The Yazoo City Zoos were a

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team based in

Yazoo City, Mississippi Yazoo City is the county seat of Yazoo County, Mississippi, Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in referen ...

. Between 1904 and 1912, the Yazoo City Zoos played as members of two Class D level leagues, the 1904 Delta League and the

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Engli ...

from 1910 to 1912.

History

1904: Delta League

The 1904 Yazoo City Zoos were the first minor league team based in Yazoo City. Playing the 1904 season under manager Harry Wilson, the Zoos became charter members of the Class D level Delta League. The Delta League League began the season with four charter league teams, as the

Brookhaven, MS Brookhaven is a city in Lincoln County, Mississippi Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,907. Its county seat is Brookhaven. The county was created by the legislat ...

(Brookhaven), Clarksdale, MS (Clarksdale),

Jackson Senators The Jackson Senators was the name of at least two minor league baseball teams that played in Jackson, Mississippi. First team The first known Jackson Senators club competed in the Delta League in 1904. In 1951, club president Emmet Vaughey an ...

teams joined the Yazoo City Zoos as the charter members in. On May 16, 1904, the league expanded to sis teams, as franchises from Canton, MS (Canton) and

Hattiesburg, MS Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

(Hattiesburg) were added to the league after the season started. The Yazoo City Zoos finished in second place when the season ended on September 3, 1904. The final Delta League standings featured the first place Clarksdale team with a record of 67–31, finishing 4.0 games ahead of the second place Yazoo City Zoos who had a record of 62–34. They were followed in the standings by Canton (43–45), the Jackson Senators (47–53), Hattiesburg (36–49) and Brookhaven (27–70) in the six–team league. The league did not have playoffs in 1904. On June 13, 1904 in a Delta League game, Yahoo City was on the losing end of a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

thrown by William Beeker of Clarksdale in a 6–0 Clarksdale victory. It was reported that Yazoo City pitcher James Baxter Sparks set a professional baseball record by winning 21 consecutive games in 1904. It was noted that Sparks also threw a no-hitter against Clarksdale during the winning streak, with the game occurring on August 27, 1904, in a 1–0 Yazoo City victory. The Delta League permanently folded after playing their only season in 1904. It is possible the league formed in 1905, but no teams or statistics are known for a 1905 Delta League season.

1910 to 1912: Cotton States League

In 1910, the Yazoo city Zoos returned to minor league play, becoming members of the six-team, Class D level

. With a 44–62 record, the team placed fourth in the six-team league, playing the season under manager Walter Hickey. The 1910 team is referred to as the "ZuZus" in some references. Yazoo City finished 26.5 games behind the first place Greenwood Scouts in the final standings. The Yazoo City Zoos team continued Cotton States League play in 1911. With a 60–54 record, the Zoos placed third under manager Dom Mullaney, finishing 12.5 games behind the first place Vicksburg Hill Billies in the six–team league. The Yazoo City team folded from the Cotton States League after the 1911 season. In their final season, the 1912 Yazoo City Zoos began the season without a team, then briefly returned to play before folding. On May 9, 1912, the New Orleans Little Pels of the Cotton States League moved to Yazoo City with a 14–9 record. On August 3, 1912, the team had a 27–45 record in Yazoo City and a 41–57 overall record under manager Gene DeMontreville when the franchise permanently disbanded, before the season had concluded. Yazoo City, Mississippi has not hosted another minor league team.

The ballpark

The name of the Yazoo City home minor league ballpark is not directly referenced.

Timeline

Year-by-year records

Notable alumni

Harry Betts Harry Betts (September 15, 1922 – July 13, 2012) was an American jazz trombonist. Background Born in New York and raised in Fresno, California, he was active as a jazz trombonist and played with Stan Kenton's orchestra in the 1950s. He can be h ...

(1910–1911) *

Joe Martina John Joseph Martina (July 8, 1889 – March 22, 1962), known as Oyster Joe, was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher and a native and lifelong resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, he spent 22 seasons in baseball, but o ...

(1911) * Moxie Meixell (1912) * Yazoo City Zoos players

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Yazoo City - Baseball Reference
Defunct minor league baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Mississippi Baseball teams established in 1904 Baseball teams disestablished in 1912 Defunct Cotton States League teams Delta League teams

Zoos A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

1904 establishments in Mississippi 1912 disestablishments in Mississippi