The St. Paul Colored Gophers was a small club of black

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

players formed in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1907."St. Paul Gophers Base Ball Club" The Appeal, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 31, 1907, Page 3, Columns 3 to 5
/ref> They were not a formal

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 ...

team, as the commonly referred-to "Negro leagues" were not created until 1920. However, like other

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in ...

teams of the time, they put considerable pressure on the

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of baseball. Historians rarely mention the Colored Gophers in Negro baseball history, and statistics are hard to find.

History

The club lasted several seasons, also playing under the name Twin City Gophers and Minneapolis Gophers. In 1909, the Colored Gophers defeated what was considered to be the most powerful Negro baseball team, the

Leland Giants The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Gia ...

. They were managed that year by Phil "Daddy" Reid and Irving Williams, they managed to land Taylor brothers Candy Jim Taylor and Steel Arm Johnny Taylor. Candy Jim went on to manage the team in 1910."Big Base Ball Battle"
''St. Paul Appeal'', St. Paul, Minnesota, July 10, 1909, Page 3, Columns 5 and 6

Rosters

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

Played as the Twin City Gophers."Beach Giants Take Game From Gophers by Narrow Margin" Bismarck Daily Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, Tuesday, June 13, 1911, Page 2, Column 3
/ref>

1913

Played as the "St. Paul Gophers"."Local Aggregation Lost Game" Aberdeen Daily News, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Thursday, July 10, 1913, Page 8, Column 1
/ref>

1914

Played as the "Minneapolis Gophers"."Get Best of Colored Gophers" Little Falls Herald, Little Falls, Minnesota, Friday, July 31, 1914, Page 2, Columns 1 and 2
/ref>"Take Two From Gophers" Little Falls Herald, Little Falls, Minnesota, Friday, July 10, 1914, Page 2, Columns 1 and 2
/ref>

1916

Played as the "Minneapolis Gophers"."Colored Gophers to Play Carrs in South St. Paul" St. Paul Appeal, St. Paul, Minnesota, Saturday, August 5, 1916, Page 3, Column 3
/ref>

MLB throwback jerseys

The Minnesota Twins have honored the club by wearing replica throwback jerseys of the team. *The Twins wore 1909 Gophers uniforms at home against

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

on July 13,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. *They wore Gophers uniforms on July 10, 2005, in Kansas City against the Royals, and again on both July 21, 2012 and June 23, 2019. *On August 7, 2010, the Twins featured the Gophers uniforms in a game against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

at Progressive Field. The Indians wore the Negro League's Cleveland Buckeyes 1946 replica jerseys. Announcers carefully referred to the jerseys as the Saint Paul Gophers, leaving out the word colored.

References

External links

"seamheads.com" 1908–1911 St. Paul Colored Gophers team stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Paul Colored Gophers Negro league baseball teams Sports in Saint Paul, Minnesota Defunct baseball teams in Minnesota Baseball teams disestablished in 1913 Baseball teams established in 1907