June 2, 1909
St. Charles, MN
"The famous Colored Gophers' base ball team has been booked for one game with St. Charles on Wednesday, June 2nd, at the Fair Grounds at St. Charles. Game called at 3:30p.m. Don't miss seeing them, they are fast."
St. Charles, MN
"The ball game Wednesday, June 2, between the St. Charles boys and the Colored Gophers resulted in a victory for the later by a score of 11 to 1. The game being rather one-sided, but interesting nevertheless. The Colored Gophers are gentlemen on or off the diamond and certainly can play the game. Our boys made a very creditable showing against them as they are in a class by themselves in this section. Batteries, St. Charles Wegman and Watson, Gophers, Pate and Wallace."
June 4, 1909
Hibbing, MN
"In a recent series between the Hibbing team and the Colored Gophers at Hibbing, Johnson who caught for the Gophers in that game, won the game for his team mates by hitting the ball over the fence in the ninth inning for a home run."
June 6, 1909
Faribault, MN
"The Faribault nine, under the management of its leader, Ed Kehoe, will present a noble front. The Faribault team has, without dout, the hardest hitting team in the state. This was best exemplified in their last week's games with the Colored Gophers. If Cook is able to hold Manager Kehoe's sluggers at bat, Red Wing will win. The Faribault nine has gained noticeable strength in securing Chicken and Mehling, these boys are true ball players."
June 8, 1909
Faribault, MN
"Waterville plays the Colored Gophers on June 8 with Harry Hughes of St. Peter on the firing line and Jacobs catching."
June 10, 1909
Sherburne, MN
"Gophers 4, Sherburne 0. - Sherburne, Minnesota, June 11. - (Special.) - In a fast game, the Sherburne team was defeated by the St. Paul Colored Gophers yesterday by a score of 4 to 0."
June 11, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"Hibbing went from here to St. Pul where they play the Colored Gophers today and tomorrow."
St. Paul, MN
"The Colored Gophers defeated Hibbing in St. Paul on Friday and Saturday. The first score was 9 to 8."
June 12, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"The St. Paul Colored Gophers defeated Hibbing in St. Paul Saturday. The second game went eleven innings, ending 5 to 4 for the colored boys."
St. Paul, MN
"The Colored Gophers managed to win out at St. Paul yesterday, 9 to 8, from the Hibbing team, due to a great deal to the bone-headed plays of the up-country aggregation."
June 13, 1909
Renville, MN
"Gophers 4, Renville 1. - Renville, Minnesota, June 14. - (Special.) - Renville was beaten yesterday in a fast game by the Colored Gophers by a score of 4 to 1. The feature of the game was the pitching of London for the Gophers. Batteries - Jones and Carlson for Renville; London and McMurray for the Gophers."
June 15, 1909
Redwood Falls, MN
"June 15th and 16th the Colored Gophers of St. Paul will play two games with the locals in this city."
Redwood Falls, MN
"Gophers 5, Redwood Falls 4. - Redwood Falls, Minnesota, June 16. - The St. Paul Colored Gophers won over the Peavy Lands in one of the fastest games of baseball played in Southern Minnesota, by the score of 5 to 4. Batteries for the Gophers, Garrison and McMurry; Peavy Lands, Kramer and Foss. The same teams play here today."
Redwood Falls, MN
"PV Lands Triumphant - Take Seven out of Nine Games on the Trip Around the Circle. - In the match between the Colored Gophers and the PV Lands yesterday the game was well played throughout with the exception of a little carelessness on the part of the locals in the first innings which cost them the game, by a score of 5 to 4. Today it is up to the PVs to turn the trick and put the Gophers on the run. The brunettes play good ball and it is no disgrace to be beaten by them by a single point, but quite the contrary."
June 16, 1909
Redwood Falls, MN
"June 15th and 16th the Colored Gophers of St. Paul will play two games with the locals in this city."
Redwood Falls, MN
"Gophers 4, P.V. Lands 0. - Redwood Falls, Minnesota, June 17. - (Special.) - The St. Paul Colored Gophers won over the P.V. Lands yesterday in a very fast baseball contest by the score of 4 to 0. Batteries, Taylor and McMurry for the Gophers; Francis and Foss for P.V. Lands."
June 20, 1909
New Richland, MN
"New Richland, Minnesota witnessed a truly great contest last Sunday when the teams of Janesville and New Richland clashed in a fast and furious 14-inning struggle. The famous McCleary was on the mound for the Janesville club and Archie Pate, the St. Paul Colored Gopher nine's pitcher twirled for New Richland. Four hits were secured off each but McCleary fanned 16 batsmen while Pate struck out nine. The base-running of Gilbertson was a feature. The work of the New Richland nine really showed a greater flash of brilliancy."
June 22, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"Alexandria take on the Colored Gophers on June 22 and 23 and on the fourth play the Wahpeton team."
Alexandria, MN
"The Colored Gophers play at Alexandria June 22 and 23 and then come here (Long Prairie, Minnesota) for two games. The series will be of interest as it will give a line on the Alexandria and Long Prairie teams."
Alexandria, MN
"The Alexandria team met the Colored Gophers of St. Paul in a double-header at Alexandria on Tuesday, the first game resulting in a tie of 1 to 1, and Alexandria winning the second game by a score of 2 to 1. It was the fastest ball that has been witnessed in Northern Minnesota for many a day, each side playing an almost errorless game."
Alexandria, MN
"The ball games between Alexandria and the Colored Gophers were evenly divided. The first game ended 1 and 1."
Alexandria, MN
"Alexandria made a fine showing against the Colored Gophers this week. In three games they won one, tied one, and lost the third. The first game was a tie 1 to 1."
June 23, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"June 23 Colored Gophers at Alexandria, Minnesota."
Alexandria, MN
"The second game was 2 to 1 in favor of Alexandria and the third went to the Gophers by a score of 7 to 2. The games were played on the Alexandria grounds."
Alexandria, MN
The third game went to the Colored boys 7 to 2."
June 24?, 1909
Hankinson, ND
"The Hankinson White Sox, lead by George Rennix, the former Minneapolis pitcher, are giving the clubs of the Dakotas no little trouble. They proved their worth recently by downing the crack St. Paul Colored Gophers by a 4 to 2 score. The Oakes nine was given a 25 to 5 drubbing and the Fargo Cubs were taken into camp by a 4 to 3 score. The game with the St. Paul Colored Nine was one of the best contests ever played on the Casselton grounds."
June 25, 1909
Long Prairie, MN
"There are some good games in sight for the fans. On June 25 and 26, the Colored Gophers come here for a series. They are very fast. They have just defeated Hibbing in two games by close scores. They will try their best to put Johnson and his men to the woods as Johnson formerly captained them and they will want to show him that he made a mistake in not signing with them this season."
