The Manitoba-Dakota League was an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League and Frontie ...

based in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

that was founded in 1950. It became the home for many

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

players. The league lasted through the 1957 season. It was known informally as the Mandak League or Man-Dak League. The league originated as the Manitoba Senior Baseball League founded in 1948, with Jimmy Dunn as its president. It was the outlet for former

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

rs to continue playing and entertaining fans, occupying fields with ex-major leaguers, minor league stars and some of the best Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota born players. It featured such greats as

Willie Wells Willie James Wells (August 10, 1906 – January 22, 1989), nicknamed "The Devil," was an American baseball player. He was a shortstop who played from 1924 to 1948 for various teams in the Negro leagues and in Latin America. Wells was a fast ...

Leon Day Leon Day (October 30, 1916 – March 13, 1995) was an American professional baseball pitcher who spent the majority of his career in the Negro leagues. Recognized as one of the most versatile athletes in the league during his prime, Day could p ...

Ray Dandridge Raymond Emmitt Dandridge (August 31, 1913 – February 12, 1994), nicknamed "Hooks" and "Squat", was an American third baseman in baseball's Negro leagues. Dandridge excelled as a third baseman and he hit for a high batting average. By the time th ...

and

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

, who pitched briefly for the

Minot Mallards The Minot Mallards were a minor league baseball team based in Minot, North Dakota. Earlier Minot teams preceded the Mallards and played as members of the 1917 Northern League and 1923 North Dakota League. Beginning play in 1950, the Mallards ...

in 1950.

History

Manitoba Senior Baseball League

The Manitoba Senior Baseball League was established in May 1948, which returned an

for the first time since the

Winnipeg Maroons The Winnipeg Maroons were a minor League baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which played in the Northern League from 1902–1942. Their home field from 1906 to 1922 was Happyland Park, which had a seating capacity Seating ...

of the Northern League folded in 1942.

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

sports executive Jimmy Dunn was elected president of the league which included three teams in Winnipeg, and one team in

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

. The league unsuccessfully sought to add a team based in

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

. Dunn was re-elected president in 1949, and continued negotiations for a team in Grand Forks in addition to the four returning teams. When negotiations failed, an entry from

Carman, Manitoba Carman is a small agricultural town of about 3,000 people in the Pembina Valley Region of southern Manitoba, Canada. Carman is at the junction of Highways 3 and 13, 40 minutes southwest of Winnipeg. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of ...

, was admitted as the fifth team in the league.

Foundation of the Mandak League

In January 1950, the Manitoba Senior Baseball League added a team from

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 20 ...

, and was reorganized into the Mandak League with Dunn elected as president for the season. The league drafted a new constitution, decided that its teams would wear a patch including both the flags of Canada and the United States, and planned a parade with a marching band through downtown Winnipeg on its opening day. Dunn described the opening day plans by saying that, "the Mandak baseball league this year will be more colourful than a Scotman's kilt". Opening day was postponed due to the

1950 Red River flood The 1950 Red River flood was a devastating flood that took place along the Red River in The Dakotas and Manitoba from April 15 to June 12, 1950. Damage was particularly severe in the city of Winnipeg and its environs, which were inundated on M ...

inundating

Osborne Stadium Osborne Stadium was a multi-sport outdoor stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It operated from 1932 until 1956, and hosted Canadian football home games for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and baseball games in the Mandak League. The stadium was al ...

, and the schedule was changed for the Winnipeg teams begin on the road. Dunn and the league arranged several benefit games to raise money for local charities. Dunn planned a league all-star game in mid-June as a fundraiser for Winnipeg's Flood Fund, with the players picked by the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' and ''

The Winnipeg Tribune ''The Winnipeg Tribune'' was a metropolitan daily newspaper serving Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from January 28, 1890 to August 27, 1980. The paper was founded by R.L. Richardson and D.L. McIntyre who acquired the press and premises of the old '' ...

