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 1906 Saginaw teams were immediately preceded in minor league play by the 1900
Saginaw Salt Eaters team, who ended a two-season tenure as members of the independent
International League.
1906: Two leagues in one season The "Saginaw" team resumed minor league play to begin the 1906 season. Saginaw began the 1906 season playing as charter members of the short lived
Interstate Association. The league was formed as a
Class C level league, with Emerson W. Dickinson serving as league president. The 1906 Interstate Association was an eight–team league that began play on April 26, 1906. The league was formed with teams representing
Anderson, Indiana,
Bay City, Michigan,
Flint, Michigan (
Flint Vehicles),
Fort Wayne, Indiana (
Fort Wayne Railroaders),
Kalamazoo, Michigan (
Kalamazoo White Sox),
Lima, Ohio (
Lima Lees),
Marion, Indiana (
Marion Moguls),
Muncie, Indiana (
Muncie Fruit Jars) and
Saginaw, Michigan teams beginning play on April 26, 1906. During the season, the Muncie and Bay city teams were both disbanded on May 18. The Saginaw team moved to
Marion, Ohio on June 21 before folding after three games in Marion. The Flint team disbanded on July 2, 1906. The Interstate Association, with four remaining teams, permanently disbanded on July 8, 1906. Saginaw manager "Bootie" Wolf was a Saginaw native, who eventually became Judge Willam J. Wolf. After playing baseball at the
University of Michigan, where he also received his Law Degree in 1899, Wolf played organized baseball in the region from 1893 to 1906. Wolf then owned a billiards hall and other business ventures, while also serving the public on numerous boards and organizations in Saginaw. In 1930, Wolf was appointed as a municipal judge to fill out a remaining term. Wolf was elected the next year and was the reelected in every subsequent election, winning his last election term when he was nearly 80 years of age. The Fort Wayne Railroaders were in first place when the Interstate Association folded on July 8, 1906, and the Saginaw team had folded. ,
Detroit Tigers. At age 18, Bush played for Saginaw in 1906. Bush was a long-time major league player and manager. Clarance Jessup was named manager of the newly formed Saginaw team. Jessup had managed the Marion Moguls team in the folded Interstate Association. Jessup brought his best Marion player with him to Saginaw, 18-year-old shortstop
Donie Bush. A noted strong defensive short stop Bush would go on to a lengthy major league playing career with the
Detroit Tigers and
Washington Senators. Bush then became a major league manager with the
Washington Senators,
Pittsburgh Pirates Chicago White Sox and
Cincinnati Reds. Bush also managed in the minor leagues, where he managed a young
Ted Williams in 1939 with the
Minneapolis Millers. Playing under Bush at Minneapolis, Williams won the Triple Crown in the
American Association, hitting .366, with 43 home runs, and 142 RBI. He’d also hit 30 doubles, 9 triples and drew 114 walks. The "Saginaw" team began Southern Michigan League play on July 18, 1906. Because the league was already in play, the new Saginaw team was given a record of 15-20 in the team standings when the team was added to the league. Managed by Clarence Jessup, the Saginaw team finished the season 30 .5 games behind the first place Mount Clemens Bathers, who were the league champions with a 63–41 final record. No league playoffs were held. In 1908, Saginaw rejoined the Southern Michigan League, as the Saginaw "Wa-was" replaced the Bay City team in the league. Saginaw became the 1908 Southern Michigan League champions in returning to league play. The "Wa-was" ended the season with a record of 72–52 and in first place, as the league held no playoffs. Led by managers Bruce Hayes and
Frank Dillon, Saginaw ended the season 3.0 games ahead of the second place Kalamazoo White Sox in the final standings of the eight-team league. The Saginaw "Wa-was" repeated as champions in 1909, continuing play in the eight-team Southern Michigan League, which held no playoffs. In winning the championship, Saginaw ended the season with a final record of 73–52 to place first, playing their championship season under manager Billy Smith. In a tight race for the title, the Wa-was ended the season just 0.5 game ahead of the second place
Flint Vehicles and 1.0 game ahead of the third place
Jackson Convicts in the final standings. Playing under managers Billy Smith and Frank Wessell, Saginaw finished with a final record of 46-93, finishing 41.0 games ahead of the first place
Kalamazoo Kazoos and
Lansing Senators, who finished in a tie with identical records of 87-52. Due to their tie in the standings, a playoff series was held, and Kalamazoo beat Lansing 4 games to 2 in the finals to claim the league championship.