Long Prairie, MN
"Long Prairie vs the Colored Gophers, June 25. Hibbing has the crack team of the Iron Range country and last year disputed with the Colored Gophers for state championship honors. They are a very fast team and pretty speedy to take on so early in the season but the schedule worked ou that way and they had to be taken on then or else not at all. The Colored Gophers minus their former captain will be taken on the latter part of June for one game. It ought to be a hot one as the Gopher management is not at all pleased over losing Johnson and the colored wonders will doubtless make an extra effort to put the Long Prairie captain and his proteges out of the running."
Long Prairie, MN
"Long Prairie 4, Gophers 0. - Long Prairie, June 26. - (Special to Bemiji Pioneer.) - Long Prairie shut out the Colored Gophers yesterday, 4 to 0. Wilson pitched for the locals and was given great support. Both Steele and Garrison pitched for the Gophers, McMurry catching. Steele will pitch for the Gophers at Bemidji Sunday."
Long Prairie, MN
"Locals Win and Lose - Locals Split Even With the Crack Colored Gopher Team - Win First 4 to 0, Lose Second 7 to 0. - In one of the greatest games of the ball played on the home grounds, the locals shut out the crack Colored Gophers Friday afternoon, 4 to 0. The game was fast from the start and the hitting of the locals was the game's features. They landed on Garrison in the third inning knocking him out of the box and securing four runs. Taylor was then put in and held the home sluggers safe but with Wilson pitching gilt edge ball, the visitors could do nothing with the stick and were unable to score. The visitors were considerably surprised at the unexpected strength of the locals and lost their heads several times during the game. While they landed on Wilson for eight hits, they were not able to bunch the hits, there being but one inning in which they connected safely more than once and that was in the last but the chance to score went glimmering because of the lightning fielding of the home boys. The game was witnessed by a large crowd. During the hours of the game the stores closed and the band turned out to help enliven the occasion. It was a most interesting and pleasant afternoon. It was evident on every hand that the people were much pleased over the excellent attraction and the clean and wholesome opportunity for an afternoon's outing that the game afforded. The Game in Detail. - Wallace for the visitors was the first man up and he hit a liner to Theigs. Taylor, the big third baseman, hit for two bases. McMurray struck out. Barton hit safely to center field and Taylor at second started to sprint home, Maynard got Barton's fly on the bound and threw home in time to catch Taylor. The throw was a pretty one and exciting for it retired the side without a score when the situation looked pretty bad. In the locals half, Forest Maynard drew a pass and stole second. Wallace fumbled the ball at second and Maynard started for third. Milliner came in from left field and snapped the ball over third in time to catch Maynard. Theigs went out on a long fly to center and Johnson hit an easy one to Garrison. In the second, Millner hit to Maynard in center. McDougal, the next man up landed for two bases and stole third. The visitors rooted hard for a score but they could not get the needed hit Binga flew out to Dominik in left field. Bobby Marshall, the famous football player and star slugger was the next up and with a man on third the situation looked bad but Wilson after some great work, struck him out. The locals all went out easy in their half of the third, each man connecting but not safely. In the third, the visitors started with Garrison up. He hit a pop up to Wilson. Wallace hit to Maynard in center and the mighty Taylor paid the compliment to Wilson's fine pitching by striking out. It was in the third that the locals fell on Garrison and pounded him out of the box. Dominik fanned. Koehler waited for one that looked good and slammed it out for two basese scoring Canfield. Forrest Maynard hit the first one through away out to left field and Theigs followed a moment later with a corking long hit to center scoring Maynard and Koehler and making two bases on it himself. Johnson sacrificed him home with a long hit to center that Barton got but which he could not return in time to get Maynard. Football landed on another for a long hit to center but Barton got it retiring the side. Score, Long Prairie 4, Gophers 0. The balance of the game was comparitively uneventful. The locals played for a shut out after the great record in the third and the Gophers worked hard to score. Taylor, their crack pitcher, went into the box in the fourth and helf the locals down to one hit. He was hit often but not safely. Wilson continued his pitching and although the visitors landed occasionally the hits were so scattered that only two men got to third during the balance of the game. - Notes. - The locals pulled off a double in the fifth. Binga had hit safe and been sacrificed to second. Taylor hit to Maynard in center. Binga could not get back to the second sack and was thrown out. The Minneapolis Tribune of Sunday in commenting on the work of the Gophers this summer, said that Garrison was doing great work in the box and was holding all the big teams safe. The fact that the locals knocked him out in the third inning indicates the batting ability of the home boys. Taylor, better known as Steel Arm Taylor, who relieved Garrison is a fast man and for a time had the boys guessing but they were getting to him toward the end of the game. The last inning every man hit the ball hard, the men going out on long flies to the outfield. Wilson was strong at critical times. Frequently he was hit for two bases or for singles but without exception the men died right there. At two times during the game, he struck out the last batter with runners on third and two out. Koehler is doing some fine hitting of late. In all the games recently he managed to get in a single when it was needed most. It was his hit that started the fireworks in the third and that scored the first run. In the seventh with two men on bases, Wilson again struck out the third man, retiring the side and robbing the visitors of a score. Canfield is getting quite a reputation as a base runner. Some of his exhibitions the last few games have been startling. The way he beat out a hit in the seventh was hair raising. His stop of Taylor's liner in the eighth was one of the greatest plays of the game. Johnson's coaching and handling of the batters was one of the factors that contributed much ot winning the game."
June 26, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"Third Season of Gophers. - St. Paul, Minnesota Team Playing a Good Game - Phil E. Reid, Manager. - Special to the Freeman. - St. Paul, Minnesota. - The St. Paul Colored Gophers are right now in the midst of the third season of their career, and playing phenomenal ball. Managers Phile E. Reid and Irving Williams deserve great credit for the good they have done our race in promoting and financing this great team throughout the Northwest in the three seasons past, opening and making a field for our colored players and teams in a vast territory practically unknown to Negro baseball fandom prior to 1907. The brilliant and superby play of this clever team, their gentlemanly conduct on and off the field during the period above mentioned, has won naught but words of praise and admiration from the press and public throughout the entire Northwest. This season's team is composed of the following players: Taylor, Garrison and London, pitchers; McMurray and Taylor, catchers; Bobby Marshall, first base; Felix Wallace, second base; John Taylor, third base; Artie McDougal, short stop; Milliner, Barton and Bingo, outfielders. The teams is the greatest yet financed by Messrs. Reid and Williams. They have already won the independent championship of the Northwest, defeating last season's champions, the Hibbing team, five out of seven games. On July 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, during the U.B.F. convention, they meet Rube Foster's crack Leland Giants at the downtown park here, and already great enthusiasm prevails, and the fans of the Twin Cities and surrounding country will turn out in large numbers to witness this series, which will doubtless prove the best baseball ever put on in the Twin Cities. During September the Colored Gophers will make a tour of the South, and are desirous of hearing from managers in that section desiring games. For information address Irving Williams, 40 East Third Street, St. Paul, Minnesota."