''. In July 1950, Dunn stated that the Mandak League planned to speak with

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 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

commissioner

Happy Chandler Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also se ...

about joining the professional baseball structure for the following season. The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' expressed concerns that the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

could negatively affect the league, but also that the popularity of the Mandak League had led to decreased attendance for women's softball in Manitoba. After the season, team executives lauded Dunn for his leadership of the league despite that only one of the five teams made a profit. He was unanimously re-elected as president and the league assumed the control of scheduling

umpires An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

instead of the home teams doing so. The league's schedule was increased from 48 to 64 games with the hope that more games would make the season profitable. Dunn resigned as Mandak League president at the conclusion of the 1951 season.

List of teams

List of Mandak League teams:Manitoba-Dakota League Encyclopedia and History
''Baseball Reference''. Retrieved on December 5, 2018. *

Bismarck Barons Bismarck most often refers to: * Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898), Prussian statesman and first Chancellor of Germany * Bismarck, North Dakota, the capital of North Dakota, U.S. * German battleship Bismarck, German battleship ''Bismarck'', a 1939 G ...

(1955–1957) *

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

Greys (1950–1954; 1957) *

Carman In Celtic mythology, Carman or Carmun was a warrior and sorceress from Athens who tried to invade Ireland in the days of the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with her three sons, Dub ("black"), Dother ("evil") and Dian ("violence"). She used her magica ...

Cardinals (1950–1954) * Dickinson Packers (1955–1956) *

Elmwood Giants The name Elmwood Giants has been used since 1905 by various Canadian baseball teams based in the Elmwood community of Winnipeg, Manitoba. , the Elmwood Giants Baseball Club, Inc. operates four teams: the Elmwood Giants Juniors (AAA) (members of ...

(1950–1951) *

(1950–1957) * Williston Oilers (1954–1957) *

Buffaloes (1950–1951) *Winnipeg Giants (1952) *Winnipeg Royals (1953)

Notable players

:# ''American Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum member'' :* ''Major League Baseball player''

Bismarck Barons

Al Cihocki Albert Joseph Cihocki (May 7, 1924 – March 27, 2014) was a Major League Baseball infielder who played for one season. He played for the Cleveland Indians from April 17, 1945, to September 22, 1945. Cihocki was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvani ...

* *

# * Gary Gearhart * *

Preston Gómez Preston Gómez (April 20, 1923 – January 13, 2009) was a Cuban-born infielder, manager, coach and front-office official in Major League Baseball best known for managing three major league clubs: the San Diego Padres (1969–72), Houston Astros ( ...

* *

Ken Heintzelman Kenneth Alphonse Heintzelman (October 14, 1915 – August 14, 2000) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played all or part of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1937–42 and 1946–47) and Phil ...

* * Walter McCoy * Fred Vaughn * *

Roy Weatherly Cyril Roy Weatherly (February 25, 1915 – January 19, 1991), nicknamed "Stormy", was an American professional baseball player whose career extended for two decades (1934–1943; 1946–1954; 1958). The native of Tyler County, Texas, an outfielder ...

Brandon Greys

Bill Cash Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in 1997. ...

* Irvin Castille *

# *

Garland Lawing Garland Frederick Lawing (August 29, 1918 – September 27, 1996) was an American professional baseball player. He appeared in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and pinch hitter in ten games during the season for the Cincinnati Reds and Ne ...

* *

Al Lyons Albert Harold Lyons (July 18, 1918 – December 20, 1965) was an American professional baseball player. He appeared in 39 Major League Baseball games as a pitcher in and from to with the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston B ...

* *

Enrique Maroto Enrique Maroto (born September 7, 1935) is a former professional pitcher who played in Minor League Baseball and the Negro leagues. Listed at 5' 6" , 165 lb. , Maroto batted and threw left handed. He was born in Havana, Cuba.

* Dee Moore * *

Charlie Peete Charles Peete (February 22, 1929 – November 27, 1956) was an American professional baseball player. The reigning batting champion of the Triple-A American Association, who received a one-month, 23-game trial with the 1956 St. Louis Cardinals of ...

