St. Croix Base Ball Club


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Saint Croix Base Ball Nine: The History of a Champion Minnesota Base Ball Club.

By Brent T. Peterson, Washington County Historical Society

The game of baseball was either invented by a young man in Cooperstown, New York by the name of Abner Doubleday, or it evolved from the English game of Rounders or Cricket. Whichever way you feel baseball was created, there is no doubt that within a short time it became the National Pastime.

The first mention of baseball in Minnesota occurred in the Nininger Emigrant Aid Journal in 1857. Three years later, the Stillwater Republican was talking about the local teams that had been organized and the games that were to be played, however, with the onset of the Civil War, baseball took a back seat in local affairs. When the war was over, there was an explosion of baseball throughout the country. This led to the formation of the St. Croix Club of Stillwater in 1867.

Stock certificates from the original St. Croix Base Ball Club. Click on image for a larger view.

During 1867, the first Minnesota State Base Ball Tournament was held. There were two classes and the St. Croixs found themselves playing in the second class. They lost the second class championship by a toss of a coin, but they came back the next year to try to win the state championship.

That year, 1868, the club challenged the Minnehaha Club of Northfield for the state championship and the coveted trophy called the “Silver Ball.” To win the championship, the St. Croixs had to win two of three games. Both teams won their respective home games, but the third and final game was played on a neutral field in Hastings. That game has been called the best baseball game played in Minnesota during the 1860s. The St. Croixs won the game and the state championship.

Although the championship was lost the next year to the Lake City Club, the St. Croixs remained one of the strongest teams in the state. In 1876, the St. Croixs played a game against the new National League Champions, the Chicago Whitestockings. The “Champions” beat the local nine, but the enthusiasm and excitement the St. Croixs brought to the area still rings true today.