Grand Forks Forkers

The Grand Forks Forkers, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota, were charter members of the six-team circuit that opened play on May 22, 1902, joining Fargo, the Winnipeg Maroons, the Crookston Crooks, Cavalier and Devils Lake. The club played four seasons at that level before moving to the Northern-Copper Country League in 1906, when the two circuits merged.

Grand Forks spent most of those years on the wrong end of the notable games. On July 14, 1905, Fargo pitcher Hawley Souders threw a ten-inning no-hitter against the Forkers, winning 1-0 with one walk and three strikeouts. The following year, in the merged league, the Grand Forks franchise folded during the season.

The city's most remarkable game came before the Forkers existed. On July 18, 1891, the Grand Forks Black Stockings and Fargo Red Stockings, both of the semiprofessional Red River Valley League, played 25 innings to a 0-0 tie. William Gibbs pitched all 25 scoreless innings for Grand Forks and George Raymer did the same for Fargo. It remains the longest scoreless game on record. The teams played at a neutral site, the state militia training grounds at Devils Lake, after Grand Forks owner Tom Hill moved the series hoping for a bigger gate. The umpire called it after the 25th inning ended at 8:10 in the evening, because both clubs had trains to catch.

Grand Forks fielded the Senators in that same 1897 league, then the Flickertails from 1912 through 1915 and the Chiefs from 1934 into the 1960s.