St. Paul, MN
"Big Base Ball Battle. - Between Leland Giants and Colored Gophers During Triennial Week. - What will doubtless be an interesting features to lovers of base ball during the Triennial Meeting of the U.B.F. and S.M.T., week of July 26 to 31, will be the five-game series for the world's championship between the famous Colored Gophers and the present title holders, the crack Leland Giants of Chicago. The Leland Giants, under the able management of the great Rube Foster are unquestionably the greatest team of Afro-Americans ever organized, and the press and public everywhere they have played are free to admit the fact Walter Ball, William Gatewood, and Rube Foster consitute the greatest trio of Afro-American pitchers ever seen in one team. The announcement by the Gopher management of the coming of the Leland Giants has arounsed much interest both in the Twin Cities and the surrounding country, and the downtown park will doubtless be taxed to its capacity for these five big games. Manager Reid and Williams, of the Gophers, have put together a team this year which is second to none, and the best they have financed in their three years' efforts. The latest addition to their team is the Taylor brothers, of the Birmingham club in the Southern Afro-American League. Their work since joining the Gophers has stamped them as finished artists and entitled to a high place in the firmament of base ball stars. The Gophers, who left on the 14th inst. for a five weeks' trip, is going at a merry clip, sweeping everything before them, 28 games won out of 32 played, is their record to date. And with the great trio of pitchers in Garrison, Taylor, and London, backed up by brilliant and superb in and outfielders, and the greatest bunch of sluggers the field has ever had, there seems to be nothing but victory and success ahead for the Gophers. On July 24-25 and August 1, the Gophers will meet their old rivals, the Keystones of Minneapolis. Games of July 24 and August 1 in St. Paul and of July 25 in Nicollet Park, Minneapolis. Don't miss these games."
Long Prairie, MN
"Second Game. - The Gophers turned the tables on the locals in the second game which was played Saturday. The colored wonders jumped into the lead at the start and were never headed. It was an off day for the home bunch and the visitors took advantage of it. Wilson who had pitched such an excellent game the day before was started but the Gophers hit him pretty hard. He retired in the sixth inning for Shoemaker who pitched steady ball for the balance of the game, holding them down to one lone score. The game was witnessed by a large audience, there being many present from the country and from towns up the line. The game was played at noon to enable the visitors to take the afternoon train to Bemidji. The Gophers won through timely batting, the feature of the game being Milander's home run in the fifth with one man on the bases. The hit went over the right field fence. The locals were unable to do much with London who held them to two safe hits. There were many brilliant plays during the game. In the first, Wallace the first man up, hit for two bases. In returning the ball to the box, it was fumbled and rolled around the diamond for a while. Wallace stole third on the delay and throught he could get home. Theigs got the sphere and snapped it to Johnson in time to catch the colored wonder at the plate. Taylor went out on an easy one to Canfield and McMurray struck out retiring the side. In the second, the visitors started things with a rush but would have been shut out but for a too big hurry by Johnson to complete a double. The first three men up hit safely. With the bases full and no one out, it looked bad. Binga then hit one to Canfield who threw it home. Johnson had Barton who was coming from third, a mile but in throwing his arm back to shoot the ball to first to catch Binga he was not gripping it hard enough and he threw it out of his hand. Barton scored and Binga reached first safely with three men on bases still and no one out, it looked like a slaughter but this is the kind of a pinch the local like to show how they can get out of. The batters tried to bunt in the scores but the runner was nipped at the place twice in succession. Wallace the tried to hit hard, but the best he could do was an easy one to Wilson. This inning was breathless in its excitement for only but the swiftest work was the score kept down and but for Johnson's anxiety to complete to double, the side would have been retired without a run. In the third, fourth and fifth by hard hitting and lucky placing of hits, the Wonders scored five runs; Milliner's home run in the fifth being the feature. At the beginning of the sixth, Schoemaker went into the box and did good work. The visitors started things badly for him but with three men on bases and one out, he and Johnson and Football worked a fast double retiring Wallace a the plate and nipping Barton at first. The remainder of the game was uneventful. The visitors hit the ball hard but good fielding kept down the hits and the score. The locals were decidedly weak at bat ll through the game and did not get a man within scoring distance during the afternoon. Notes. - Koehler made the star catch of the day in the outfield. His running catch of Milliner's long fly was a dandy. Marshall, who played first for the Gophers is the famous University of Minnesota football player. He showed by his playing here that he is also some pumpkins at baseball. The visitors got seventeen clean hits during the game. The fact that the scores were held down to seven, indicates how fast the locals fielded. It was a better game that will appear from first glance at the score. A glance over the visitors put out and assist column in the score will show that the home boys did some hitting. They were unlucky in placing their hits. Time and again long hits to the field and hard infield grounders were nabbed up without the Gopher fielders having to leave their tracks. London retired but five men on strike outs, which shows that he did not have the locals so completely at his mercy as might seem. The visitors were simply tickled to death over their victory. Their defeat of the day before had brought a sharp reprimand from the manager and also one from the owner of the club which came over the telephone from St. Paul The visitors knew it was up to them to do business or someone was going to lose a job. Wilson was hurt in the fifth. A liner from McDougal's bat struck him on his throwing arm. He picked the ball up but could not throw it to first, the ball dropping about half way to the bag and McDougal beating it out. However, Mac was caught trying to steal second the next play. Shoemaker held the visitors safe for four innings. While they connected freely, they could not hit safely. In the fourth, the locals were a little rattled and the ball returned from the field was fumbled around the diamond pretty recklessly. Finally Canfield tossed the ball to Wilson at the box and Wilson did not get it, the ball rolling swiftly on to first. Taylor was on first and noting only that the ball did not seem to be in very good control was dancing around like an Indian. The ball came direct to Foot, who scooped it up and tagged Taylor who had to retire quite crestfalledn. The games gave the people of the town and locality some of the best and cheapest entertainment they have had in a long time. The value of baseball as a sport is that it is clean and wholesome, arouses a healthy enthusiasm and does no harm. The town is fortunate in having such an excellent opportunity for recreation at so small a cost as is presented thi ssummer in the baseball team."
June 27, 1909
Bemidji, MN
"The management of the Bemidji baseball team is negotiating with the famous Colored Gophers of St. Paul for two games to be played here this month - on Sunday and Monday, June 27th and 28th."
St. Cloud, MN
"On Sunday, June 27, the team goes to St. Cloud for a game that promises to be a hummer. St. Cloud has been beating everything in its neck of the woods. It is probable that a special train will carry the rooters to the Granite city."
Bemidji, MN
"Will Collins, formerly of this city but who is playing on the Little Falls team this summer, returned to the Falls this morning, after helping out the Bemidji boys in their game against the Wahpeton team. He will return and play with Bemidji against the Colored Gophers in a few weeks. Will is an old time ball player whose ability is well known throughout this part of the country."
