The Columbus Discoverers were a minor league baseball team based in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterwa ...

. Between 1907 and 1935, the Columbus Discoverers and "Joy Riders" teams played as members of the Cotton States League from 1907 to 1908 and 1912 to 1913, before the 1935 Columbus "Bengals" played a partial season in the

East Dixie League The East Dixie League was an American professional minor league baseball league that operated for two seasons from 1934 to 1935 as a Class C level league. History The East Dixie League was created when the Dixie League split up into the East ...

. Columbus hosted home minor league games exclusively at Fairgrounds Park.

History

Columbus, Mississippi first hosted minor league baseball in 1907. The Columbus "Discoverers" became members of the six–team Class D level Cotton States League. The

Gulfport Crabs Gulfport may refer to: Places in USA *Gulfport, Florida *Gulfport, Illinois *Gulfport, Mississippi Ships * , two ships of this name * , a Hansa A Type cargo ship in service 1947-64 * ''Gulfport'' was a prospective name for Other uses * Gulfpo ...

, Jackson Senators, Meridian White Ribbons,

Mobile Sea Gulls Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile (b ...

and Vicksburg Hill Billies joined Columbus in 1907 league play. The 1907 Columbus Discoverers finished last in their first season of play. The Discoverers ended the season with a record of 42–96 to place 6th in the final standings. Managed by Jack Law, Columbus finished 42.5 games behind the 1st place Mobile Sea Gulls in the final standings, as the league had no playoffs. The Columbus Discoverers continued Cotton States League play in 1908. The Discoverers ended the season in 4th place with a final record of 58–56. Managed by Billy May, Louis Hall,

Ace Stewart Asa "Ace" Stewart (February 14, 1869 – April 17, 1912) was a Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 tota ...

and Jack Toft, Columbus finished 12.0 games behind the 1st place Jackson Senators in the six–team league. Pitcher Al Demaree of Columbus led the Cotton States League with 23 wins. Following the 1908 season, the Cotton States League did not play in 1909 and returned to play in 1910 without a Columbus franchise. In 1912, Columbus rejoined the six–team Class D level Cotton States League during the season. The Columbus Joy Riders began play when the Hattiesburg Timberjacks franchise moved to Columbus, Mississippi on June 5, 1912 with a record of 19–24. Compiling a 37–35 record while based in Columbus, the team finished with an overall record of 56–59, playing under manager Carlos Smith in both locations. The Hattiesburg/Columbus team finished 13.5 games behind the 1st place Vicksburg Hill Billies in the final standings. Pitcher Walt Kinney of Columbus led the Cotton States League with 22 wins. On June 11, 1912, Columbus played a double header against the Yazoo City Zoos. Reportedly, the Columbus catcher was injured in the 2nd inning of the first game and Columbus did not have another player to play catcher. Taylor, the catcher for Yazoo City then volunteered to play catcher for both teams in order for the games to be played. Yazoo City was noted to have won both games, with Taylor catching 32 total innings behind the plate. The Columbus Joy Riders continued play in the 1913 Cotton States League. The Joy Riders ended the 1913 season in 4th place with a record of 40–57, playing under manager Bob Kennedy in Columbus' final season of Cotton League play. The Joy Riders finished 32.0 games behind the 1st place Jackson Lawmakers. Pitcher Ed Poole of Columbus led the league with 163 strikeouts. The Cotton States League shortened their season to August 15, 1913 and did not return to play in 1914, due to World War I. Minor league baseball returned to Columbus, Mississippi in 1935 for a final season. The Columbus Bengals briefly played as members of the eight–team Class C level

. On June 18, 1935, the Columbus Bengals moved to Cleveland, Mississippi with a record of 36–41. After compiling a 28–32 record based in Cleveland, the

Cleveland Bengals Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily locate ...

team placed 6th in the final standings under manager Slim Brewer, with a 64–73 overall record. Columbus/Cleveland finished 19.5 games behind the 1st place Pine Bluff Judges in the final standings. The East Dixie League permanently folded following the 1935 season. Columbus, Mississippi has not hosted another minor league team.

The ballparks

Columbus minor league teams were noted to have played home games at Fairgrounds Park. Today, the Columbus Fairgrounds are still in use as a public fairgrounds, owned by the city of Columbus. The location is 764 Highway 69 South, Columbus, Mississippi. Columbus MS

Timeline

Year-by-year record

Notable alumni

* Mack Allison (1908) *

Orth Collins Orth Stein "Buck" Collins (April 27, 1880 – December 13, 1949) was a Major League Baseball outfielder and pitcher. Collins played for the New York Highlanders in and the Washington Senators in . In 13 career games, he had six hits, all for th ...

(1907) * Al Demaree (1908) *

Billy Kinloch William Francis Kinloch (March 21, 1874 - February 15 1931), was a Major League Baseball player. He played one game at third base for the 1895 St. Louis Browns. He was born on March 21, 1874, in Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the ca ...

(1907) * Frank Manush (1907–1908) *

Ken Penner Kenneth William Penner (April 24, 1896 – May 28, 1959) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians in 1916 and the NL-Pennant winning Chicago Cubs in 1929; he did not appear in the World S ...

(1913) * Phil Redding (1912) *

Culley Rikard Culley Rikard (May 9, 1914 – February 25, 2000) was a professional baseball player. He played three seasons in Major League Baseball, 1941, 1942, and 1947, with the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League, primarily as an outfielder. Aft ...

(1935) *

Dolly Stark Monroe Randolph Stark (January 19, 1885 – December 1, 1924) was a college baseball coach and professional baseball player who coached the Mississippi A&M Aggies, now known as the Mississippi State Bulldogs to a 22–4 record in 1909. He the ...

(1907) *

(1907), (1908, MGR) *

Ollie Welf Oliver Henry Welf (January 17, 1889 – June 15, 1967) was a Major League Baseball player who played for one season. He made one appearance for the Cleveland Indians as a pinch runner on August 30 during the 1916 Cleveland Indians season. He was ...

(1912) * Fred Williams (1935)

References