* * Lou Tost * *

# * Dewey Williams *

Carman Cardinals

Ed Albosta Edward John Albosta (October 27, 1918 – January 7, 2003), nicknamed "Rube", was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1946. In between he served three years in the U.S. A ...

* * Lyman Bostock Sr. *

Sammy Drake Samuel Harrison Drake (October 7, 1934 – January 27, 2010) was a Major League Baseball second and third baseman. He played two seasons with the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1961 and one season with the expansion 1962 New York Mets. Sammy and h ...

* *

Lester Lockett Lester Lockett (March 25, 1912 – October 4, 2005) was an American baseball player in the Negro League baseball, Negro leagues. He played from 1937 to 1948 with several teams. References External links anSeamheadsWalter McCoy * Andrew Porter

Dickinson Packers

Jerry Fahr Gerald Warren Fahr (December 9, 1924 – February 12, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in the minor leagues from 1947–1956, with the exception of a five-game Major League trial as a reli ...

* *

Rocky Krsnich Rocky Krsnich (born Rocco Peter Krznić; August 5, 1927 – February 14, 2019) was a Major League Baseball third baseman. Biography He was born in West Allis, Wisconsin. Krsnich originally signed as a free agent in 1945 with the Philadelphia ...

* *

Elmwood Giants

Solly Drake Solomon Louis Drake (October 23, 1930 – August 18, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies during the 1956 and 1959 ba ...

Minot Mallards

* *

John André John André (2 May 1750/1751''Gravesite–Memorial''
Westmi ...

* *

Willard Brown Willard Jessie Brown (June 26, 1915 – August 4, 1996), nicknamed "Home Run" Brown, was an American baseball player who played outfielder in the Negro leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Brown ...

# *

Vallie Eaves Vallie Ennis Eaves (September 6, 1911 – April 19, 1960) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1935 to 1942 for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs. Eaves die ...

* * Jimmy Grant * *

Otto Huber Otto Huber (March 12, 1914 – April 9, 1989) was a Major League Baseball player. He played one season with the Boston Bees The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article de ...

* *

Bill LeFebvre Wilfred Henry "Lefty" Lefebvre (November 11, 1915 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and scout, and college baseball head coach. A southpaw pitcher and native of West Warwick, Rhode Island, LeFebvre had a nine ...

* * Lou Lombardo * * Joe Mack * * Walter McCoy *

Bill Oster William Charles Oster (January 2, 1933 – June 6, 2020) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1954 season. Oster was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent on August 20, 1 ...

* *

# *

Mickey Rocco Michael Dominick Rocco (March 2, 1916 – June 1, 1997) was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman, Rocco played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four seasons in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. In 440 career g ...

* * Hal Schacker * *

Pete Taylor Pete Taylor (April 1, 1945 in Des Moines, Iowa – March 5, 2003 in Iowa City, Iowa) was a radio and television sportscaster who worked for radio station KRNT and television station KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa. Taylor also served as the play-by-play ...

* *

Bill Upton William Ray Upton (June 18, 1929 – January 2, 1987) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who made two relief appearances in with the Philadelphia Athletics. He batted and threw right-handed. Upton had no decision in either of his appearanc ...

* * Bob Whitcher * * Dewey Williams *

Williston Oilers

* Jerry Adair * * Gary Gearhart * * Al Gettel * *

Phil Haugstad Philip Donald Haugstad (February 23, 1924 – October 21, 1998) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was born in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Haugstad pitched from 1947 to 1952 with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds. External link ...

* *

Bobby Hogue Robert Clinton Hogue (April 5, 1921 – December 22, 1987) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed relief pitcher who appeared in 172 Major League games over five seasons (–) for the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns and Ne ...

* * Don Lee * *

Joe Lutz Rollin Joseph Lutz (February 18, 1925 – October 20, 2008) was an American professional baseball player and coach, who was the first Caucasian to manage a team in Japanese professional baseball. Life Lutz was born on February 18, 1925, in Ke ...

* *

* * Dee Moore * * Bert Shepard * * Fred Vaughn * *

* * Dewey Williams *