Bemidji, MN
"The Colored Gophers to Play Sunday and Monday - Speediest Colored Aggregation in Minnesota Will Entertain Bemidji Tomorrow Afternoon and Monday Evening. Grady Pitches Tomorrow, Baum Monday. - Battery for Sunday: Game called at 3:30. Bemidji - Grady and Oman (of Cass Lake) and Gophers - Steele and McMurry. - The Colored Gophers, America's acknowledged greatest colored baseball team will play two games against the Bemidji team, one Sunday and the other Monday, and it is expected that record-breaking crowds will attend both games. This aggregation of colored talent is made up of the very best individual colored ball players who can be secured, and they come from all parts of the country. They have been trained to the minute and their team work and combination playing is well nigh perfect. In addition to being fast and clean players, they have with them a number of coaches and talkers who are the acme of humor personified, and it is well worth the price of admission to hear one of these boys on the coach line. The team has made a splendid record this year, winning a large percentage of the games played, which have been contests against the very best semi-professional teams in the state. They carry a large roster of players, so that in case of injuries to any particular tosser, which will put him out of the game, his place can be filled by another player. Last year the team played 137 games, winning 116 and losing 21. In 1907, the Gophers won 92 games and lost 14. M.S. Gillette, manager of the Bemidji team, states that he will have some new faces in the lineup for the wo games against the famous colored team. Grady, the giant pitcher of the Cass Lake team, will hurl tomorrow's game and Oman, the Cass Lake catcher, will be at the receiving end. They make a good battery and it is believed will give the colored tossers a contest all the way."
Bemidji, MN
* Similar article, from the Friday, June 25 edition of the Bemidji Daily Pioneer
Minneapolis, MN
"The St. Paul Colored Gophers are showing great form in their tours of the Northwest. The team seems to be much stronger than the clubs of previous years. The Taylor brothers, a pitcher and a third baseman, recently secured from the Birmingham club, have added strength to Manager Reid's wards. Both are great ball players. Jimmy Taylor, the third baseman, is a lightning fielder, while John Taylor is a phenom in the twirling department."
"Buster Garrison of the Gophers is doing splendid work on the mound. He faced the Hibbing club on three occasions and succeeded in winning all the games. He has not lost a contest this season."
"The Gophers landed a prize winner when they secured Arthur McDougal, the hard-hitting shortstop. With his mighty batting he has cinched many a game. Bobby Marshall is performing in grand form at first. The fame he attained in athletics at the Varsity makes him a big favorite in every town and hamlet the Gophers appear."
"The Gophers left recently on a five weeks' trip. They will cover every sinte (town?) in the Northwest. The St. Paul colored nine is preparing for a big series to be played at St. Paul with the famed Leland Giants of Chicago. A series of five games will be played. Secretary Williams has a few open dates. He is desirous of hearing from all the nines of the Northwest."
Bemidji, MN
"Colored Gophers Threw Scare Into The Locals - Visitors Gave a Splendid Exhibition of Fast Playing, and Won, Yesterday, 16 to 1. - Same Teams Will Play this Evening, at 6:45. This Evening's Game. - The game this evening will be called at 6:45, prompt. Monte Brown, ex-Minnesota University pitcher, will twirl for Bemidji, and Gallagher, former catcher for the Calumet Northern Copper Country League, will be behind the bat. Garrison and McMurry will be the battery for the Gophers. The Colored Gophers of St. Paul are some baseball players, which fact the members of the fast aggregation from the Saintly City amply demonstrated yesterday afternoon to the entire satisfaction of a team which represented Bemidji and several hundred fans who had assembled to see the noted darkies cavort on the diamond. The visiting players simply played horse with the locals and made sixteen scores during the afternoon's seance, exhibiting considerable charity, along about the seventh inning, when they stopped with eleven runs, but just to show the crowd that they could get a few more tallies if they desired, they crossed the plate five times in the last frame. The final score was 16 to 1 - and it was a great piece of luck that gave the locals their lone tally. The Gopher pitcher wabbled for a moment, after Bush made a hit, in the fifth inning, when he gave two local batters free transportation to first, this following an error of the third baseman, filling the bases and forcing the score. Whether the dusky slab artist purposely presented Bush with the score is a matter of opinion, but it looked like it. The playing of the majority of the Bemidji team was on the corner lot order. The Bemidji players appeared to be terribly scared of the visitors and most of them would swing at any old thing the opposition pitcher put across the pan, the batters being kept in a stew by the incessant talk of McMurry, the Gopher catcher, who, as a josher and coacher, is certainly fine. He kept everybody going and had fine sport with the spectators, always keeping his temper and being ever ready with repartee. It was a case of a team trained to the minute to play a fast, aggressive game, pitted against a local organization which had been scraped together with but little united practice, with the inevitable result that the visiting players easily won. The Gopher management chose Steele, their best hurler, to go on the slab, and the balance of the team played as follows: Wallace 2b, Taylor 3b, McMurry c, Barton cf, Milliner lf, McDougal ss, Binga rf, Marshall 1b. Steele pitched a fine game, allowing five hits, striking out thirteen, and giving three bases on balls. He had fine control, and was given great support by his teammates. McMurry caught like a big leaguer, and the fielding stunts were of the sensational order, all the time, this being especially true of the infield, which ate up everything that came along, all the players having whips that sent the ball to the basemen like a rocket. In hitting, the visitors did about as they pleased. They lined 'er out or bunted, just as the occasion demanded, and toward the close of the game some of them purposely struck out in order to avoid running in the heat. They collected thirteen hits, one being a home run by Marshall, and 2 two-baggers, by Taylor and McDougal. Grady and Oman, the Cass Lake battery, started in the points for Bemidji. Big Gene had a sore arm and did not work well. Two hits and a base on balls gave the Gophers a run in the opening inning. In the second inning, Grady was touched for two more hits and gave a base on ball, which, with an error by Bush and another by Grady, gave the Gophers four runs. Grady was taken out and Baumgardner finished the game. Baum gave nine hits during the remaining seven innings, one a home run and another a two-bagger. The remainder of the locals lined up as follows: Farrell 2b, Bush ss, Riddell 1b, LeGore rf, Collins lf, Barker 3b, Carlton cf. Riddell got two of the five hits secured by Bemidji, Farrell, Bush and LeGore each getting a hit."
Bemidji, MN
"W.E. Hutchinson of Eagle Bend passed through here on the North bound train last Saturday to see Bemidji go down to defeat before the Colored Gophers last Sunday. He returned to Eagle Bend Monday."
June 28, 1909
Morris, MN
"The next day (Sunday), the team goes to Morris for a game with the Wahpeton team and will then return here for a series lasting over the Fourth. The team for this series is not known as yet. Several city teams have applied for the games but the local management will book only a first class team so that the fans may be enabled to see something good."
