knocked the ball out of his mitt before he could get his hand over it. The ball bounced several feet into the air and again he missed it and it shot into the air. The third time he gripped it with his right hand, and cinched his hold on it, retiring the batter. Things became lively in the fourth inning and it looked as if the down-river aggregation was going to pile up a number of scores. Nelson hit a high one to center field, J. Davis was passed and advanced to second on a grounder by Ivester, who was retired at first. Jones sent a fly into left field, which Tanner would have grabbed had he not stumbled. Jones made two bags on this one and Davis scored. Kenneson was passed and L. Davis got a single scoring Jones. Bingo then flew out to Allison, retiring the side. Allison started things for the locals in the last half of the fourth inning, when two scores were made. He was passed and scored on a two-bagger by Tanner. Murphy got a double, scoring Tanner. In the last half of the fifth inning two more were added when Lauermann got a two-bagger and scored on a hit by Newman. Brandel, next up, had two strikes and things looked bad, but in an attempt to dodge a pitched ball, he found it for a nice single, after which he stole second, and Newman made third. Allison struck out, Tanner got a safe hit, scoring Newman and Murphy rolled on to the third baseman, and was put out at first for the third out. The 11th and last score for the locals was made in the last half of the sixth inning. Stoll flew out to Ivester, Berg singled and advanced to third on a hit by Lauermann, who advanced to second on a passed ball. Smith then rolled one into the infield and was retired at first but Berg scored. Peter Newman pitched for the locals in the first game, and made a fine showing. He allowed but two hits, struck out six and passed three. Nelson for the Colored Gophers, threw a poor game, and was found for 13 hits, gave two passes and struck out but three men. The second game was far better than the first one, which was no doubt due to the change in the lineup of the visitors. J.Davis was put in as pitcher and Nelson, who pitched the first game, was put on second. He did not do very well there and was finally shifted to center field, where he redeemed himself. Al Dominick, on the mound for the locals, pitched a good game, striking out seven men, issuing two passes and allowing but four hits. No scores were made in the second game until the last half of the third inning, when the local team got two. With two men out, Brandel made first on an error by the second baseman, Allison got a two-bagger, advancing Brandel to third. Tanner got a single, scoring Brandel, advancing Allison, and then stole second. Murphy made first on an error by the second baseman and Allison scored. Stoll then struck out, retiring the side. The thid score for the locals was made in the last half of the fourth inning. Berg rolled on into the infield and made first on an error by the second baseman. Smith rolled one to the third baseman, who caught Berg at second. Smith then stole second and s ored on a hit by Dominick. From this time until the first half of the seventh inning no scored were made on either side and the locals were confident of winning. They probably would have, but C. Jones made first on a wild throw by Allison, and advanced to second on a passed ball. Kanneson got to first in the same way and Jones advanced to third. Kenneson stole second and Jones scored on a hit by Binga. Ivester and K. Jones struck out. Clarke sent a fast one down the line near third base, which Smith missed, and Kenneson and Binga scored, bringing the scores to a tie of three to three. The game was played to the end of the seventh inning, when it was called on account of the six o'clock law."

Little Falls, MN
"July 26 - Little Falls 11-3, Colored Gophers 3-3."