The St. Paul Colored Gophers was a small club of black

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

players formed in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, in 1907."St. Paul Gophers Base Ball Club" The Appeal, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 31, 1907, Page 3, Columns 3 to 5
/ref> They were not a formal

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

team, as the commonly referred-to "Negro leagues" were not created until 1920. However, like other barnstorming teams of the time, they put considerable pressure on the desegregation of baseball. Historians rarely mention the Colored Gophers in Negro baseball history, and statistics are hard to find.

History

The club lasted several seasons, also playing under the name Twin City Gophers and Minneapolis Gophers. In 1909, the Colored Gophers defeated what was considered to be the most powerful Negro baseball team, the Leland Giants. They were managed that year by Phil "Daddy" Reid and Irving Williams, they managed to land Taylor brothers Candy Jim Taylor and Steel Arm Johnny Taylor. Candy Jim went on to manage the team in 1910."Big Base Ball Battle"
''St. Paul Appeal'', St. Paul, Minnesota, July 10, 1909, Page 3, Columns 5 and 6

Rosters

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

Played as the Twin City Gophers."Beach Giants Take Game From Gophers by Narrow Margin" Bismarck Daily Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, Tuesday, June 13, 1911, Page 2, Column 3
/ref>

1913

Played as the "St. Paul Gophers"."Local Aggregation Lost Game" Aberdeen Daily News, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Thursday, July 10, 1913, Page 8, Column 1
/ref>

1914

Played as the "Minneapolis Gophers"."Get Best of Colored Gophers" Little Falls Herald, Little Falls, Minnesota, Friday, July 31, 1914, Page 2, Columns 1 and 2
/ref>"Take Two From Gophers" Little Falls Herald, Little Falls, Minnesota, Friday, July 10, 1914, Page 2, Columns 1 and 2
/ref>

1916

Played as the "Minneapolis Gophers"."Colored Gophers to Play Carrs in South St. Paul" St. Paul Appeal, St. Paul, Minnesota, Saturday, August 5, 1916, Page 3, Column 3
/ref>

MLB throwback jerseys

The

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

have honored the club by wearing replica throwback jerseys of the team. *The Twins wore 1909 Gophers uniforms at

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

against

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on July 13,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. *They wore Gophers uniforms on July 10,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

against the Royals, and again on both July 21, 2012 and June 23, 2019. *On August 7, 2010, the Twins featured the Gophers uniforms in a game against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

at Progressive Field. The Indians wore the Negro League's Cleveland Buckeyes 1946 replica jerseys. Announcers carefully referred to the jerseys as the Saint Paul Gophers, leaving out the word colored.

References

External links

"seamheads.com" 1908–1911 St. Paul Colored Gophers team stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Paul Colored Gophers Negro league baseball teams Colored Gophers Defunct baseball teams in Minnesota Baseball teams disestablished in 1913 Baseball teams established in 1907