Bemidji, MN
"Battery for Monday: (Game called at 6:45.) - Bemidji - Baumgardner and Gallagher. - Baumgardner, Bemidji's steady twirler, will be in the box for Bemidji Monday evening and Gallagher, an ex-member of the Northern Copper Country League, will catch They should work well together. Monte Brown, formerly pitcher for the University of Minnesota, is now a resident of Bemidji, and will probably play with Bemidji. Toby Farrell of Cass Lake will cover the second base for Bemidji. Toby made a home run for Bemidji in the Wahpeton series. The management of the local team has gone to considerable expense to get the famous colored players here, and a large crowd should turn out and see the games, which should not be altogether one-sided, judging from the lineup that is being secured for Bemidji. - Attention, Ball Players. - All members of the Bemidji squad of city baseball players are urged to be present at the park this evening and practice for the two games which will be played against the Gophers, Sunday and Monday. Be on hand early, as you will need to be in top form."
Bemidji, MN
"Gophers Again Win, in a Wild, Woolly Exhibition - Locals Hit Garrison for Eleven Solid Wallops, but for Most Part Threw Away Game by Wooden-Headed Base Running. - The baseball game last evening between the locals and the Colored Gophers was one of those affairs concerning which it is but charitable on the part of the Pioneer to speak gently of the shortcomings of the Bemidji players, whose lack of practice made them (at least most of them) perform like a scared lot of school boys. The Gophers won the game, without half trying, by a score of 10 to 5, and with anything like fair support to the pitcher, the locals could have made the contest an exceedingly interesting one to the visiting colored men, who played altogether different from the snappy game which they put up Sunday afternoon. The final score was 10 to 5, in favor of the Gophers, and the visitors had nothing to swell up about in getting the long end of the score. Monte Brown pitched most of the game for Bemidji. This was his first appearance in the box in two years, and he had thrown but half a dozen balls prior to the game. He had fair control, and when the balls broke right for him, the colored boys had some trouble connecting with the horsehide. With anything like fair support he would have held the darky sluggers to but few scores. Gallagher, the much-touted ex-Northern league catcher, was affected by the heat of the sun yesterday and was unable to catch, Eckel going in behind the plate. The kid caught a fair game, but was, like the majority of the other players, frightened, and his work was slow. Garrison pitched for the Gophers, and he was given rather a warm reception, the locals getting eleven hits off his delivery, one a two-bagger by Collins. But for a heart-rending exhibition of bonehead base running, Bemidji would have had at least four more runs. Garrison struck out five, while Brown and Baumgardner fanned nine of the darkies. The Bemidji fans are somewhat disgruntled over the poor showing which the Bemidji team, as a whole, has made during the two games played against the Gophers, and in all kindness to the players who wear uniforms for Bemidji, we are entitled to better ball. The Pioneer does not desire to roast any individual player, but we are informed that the players have been paid for the most part for their playing each game, and if that is true patrons of the games are entitled to better exhibitions. The lack of team work and heady playing is due in a large measure to the fact that the players simply will not practice. But few of the members of the team go near the ball ground at any time during the week. They are on hand when the game is called and when the uniforms are removed they keep away from the park. Brace up, boys, and show the fans what you can do. There are some excellent players in Bemidji, and with practice no team hearabouts has any license to get away with any game. Practice for the games July 4th and 5th, and the fans will all be with you."
June 29, 1909
Grand Rapids, MN
"Tuesday, June 29, at Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids vs. Colored Gophers of St. Paul."
Grand Rapids, MN
"Grand Rapids Ball Game. - Grand Rapids, Minnesota, June 26. - (Special to the Herald.) - On Tuesday and Wednesday, June 29 and 30, the St. Paul Colored Gophers, probably the strongest baseball team in the country outside of the big leagues, will play against the locals."
Grand Rapids, MN
"The Games that Are Now Booked - Grand Rapids Goes to Deer River Sunday - The Colored Gophers Here Tuesday and Wednesday. - Grand Rapids people can expect to see some good base ball gamees on June 29 and 30 and on July 4 and 5. The Colored Gophers of St. Paul will be here on the first mentioned dates and the Marshall-Wells team of Duluth will play three games here on the last mentioned dates. The Grand Rapids team will go to Deer River Sunday and with the lineup considerably changed and strengthened they expect to wipe out the remembrance of last Sunday's game. A large number from here will accompany the team to Deer River. The Colored Gophers will be here on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 29 and 30 and the base ball enthusiasts can 'bank' on seeing some snappy ball playing. During the season of 1908, the Gophers only lost twenty-one out of one hundred and sixteen games played, so it can plainly be seen that there are no back numbers in the bunch."
June 30, 1909
Grand Rapids, MN
"Wednesday, June 30, at Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids vs. Colored Gophers of St. Paul."
July 1, 1909
Long Praire, MN
"The Colored Gophers defeated Hibbing in their first game at Hibbing Thursday, the score being 5 to 3. George Sage pitched for Hibbing and Taylor for the Gophers. The defeat was the first that Hibbing has sustained in several weeks. Binga and Marshall for the Gophers, also Carroll for Hibbing got three hits each out of four times up. Milliner who hit the home run on the local grounds, hit for three bases at Hibbing."
Hibbing, MN
"Hibbing Defeated - Colored Gophers Pound Out Victory Over Range Team. - Hibbing, Minnesota, July 2. - (Special to the Herald.) - The Colored Gophers of Minneapolis defeated the Hibbing team here yesterday by bunching hits off Sage, the local twirler. They got a total of thirteen hits during the game, landing heavily in the second and eighth. The range fielders gave him good support, but the swatfest was too vigorous. Taylor pitched good ball for the visitors and no errors were marked up against them."
July 2, 1909
Long Praire, MN
"Base Ball Notes. - Osakis Review: Mr. Harry Caughren took Dr. Gilkinson, W.A.Field and C.H. Bronson over to Long Prairie Friday afternoon to see the Long Prairie ball team shut out the Colored Gophers by a score of 4 to 0 in one of the best games played this season. Honors were even, however, for the following day the Gophers turned the tables on Todd County's Invincibles by scoring seven times and shutting out their former victors. It looks easy money for the Gophers to win at least half the games with the strongest northwestern teams and the dusky fellows seem to make a specialty of taking the last game in the series."
July 3, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"Colored Gophers at Alexandria, Minnesota."
July 4, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"Alexandria is to celebrate the Fourth this year. The pricipal attraction is to be a game of ball between the Alexandria champions and the Colored Gophers. They are to play a series of four games, one on Friday, July 3, two on the Fourth, and one on Sunday the 5th."
July 5, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"Colored Gophers at Alexandria, Minnesota."
July 6, 1909
Eveleth, MN
"Hibbing Walloped by the Darkies Yesterday. - Yesterday the Gophers took a fall out of Hibbing on Eveleth grounds, score 8 to 1. The game was distinguished by heavy batting on the part of the darkies. Barton made a home run on a swat over the back fence at a cost of $5 to the Miners National Bank. When the Hibbing boys batted the coons were right there to get them."
July 7, 1909
Eveleth, MN
"Baseball Team On - Eveleth Playing the Gophers Today - The Eveleth ball team is playing its first warm game this afternoon. The boys are up on the local grounds against the Colored Gophers of St. Paul, one of the fastest ball teams in the state."
