Early teams Minor league baseball was first played in Saginaw, Michigan in 1884, when the Saginaw "Greys" team played the season as members of the
Northwestern League. After numerous other teams followed, the Aces were immediately preceded in minor league play by the 1915
Saginaw Ducks team, who ended a nine-season tenure for Saginaw as members of
Class C level
Southern Michigan League when the league folded.
1920 to 1925 Michigan-Ontario League After a three-season hiatus, Saginaw again hosted minor league baseball when the 1919, Saginaw "Aces" resumed minor league play as charter members of the eight team,
Class B level
Michigan-Ontario League. The
Battle Creek Custers,
Bay City Wolves,
Brantford Red Sox,
Flint Halligans,
Hamilton Tigers,
Kitchener Beavers and
London Tecumsehs and Saginaw Aces teams joined Saginaw in beginning league play on May 15, 1919. In the era, the Class B level was the equivalent of today's
Class AA level league. The Aces ended the season with a record of 77–32 and finished in first place in the eight-team league.
Buzz Wetzel served as the Saginaw player/manager in their championship season, as Saginaw finished 3.0 games ahead of the second place Hamilton Tigers. No league layoffs were held. The Aces ended their season in eighth place in the eight-team Michigan-Ontario League, with a 43–73 record. Saginaw finished 42.0 games behind the first place London Tecumsehs, who were managed by Buzz Wentzel.
Red McKee replaced Wetzel as manager of the Aces in 1920. Saginaw did not qualify for the final playoff won by London over Bay City. Frank was one of the
Nesser Brothers, a group of seven brothers who made-up a football teammate family, playing together in different lineups from 1907 until the mid-1920s. Nesser had multiple kicking contests with the legendary football player and athlete
Jim Thorpe and Nesser once was credited with a 63-yard field goal. In his baseball career, Frank Nesser also played with the
Lima Cigarmakers and
Chillicothe Babes in the
Ohio State League from 1910 to 1914 and with the
Greensboro Patriots and
Winston-Salem Twins of the
North Carolina State League in 1915 and 1916. He resumed his baseball career in 1920 with the
Peoria Tractors of the
Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League in 1920. Playing in 1921 with Saginaw at age 32, Nesser played in 113 games with 495 plate appearances, batted .385, with an OPS of .432, 80 RBI, 30 stolen bases and 90 runs scored. He struck out 9 times against 31 walks. After the season, Frank Nesser left professional baseball after nine seasons and a career .324
batting average. ,
New York Yankees George Pipgras also played for the Saginaw Aces in 1921. In his first appearance for Saginaw after having pitched for the
Joplin Miners, Pipgras walked 15 batters in five innings in a game against the London Tecumsehs. Piprgas improved his control and was a pitcher for the
New York Yankees, breaking in as a rookie in 1923 and pitching on four World Series winning teams. Pipgras improved over time and was a starter on the
1927 New York Yankees team, which included nine future
Baseball Hall of Fame members, including
Babe Ruth and
Lou Gehrig. Pipgras pitched a complete game in game 2 of the
1927 World Series, defeating the
Pittsburgh Pirates 2–0, as the Yankees swept the Pirates in the series. After a 10–3 season in 1927, Pipgras lead the
American League in
wins with a 24 and had a 3.38 ERA record in 1928, when the Yankees repeated as World Series champions. In the
1928 World Series, Pipgras again had a complete game victory, He allowed 2 earned runs with 8 strikeouts in a 9-3 Yankees win over the
St. Louis Cardinals in game 2. The Yankees again swept the Cardinals in the World Series. In 1932, Pigras had a 16–9 record for the World Series champion Yankees. Pipgras was the winning pitcher in game 3 of the
1932 World Series, a 7–5 win over the Chicago Cubs, pitching 8 innings at
Wrigley Field. The Aces finished with an overall record of 74–58, ending the season 9.5 games behind the first place Hamilton Tigers. Saginaw won the first half title and Hamilton won the second half title.
Bobby Byrne and Ernest Robertson served as the Saginaw managers. In the playoff final, Hamilton defeated Saginaw for the Michigan-Ontario League championship in the final playoff 5 games to 3. On September 4, 1945, Schreiber made major league history when he pitched in a game for the
New York Yankees, with the pitching appearance occurring 22 years after his prior major league appearance. Schreiber had joined the Yankees in 1938 as a coach, where his primary role was pitching batting practice. Schreiber asusequently coached for the
Boston Red Sox from 1946 to 1958 before continuing to work for the Red Sox as a scout during the 1960s. In the game on September 4, 1945, Against the
Detroit Tigers, Schreiber entered the game in the seventh inning with the Yankees trailing 10–0. At age 42, as a coach, he had been activated to the Yankees' roster just days before his appearance. Schreiber received a loud ovation from the Yankees fans at
Yankee Stadium upon entering the game, as his activation as a player had received media attention. The Aces continued Michigan-Ontario League play and ended the season in second place in the eight-team Class B level league. The Saginaw Aces finished with a record of 78–54 and ended the season 2.5 games behind the first place Bay City Wolves as no playoffs were held. As a player, Bashang played 18 seasons of minor league baseball from 1910 to 1927, including seasons with the
Saginaw Ducks (1913–1915) before returning to the Saginaw Aces for three seasons from 1923 to 1925. Prior to becoming the manager of Saginaw in 1924, Bashang had managed the
Evansville Evas in 1920 and 1921. Buzz Wetzel left Saginaw to become manager of the Hamilton Clippers in 1924. The Saginaw Aces finished in fourth place in the 1924 Michigan-Ontario League, with Al Bashang remaining with the team and becoming the Aces' player/manager. Saginaw ended the regular season with a final record of 72–64. The Aces finished 14.0 games behind the place Bay City Wolves in the eight-team league. With their fourth-place finish, Saginaw did not qualify for the playoff, where Bay City defeated the second place Flint Vehicles in seven games. 1925 was the final full season for the Michigan-Ontario League. The league reduced from eight teams to six teams for the season and played a split season schedule. With a 74–67 record, the Aces finished 10.5 games behind the first place
London Indians. Hamilton won the first half title of the split seas and London won the second half title. Saginaw did not qualify for the league playoff, won by London over Hamilton. On June 13, 1926, the Michigan-Ontario League was folded with Saginaw in third place. The Aces had compiled a record of 19–11., when the league stopped play. In the short league season, Saginaw finished 1.0 game behind the first place
Port Huron Saints (20–10) in the final standings. The Bay City, Flint and Saginaw franchises each played for the duration of the Michigan-Ontario League. The league began play immediately with a new schedule created. No league playoffs were held as Saginaw finished their league schedule with a 55–41 record. Les Nunamaker continued as the Aces manager as the first place Bay City Wolves ended the season 10.0 games ahead of the Saginaw. A multisport athlete, Strader had graduated from and played for the
Saint Mary's Gaels football team in college. After playing the season for the Aces in baseball, Strader played his first season of professional football in the fall of 1926 with the
Chicago Bulls of the
first American Football League. In 1927 he played with the
Hollywood Stars and
Cedar Rapids Bunnies in the professional baseball season and the
National Football League's
Chicago Cardinals in the football season. In May 1956, Strader died of a heart attack at age 53. The Michigan State League folded after their partial 1926 season and did not return to play in 1927. ==The ballpark==