The Cañon City Swastikas were a

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team based in

Cañon City, Colorado Cañon City ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city p ...

, in 1912. Cañon City briefly played in the 1912 season as members of the Class D level

Rocky Mountain League The Rocky Mountain League was a minor league baseball league that operated in 1912 in sports, 1912. The Class D (baseball), Class D level league featured teams based in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. The short–lived Rocky Mountain League fol ...

, before the Cañon City franchise relocated to

Raton, New Mexico Raton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Colfax County, New Mexico, Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico, United States. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Col ...

, during the season. Canon City hosted minor league home games at Centennial Park.

History

An early Cañon City based team called the "Cañon City Inter-Ocean Base Ball Club" played organized baseball, beginning in 1874. The 1912 Cañon City Swastikas began minor league baseball play in Cañon City. Cañon City became charter members of the four–team Class D level

in 1912. The league started the season with the Colorado Springs Millionaires, La Junta Railroaders and the

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, teams joining Cañon City in league play. On June 4, 1912, the Cañon City franchise relocated to

. The team had a 5–6 record under manager Jack Farrell at the time they relocated to Raton. The team's use of the "Swastikas" moniker has roots that are unknown. When the team franchise moved to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, they became the first minor league team based in New Mexico. Shortly after, the Colorado Springs Millionaires franchise moved to

Dawson, New Mexico Dawson (also Mountview) is a ghost town in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. Dawson is located approximately northeast of Cimarron, and was the site of two separate coal mining disasters in 1913 and 1923. In 1950, the mines were close ...

, and became the Dawson Stags. The Rocky Mountain League permanently folded on July 5, 1912, before the completion of the scheduled season. At the time the league folded, the Cañon City/Raton team was in second place with a 20–14 overall record. Cañon City/Raton finished 4.5

games behind In some North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) refers to a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the standings ...

the first place Pueblo/

Cheyenne Indians The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

team in the final league standings. Since 1912, Cañon City, Colorado, has not hosted another minor league team.

Ballpark

Cañon City was noted to have hosted minor league home games at Centennial Park. Possibly having another name in 1912, Centennial Park is still in use today as a public park with ballfields. Centennial Park is located at 221 Griffin Avenue, Cañon City, Colorado.

Timeline

Year–by–year record

Players

Roster information for the 1912 Cañon City team is lacking in online baseball reference sites. An article in the ''

Kansas City Times The ''Kansas City Times'' was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning ''Kansas City Times'', under ownership of the afternoon '' Kansas City Star'', won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its ...

'' on May 23, 1912—the day before the start of the league's regular season—gave the team's roster as: * Infielders: Albert Smith, Bill Kemmer, Maurice McKnight, Clifford Marr, and Hobson * Outfielders: Mart Henry, Barrackman, George Henry * Catcher: John Peters * Pitchers: Art Hanna, Curtis, Wilder, and Littler Bill Kemmer had played for the major-league

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

in 1895, and John Peters later played for three major-league teams between 1915 and 1922.

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Canon City - Baseball Reference
Defunct minor league baseball teams Professional baseball teams in Colorado Defunct baseball teams in Colorado Baseball teams established in 1912 Baseball teams disestablished in 1912 Cañon City, Colorado Fremont County, Colorado Rocky Mountain League teams