Eveleth, MN
"Heavy Hitting Game. - Colored Gophers Beat Eveleth, Score 17 to 10. - Eveleth, Minnesota, July 8. - (Special to the Herald.) - The Colored Gophers of St. Paul defeated Eveleth yesterday afternoon in a heavy-hitting game by a score of 17 to 10. The Gophers scored six runs in the first four innings, but in the fifth Eveleth came back strong with seven runs knocking Garrison out of the box, and Taylor, who went in cold, also receiving his drubbings before the inning was over. Both teams scored two in the next few innings making the score a tie at the beginning of the ninth. In this inning both teams made one run, knotting the score again. In the tenth there was no scoring, but in the eleventh the Gophers knocked two-baggers galore, bringing in seven runs. In the home team's half of the inning there was nothing doing. Long twirled the whole game for Eveleth, Wallace the first man up for the Gophers knocked the first ball pitched over the left field fence for a home run, netting him besides, $5 given by the Miners' National Bank for a home run over the left field fence. The day before Barton of the Gophers got $5 for a home run. Batteries for Colored Gophers; Garrison, Taylor and McMurray; Eveleth, Long and Chaffee. The Gophers left this mornign for Duluth en route to Hayward, Wisconsin, for a series of games which will be followed by a series at Ashland."
July 16, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"To Play for Championship. - Special to the Freeman. - St. Paul, Minnesota - The St. Paul Gophers returned home Friday of last week from a long trip in the Northwest. On this trip they played thirty-four games, including two double headers, winning all but five and tying one."
St. Paul, MN
"The Colored Gophers returned to St. Paul Friday after the longest trip ever taken by the team. Leaving St. Paul June 13, they played a schedule of 34 games, including two double-headers, winning all but five of these and one a tie. The team is working fine now and is in great trim for the coming series for the World's Colored Championship with the crack Leland Giants of Chicago July 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 at the downtown park, St. Paul. The announcement of this series has created no end of comment and fans are coming from far and near to see these games. Johnny Taylor, Steel-arm Johnny, who joined the team June 7, has not lost a game as yet, having won all 14 he pitched, four of these being from Hibbing. Johnny Davis of no-hit fame, who was a big factor in helping the Gophers establish the wonderful 1907 record, is again with the team and pitching the same great ball that characterized his work in past seasons. Bobby Marshall is a big hit all over the circuit and never fails to get the glad hand for his wonderful fielding stunts around first base. Willie McMurray has been the hit of the team with his catching and his throwing to bases has caused the natives to set up and take notice everywhere. During September the Gophers contemplate a tour of the Southern cities, including Indianapolis, Louisville, Birmingham, Nashville, Mobile, and New Orleans."
Long Prairie, MN
"George Johnson, Catcher of the Long Prairie 1909 Baseball Team. - George Johnson, who is catching for Long Prairie this season is one of the great ball players of the country. He is still a young man nothwithstanding the fact that he has been playing professional ball for fourteen years. During his career he has rubbed up against all the big players in the country, has coached out teams in the National and Western and American Association leagues and has probably developed as many young pitchers who are now making good in fast company as any other catcher in the land. But for the accident of color, 'Rat' as he is familiarly known, could occupy a berth of his own choosing in any one of the big leagues and without doubt could make many of the present big league backstops look as if it were time for them to journey back to the tall weeds. Johnson was born in Bellaire, Ohio, 34 years ago. He received his education there, attending the graded and the high schools of the city. As a boy he played ball on the kid teams of the city and was early marked as a phenom. He played on white teams in and around Bellaire and other neighboring towns when he was thirteen and fourteen years old and acquired quite a reputation even at this early age. He got into professional ball when eighteen years of age and has made ball playing his business ever since. In 1896 he was signed to play with the Page Fence Giants, the greatest colored team in the country. He played left field for this team one season and first base the next and then was offered the position behind the bat. He was with this great team until it disbanded four years later. During this time, the Giants played nearly every important team in the country. This was before the days of the league agreements not to play independent teams and the big leaguers were often looking for a chance to jump into a town and play some independent team. Furing these four years the Page Fence Giants defeated every team in the Western league and such fast National leaguers as the Cincinnati's and the Chicago's, the latter having later won the World's Championship Series. The Page Fence Giants were organized primarily to advertise the Page Fencing and Monarch buggies and the managements of these concerns supported the team. They traveled all over the country in their own special car and played everything they could get game with. In 1900, Johnson joined the Columbia Giants of Chicago another colored team and played with them for several years. This was a very fast aggregation being made up largely from the Page Giants' team and they made a record against the league teams that was even better then that made by the Page Giants. The Columbia Giants won games from the Chicago Americans and the Chicago Nationals while they outclassed such speedy teams as Detroit, Milwaukee, Columbus and Kansas City of the American Association. The Columbias had their own park in Chicago and it was a favorite place for the big teams to stop to and from their Western trips. During these years some of the greatest games in the city were played by the big leaguers against the crack colored team. Wilson, the great colored pitcher, pitched for the team those days and Wilson and Johnson were regarded as one of the greatest batteries in the business. After leaving the Columbias, Johnson went with the Chicago Unions, another colored team. He was with them one year and then became associated with the great colored team that made Algona, Iowa so famous in 1903 and 1904. This team beat out everything in the territory, the baseball fans will remember how they ended the season by disasterously defeating the Des Moines Champions of the Western League. Johnson left Algona and joined the Renville, Minnesota team the next year. Wilson went with him. They formed the famous colored battery that gave Renville the state championship in 1905. The next summer Johnson went East and caught for the Philadelphia Giants, a colored team. This team defeated the Philadelphia Nationals in exhibition games and also beat the Philadelphia Americans with Rube Waddell pitching. The Giants were in a class by themselves and repeatedly beat the leaders of the Eastern Tri-State league, defeating such teams as Wilmington, Johnstown, Trenton, Altoona, Williamsport and Wilkesbarre. He left the East in 1907 and came West to take charge of the Colored Gophers and played with that team during 1907 and 1908. Barton of the Gophers has accompanied Johnson ever since he started playing with the Page Fence Giants and Wilson, the colored pitcher, played with him up to within the past three years. Last fall, the Colored Gophers defeated the St. Paul league team at the close of the season in two games, hutting them out 2 to 0 the first game and winning 2 to 1 the second game. This spring Johnson was engaged by the St. Paul management to take the team to Little Rock, Arkansas."
July 17, 1909
Mankato, MN
"Last Saturday the Gophers went to Mankato and defeated that team, 7 to 1. The Gophers have a three-game series with the crack colored Keystones of Minneapolis. The Gophers will play a five-game series for the world's championship with the crack Leland Giants of Chicago, beginning on Monday. In Taylor, Johnny Davis, of the no-hit fame, and Garrison, the midget, the Gophers have a trio that is hard to beat."