Mal Kittridge became the Saginaw manager for the 1911 season. The season before he was the player-manager of the 1910
Elgin Kittens of the
Class D level
Northern Association, leading the team to the league championship. The Elgin "Kittens" were nicknamed after their manager. Relatedly, the Saginaw team became known as the "Krazy Kats" in the season under his leadership. A former major league catcher, Kittridge last played in the majors with the 1906
Cleveland Naps, after a tenure with the
Chicago Colts began in 1890. In 1911, the Southern Michigan League was upgraded from a Class D level league to a
Class C level league, as the Saginaw "Krazy Kats" continued league play. With a record of 88–51, playing under manager Mal Kittridge, the Krazy Kats finished 16.0 games behind the first place
Kalamazoo Celery Pickers in the final standings. With their first-place finish and no playoffs in the eight-team league, Kalamazoo won their second consecutive Michigan State League championship. Saginaw's
Buck Hopkins led Michigan State League with 120 runs scored and teammate
Joe Kutina had 193 total hits, most in the league. Aside from playing three seasons in the major leagues with the
Detroit Tigers, Yelle, played 17 seasons in the minor leagues, where he appeared in 1,449 games, 1,305 playing as a catcher. The Saginaw "Trailers" disbanded during the 1912 Southern Michigan League season due to flooding in Saginaw. The flooding of the
Saginaw River destroyed their ballpark site, which was just north of the river. On July 13, 1912, both the Saginaw and Bay City teams folded from the eight-team league, leaving six remaining teams to finish the season. The Trailers folded with a record of 19–44, playing their partial season under manager James Walter Hartwell. Bay City had a 19–43 record. The
Adrian Lions were the eventual league champions of the six remaining teams. Despite folding in 1912, both the Saginaw and Bay City teams returned to the Southern Michigan League in 1913. The 1913
Bay City Beavers continued play in the league, as did Saginaw and the league played with eight-teams in 1913. In 1913,
Ducky Holmes became the Saginaw player/manager and the Saginaw team became known as the "Ducks." With Holmes playing
catcher while managing the Saginaw, the Ducks ended the Southern Michigan League season in fourth place in the final standings, as the league became a Class D level league. The Ducks ended the season in the middle of the eight-team Southern Michigan League, with a 60–65 record. Saginaw finished 18.0 games behind first-place Battle Creek Crickets in the eight-team league. The league expanded and Saginaw finished the regular season in second place. The Ducks had an overall record of 90–55 record, as the team placed second in the ten-team league, which played a split season schedule. The Ducks were managed by the returning Ducky Holmes, with the team finishing 5.5 games behind first-place
Bay City Beavers. Bay City won the first half pennant and Saginaw won the second half pennant and both qualified to meet in the playoff final. The playoff was won by the Saginaw Ducks 4 games to 1 over Bay City. At age 22, Robins pitched 306 innings in compiling his 338 strikeouts. Pitching his second season with Saginaw, Walter Scott threw 318 innings for his 27 wins in what was his final professional season on record. pitcher
Jesse Haines. A member of the
Baseball Hall of Fame, Haines pitched for Saginaw in his first two professional seasons. Haines led the Ducks to the 1914 championship, pitching a complete came in their clinching win in the playoff series. At age 20,
Baseball Hall of Fame member Jesse Haines first pitched for Saginaw win 1914, his first professional season. Haines began the season with Fort Wayne Railroaders after signing for a salary of $135 per month. Haines pitched just twice for Fort Wayne before breaking his finger in batting practice. Haines then joined Saginaw Ducks in where he won 17 games, pitching 258 innings, earning 115 per month. Haines led the Ducks to the league title by pitching a ten-inning complete game in the final of the championship series. "In the minor leagues you were lucky to get paid at all," said Haines, "But I wanted to play so badly that the salary meant but little to me." Haines returned to Saginaw in 1915 and threw
no-hitter against the Flint Vehicles on June 9, 1915. Haines was signed by the
Detroit Tigers on June 29, 1915, from Saginaw, beginning his major league career. In 1915, the Saginaw Ducks continued league play in the final season of Southern Michigan League, which reduced to six teams, while retaining Class C level status, The league did not complete the season and permanently folded on July 7, 1915. Managed by Ducky Holmes, Saginaw had compiled a record of 31-38 when the league folded, finishing 13.5 behind the first place
South Bend Factors. At the time the league folded, Saginaw pitcher Ben Higley had a league-leading 127 strikeouts. A two-sport athlete, Neale also played college and professional football before becoming a collegiate and professional football coach. Following his baseball season in 1915, Neale began his football coaching career that fall as the head coach at
Muskingum University. Neale also played
Major League Baseball with the
Cincinnati Reds from 1916 and 1924. Neale was the starting right fielder for the World Series winning
1919 Reds, Neale hit .357 in the
1919 World Series and led the Reds with 10 total hits in their eight-game series win over the
Black Sox Scandal tainted
Chicago White Sox. When football seasons began, Neale would usually leave baseball to fulfill his football duties, with the exception of 1919 when he played the entire season. The onset of
World War I had greatly affected minor leagues as many leagues and teams were folded. ==The ballpark==