The Louisville Coal Miners were a minor league baseball team based in

Louisville, Colorado The City of Louisville () is a home rule municipality located in southeastern Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 21,226 at the 2020 United States Census. Louisville began as a mining community in 1877, experienced a ...

. In 1898, the Coal Miners briefly played as members of the

Colorado State League The Colorado State League was an unaffiliated minor league baseball league that played between 1885 and 1898 involving teams from Colorado. Cities represented * Aspen, CO: Aspen Silver Kings 1889; Aspen Miners 1896, 1898-1899 * Colorado Spring ...

, hosting home games at the Athletic Grounds. Louisville folded during the 1898 season.

History

Minor league baseball began in Louisville, Colorado, when the 1898 Louisville Coal Miners became members of the six–team

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

level

. The use of the "Coal Miners" moniker by Louisville corresponds to local industry and history. Coal mining in Louisville, Colorado was the prominent industry in the era. Opened in 1877, the Welch Mine was the first mine in Louisville, followed by the Acme Mine in 1888 and Caledonia Mine in 1890. In 1898, the Louisville Coal Miners placed second in the Colorado State League standings behind the Aspen Miners, who won the championship in the final season of the league. Six teams played in the 1898 league, led by Aspen with a 35–21 record. Louisville placed second with a 10–11 record, playing the season under manager Thomas Hinton. The

Denver Grizzlies Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Fort Collins Farmers,

Leadville Blues The Leadville Blues were a minor league baseball team based in Leadville, Colorado. Between 1885 and 1898, Leadville teams played as members of the 1885 Colorado State League, 1886 Western League and Colorado State League in 1889, 1896 and 1898 ...

and

Pueblo Rovers In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

rounded out the 1898 league members. The Louisville Coal Miners franchise disbanded on July 7, 1898, Aspen disbanded on July 27, 1898 and the Colorado State League permanently folded following the 1898 season. Louisville player

Ralph Glaze Daniel Ralph Glaze (March 13, 1881 – October 31, 1968) was an American sportsman and coach who played as a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, and later became a college football, football and baseball coach and administrator at seve ...

played numerous seasons of minor league baseball under the assumed name of "Ralph Pearce" to protect his college football and baseball eligibility. Louisville, Colorado has not hosted another minor league team.

The ballpark

The Louisville Coal Miners played home minor league games at the Athletic Grounds. In the era, the ballpark was on Lee Avenue, located just a few hundred feet from the operational Caledonia Mine. The ballpark is still in use today on the same plot of land and is called Miners Field. The address is 1212 South Street in Louisville, Colorado.

Year–by–year record

Notable alumni

(1898)

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links