Mankato, MN
"One Game For Each - The Contest Saturday Was Won by the Gophers. - Mankato took Sunday's Game; Making a Game for Each Team; Work for the Contestants. - From Monday's Daily. - The first game of the two went to the Colored Gophers, the score being 7 to 1. It was a good game up through the fifth inning, although Sheldon was hit hard, the fielding was good. We made one in the fourth and they did the same thing. That was all for us. they made four more in the fifth. In the six everybody was in the air, for those that like to see the ball hit and lots of runs it was there - plenty of action."
July 18, 1909
Kenyon, MN
"Booker, the colored pitcher, formerly with the St. Paul Colored Gophers and Chicago Leland Giants, has been signed by Kenyon."
Mankato, MN
"Sunday's game was a different story; there were no preliminaries; the big show started with the first ball over and the fun never let up for one minute. It was baseball all the time. In the first inning the Colored boys landed for three safe ones, but were unable to sc ore. In the third Mankato counted up three scores and that was all for them. Then the Gophers made one, and that was all for them. The excitement never let up, the Gophers had four chances to score, but McCleary's head work left them on bases, once with three men on bases, twice with two, and in the last inning with only one down, a man on the third. The next man up hit to Ragnas, who put out the man without assistance. Then the awful finish, the kind you read about. Taylor was up to bat, with a chance to bring in the man on third, and start things. He did start things but only for a minute, his awful swing landed fair and square on the nose up in the air, but Manager Newgard was there when it came down, the game was over."
July 20, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"Alexandria plays the Colored Gophers at Alexandria July 20, 21 and 22."
Alexandria, MN
"Alexandria has a series with the Colored Gophers beginning today."
Alexandria, MN
"Colored Gophers Win a Game - Alexandria Defeated in Fast and Exciting Battle. - Alexandria, Minnesota, July 21. - (Special.) - In one of the most exciting games played here this year the St. Paul Colored Gophers defeated the strong Alexandria team, 6 to 5. The Alexandria team had the lead up to the fifth inning when Trefer weakened and allowed seven hits, four runs coming in making the score 6 to 3. Alexandria came right back undaunted and made one in the sixth and one in the seventh, from then on neither side scored through sharp fielding on both sides, although at critical times both sides made errors. The Gophers secured 12 hits off Tretter, while five hits were made off London, who was relieved by Johnny Davis in the seventh inning. But two hits were secured off Davis, one being a scratch. The batteries for Alexandria were Tretter and Leach, for the Gophers, London, Davis and McMurray."
Alexandria, MN
"Alexandria dropped two straight to the Colored Gophers Tuesday and Wednesday by scores of 6 to 5 and 10 to 2."
July 21, 1909
Kenyon, MN
"Kenon has a find in Booker their new colored wonder. He has been a member of the twirling staff of two of the best colored teams in the world, the Leland Giants of Chicago and the Colored Gophers of St. Paul. He has a brother who is at present playing on the Colored Keystone team of Minneapolis. Booker twirled the Rochester game and with any luck at all should have won easily. He held that hard hitting team to two hits. This is a better feat than any pitcher who has faced that organization this year has accomplished."
Alexandria, MN
"Colored Gophers at Alexandria, Minnesota."
Alexandria, MN
"The Colored Gophers defeated the Alexandria team 8 to 2 Wednesday. Lange was in the box for Alexandria and allowed 15 hits."
July 22, 1909
Alexandria, MN
"Colored Gophers at Alexandria, Minnesota."
Alexandria, MN
"Third Goes to Alexandria - Gophers Beaten in Great Battle by Dretchko's Clever Pitching. - Alexandria, Minnesota, July 23. - In a very exciting game the Alexandria team defeated the St. Paul Colored Gophers, 1 to 0, yesterday. Dretchko, who pitched for Alexandria, worked in great shape, allowing but five well-scattered hits and with errorless support earned his victory. Johnny Davis, who pitched for the Gophers, allowed but two hits, but didn't get the support. Although but one error was made by the Gophers, it gave Alexandria her only run in the second inning. Many great stops and one-handed catches prevented both teams from scoring. Although the Gophers several times had two men on bases and one out, they were always doubled up or died on bases. Batteries - Dretchko and Leach; Davis and McMurray."
July 24, 1909
Sauk Centre, MN
"July 24 - Colored Gophers at Sauk Centre."
Sauk Centre, MN
"Today occurs the game, at the fair grounds, between Sauk Centre and the Colored Gophers, which will be a great drawing card. Owen will twirl for the locals."
July 25, 1909
Minneapolis, MN
"Keystones - Meet Colored Gophers at Nicollet Park Today - By Roche Prenevost. - Minneapolis fans will get an opportunity to see the Keystones and Gophers in battle this afternoon, for the rival colored teams are scheduled to meet at Nicollet Park in the second game of a series which is to settle the semi-professional championship ambitions of these two clubs. Play will start at 3:30. The Keystone and Gopher teams have been touring the Northwest, meeting the strongest teams of this section. Each aggregation has a splendid record so far and the final games should find both clubs ranking among the best in the state. Last year the Gophers got the long end of the series with the Keystones and the St. Paul team was proclaimed champion, but the locals hope to turn the tables this time and the games should be strenuous battles. New face3s will be seen in both lineups this afternoon when the dusky nines meet. Managers Mitchell and Reid have secured new men who add greatly to the strength of their teams, and both clubs are said to be playing a much stronger game than last season."
"The end of the week attractions last week were games with the Colored Gophers of St. Paul, each team taking a victory. This gave Manager Newgard's (Mankato Colts) men a record of 9 victories and 3 losses for the season."
"Dell Rapids, South Dakota has a team that is making the fast independent aggregations take notice. Last week the Dakotans took on the Colored Keystones, and while defeated 2 to 1, the Rapids men put up a great game and the colored boys had to work all the time. Dell Rapids wishes to get games with Minnesota and North and South Dakota teams. For games, address Silas McCain, Dell Rapids, South Dakota."
July 26, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"Gophers Touring Home State. - Special to the Freeman. - St. Paul, Minnesota. - The Colored Gophers baseball team are touring the State of Minnesota, and are meeting with much success. They play the Leland Giants July 26 to 31."
St. Paul, MN
"St. Paul Gophers Win Championship Series - Leland Giants Bested for Three Games out of Five - Steel Arm Johnny Wins Deciding Game. - St. Paul, Minnesota. - Picture two colored ball teams, such as the Leland Giants of Chicago, which played a five-game series last week beginning on Monday, farfamed as the best in the land, and the St. Paul Gophers, the record-breaking of the Northwest, handing a ball game back and forth, one to the other, for eleven innings in the presense of a thousand or more colored fans and a goodly sprinkling of white ones, and then make your own book on just how much excitement, noise, and fun there must have been on tap. Then add to this the winning of the game in the eleventh by a two-bagger, closely followed by a home run drive. In the first inning the Gophers scored one, in the fourth the Lelands made four, then in the fifth the Gophers tied the score with three, then the Lelands came back in the sixth with one, and the Gophers got two again and tied, and then the Lelands got one and back came the Gophers with two more to give them a lead of one, and then in the ninth the Lelands got one to tie the score. Nothing turned up in the tenth, but in the eleventh the Lelands got one. Things looked bad for the Gophers when Milliner, the first man up, was out on a grounder to Harris, but in rapid succession Binga singled. Johnson followed with a double and Bob Marshall nailed the first ball pitched over the cigar sign just to the left of the home run pole and dropped the ball over in the lots on the other side of the street."
