This Date In Sox History 11-20

[Lip Man 1]

November 20, 1893 - The Western League is formed. It is the direct forerunner to what would become the American League in 1900. The league starts with seven franchises in Detroit, Sioux City, Toledo, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids and Minneapolis. The Minnesota franchise would eventually be moved to the South Side of Chicago by Charles Comiskey.

November 20, 1996 - The Sox shock the baseball world when Jerry Reinsdorf announces that he has signed slugger Albert Belle to the largest contract in baseball history. Sox fans are torn between being happy the Sox spent money on a star and being worried because of Belle’s sullen, moody reputation. Other baseball owners are furious with Reinsdorf feeling that he deliberately signed Belle to the larger contract then necessary to "pay them back" for agreeing to settle the 1994 labor dispute with the 'status quo' in place. Reinsdorf would be removed from the labor relations board, the body that advised the commissioner in all labor matters, over this signing.

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Lip

[PalehosePlanet]

Lip, do you remember the nickname of the Minny franchise? Was it the Saints?

[doublem23]

St. Paul Saints

Lip's history is a bit off. While it is true that the Western League was formed in 1893 in these cities, the White Sox are the descendant of the Sioux City Cornhuskers. They moved to St. Paul in 1895 and then to Chicago in 1900. The Minneapolis team he is describing was the Millers. They played in the WL/AL until 1900, when the league officially became a 2nd Major League. The history of the Millers is a bit fuzzy from there, but the general consensus nowadays is that the Millers were simply abandoned by the American League in favor of larger, Eastern cities like Cleveland, Washington, and Boston, though there is some research that indicates the Millers are an indirect predecessor to the Red Sox (perhaps Fenway can illuminate us on this chapter of Red Sox history).

[Lip Man 1]

Double:

I can't say for sure one way or another on this but Rich Lindberg writes that Comiskey in Minnieapolis had eyes on Chicago as soon as he got there with the team.

Just FYI.

Lip

[doublem23]

Double:

I can't say for sure one way or another on this but Rich Lindberg writes that Comiskey in Minnieapolis had eyes on Chicago as soon as he got there with the team.

Just FYI.

Lip

Lifted directly from the St. Paul Saints' website (http://saintsbaseball.com/team/history/):


After the season, Charles Comiskey bought the Sioux City franchise, the 1894 Western League champions, and moved them to St. Paul . Professional baseball would be played in the capital city from then on for the next 66 years with only one interruption (1900). The Saints (the team was also referred to as the Apostles during this time) would not win any Western League pennants in the 1890s, but they were a successful club. They had winning records in four of the five years from 1895 through 1899....


Unfortunately for the Saints, Johnson and Comiskey felt it was essential to relocate some of the Western League franchises into some cities already occupied by the National League. James Hart, owner of the Chicago National League Club, readily agreed to having another team move into Chicago , if it would be on the south side. He felt the proximity of the stockyards would doom any team and his Cubs would not be seriously threatened. Given this chance, Comiskey moved his Saints to Chicago's south side in March 1900 and the Grand Rapids Prodigals moved to Cleveland .