St. Paul, MN
"Gophers Win First Game. - Chicago, Illinois - The St. Paul Gophers defeated the Leland Giants, Monday, in the first game of a series of five games. Steel Arm Johnny pitched. The score was 10 to 8."
July 27, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"St. Paul Colored Gophers on Annual Tour. - Have Won Nineteen Games and Lost but Three - Booked Solid to August 13. - Special to the Freeman. - St. Paul, Minnesota - The Famous Colored Gophers are now in the 4th week of their present tour of the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Twenty-two games since leaving St. Paul on June 13 have been played with 19 wins and 3 lost. The remaining schedule calls for games at Hibbing, Eveleth, Duluth, in Minnesota, Bessemer, Michigan and Ashland, Rhinelander, Hayward, Barron and Cumberland, in Wisconsin. Their season began on May 16 at Kenyon, Minnesota, and at present writing are booked solid to August 12 and 13, when they meet Jimmy Callahan's Famous Logan Squares of Chicago, at Fennimore, Wisconsin, for a purse offered by the Big Day Committee of the latter city. Unusual interest is being manifested in the coming of Rube Foster and his crack Leland Giants who play the Colored Gophers here July 26-27-28-29-30. During the Grand Lodge of the W.B.F. The Gophers are prime favorites througout the northwest, having beaten everything in this section in the past three seasons and the twin city public and surrounding country are eager to see them against a team the caliber of the crack Leland Giants. - Notes from the Colored Gophers. - The two Taylor Brothers James and Steel Arm John, recently secured from the Birmingham Giants, are a distinct hit with the fans in this section. - Artie McDougal, our crack little shortstop, leads the team in batting, his hitting, fielding, and throwing being the cause for much praise and comment everywhere. - Captain Felix Wallace, the Owensboro, Kentucky boy, is playing the game of his life this year and is considered by many the equal of any of the big league stars as a second baseman. - Our Southern tour will begin about September 12, out of Chicago, and managers desiring games can address Irving Williams, 40 E. 3rd Street, St. Paul, Minnesota."
St. Paul, MN
"Tuesday's Game. - Dougherty, the Leland Giants' crack southpaw, tied the Gophers in such a hard knot Tuesday afternoon that it took the Gophers nine innings to untie it, only doing so just in time to avoid a shutout by the narrowest margin. This new recruit whom the visitors picked up a short time ago at West Baden, Indiana, held the locals down to four hits and struck out nine of them. It was as fine an exhibition of twirling as is seen, even in the big leagues. Davis, who twirled for the Gophers, managed to keep the fair hits off his delivery scattered until the seventh inning, when the Lelands fell on him hard and with the aid of two errors, one by Davis and another by Marshall, came across with the first three runs of the game. After that the visitors had no difficulty in finding the local man, and before the game was over were able to count up thirteen hits and eight runs, three more of the runs coming in the eighth and two in the ninth."
July 28, 1909
Kenyon, MN
"The Leland Giants of Chicago and the Colored Gophers of St. Paul are playing a series of games this week in St. Paul. Booker, a brother of the Kenyon twirler, does the receiving for the Leland team, and from reports he far surpasses the famous Rat Johnson."
St. Paul, MN
"Wednesday's Game. - Johnny Taylor, former habitat Alabama, present abode St. Paul, star twirler of the Gophers, stood in the box Wednesday afternoon and wound and unwound himself to such good effect during all of that period that only four scattered hits were gathered by the Lelands, Taylor would throw arms and legs about in bewildering fashion, suddenly knot up like a porcupine, and then just as suddenly his left foot would dangle and shake in the air at the astonished batter as the ball flew past him. Six strike outs were the accomplishment of the toe stunt and had he stuck to it, according to the sad philosophy of the chagrined Gopher, that ninth inning slaughter would never have come. But in the ninth the toe tired and disgisted Taylor went down to defeat and disaster in a shower of five hits - one of them a home run - that came so fast and in such rapid succession that the bewildered Taylor just stood in the box and blinked his eyes as if he was waiting for the rain to blow over. The game was one of the intensely interesting kind that the Gophers and Lelands usually put up and abounded with clever plays and skillful box work up to the last fatal inning. In the fifth Milliner went back up against the left field fence for a hard drive and nabbed the ball within a foot of the little hillock. In the sixth, Jimmy Taylor, brother of the agile Johnny, made a great catch of a hot drive at short, nabbing the ball with one hand within a foot from the ground while going at full speed. It was one of the most remarkable catches ever seen at the park."
July 29, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"Thursday's Game. - The Gophers Thursday took the fourth game of the series with the Leland Giants of Chicago, heralded as the best colored team in the country. This gave the Gophers an even break with the visitors. The feature of the game was the pitching of Gatewood for the Lelands and London for the locals. The former allowed but three hits. Unfortunately these were all bunched in the first inning. London was only hit for four, but these were well scattered. In the seventh, when it looked as if the visitors were finding him, Davis took his place, and, with fair support, held out. The Lelands scored one in the fourth on a base on balls, a single and an error, another in the sixth on a base on balls, a steal and a double, and one more in the eighth on a hit, an error and an outfield fly. In the ninth it looked as if the visitors were going to repeat their rally of the day before. Talbert flied out, Moore got first when Milliner dropped his long gly. Wright followed him when Taylor fumbled his grounder, but Green, the next up, fanned and Gatewood went out on a grounder to short."
July 30, 1909
St. Paul, MN
"Friday's Game. - The Gophers, by defeating the Giants Friday, won the undisputed title of the World's Champion colored baseball team. The Gophers are the first colored team that ever won a series from the Lelands. Dougherty, the big Chicago southpaw, had the Gophers at his mercy at all times during the game up to the eighth inning. Not a single hit was made off him in that time. Then three singles and a triple came in rapid succession, good for three runs and the game. Johnny Taylor pitched a good game, giving but eight hits."
"The Gophers won three of five games. - Hard hitting by both teams featured the first game. - Twenty-five hundred people saw the first two games. - Errors were numerous with the Apostles in Tuesday's game. - Hill and Payne played the game and did good stickwork. - Steel Arm Johnny tossed some good ball. He won the deciding game. - Marshall's good eye and timely swings won the opener for the Saints. - Dougherty is making good with the Leland Giants He is an Indiana pitcher. - Mista John Taylor is of the well-known baseball family of four brothers. - The Gophers hit Gatewood and Ball heavily, making twenty-two hits. The four pitchers used in this game gave ten bases on balls."
July 31, 1909
Lindstrom, MN
"Last Saturday, the Gophers went to Lindstrom and defeated the team of that city by the score of 19 to 1."