Madisonville Miners
The Madisonville Miners, hailing from Madisonville, KY, were a team in the Kitty League in 1916, 1922 and their longest stretch, 1946 to 1955. During that last stretch they were a minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and thus their uniforms generally mimicked the Navy, Red and White colors used by the White Sox at that time.
The team name comes from the coal mining industry that was and still is a major part of the Western Kentucky economy around the Madisonville area.
One of the first editions of the Miners, the 1922 team, ran away with the league title posting a 73-39 record, 11.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Hopkinsville Hoppers. Unfortunately, their title was stripped, and they were banned from the playoffs for using an ineligible player. The Miners didn’t return the next year. In fact, it would be 24 years before they reformed and rejoined the Kitty League.
The 1940’s and 50’s edition of the Miners had a much better run. Though they never won the Kitty League pennant they seemed to turn it on for the playoffs. They played in the post-season playoff finals in 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, and 1954. They claimed the post season title in 1949 and 1952. Ironically they didn’t finish above 3rd place in the regular season any of the years they played in the finals!
While the Miners didn’t produce any Hall of Fame talent, they did have some alumni make it to the majors. Bob Buhl, a pitcher for the 1947 Miners put up a 19-10 record with a 3.00 ERA. Through no fault of his own, Buhl became embroiled in another Madisonville controversy, when the Commissioner of Baseball, Happy Chandler, stripped Buhl from the White Sox, claiming that they had signed Buhl before he graduated high school. Buhl was declared a free agent. Eventually Buhl signed with the Boston Braves, making it to the majors in 1953 after the Braves had moved to Milwaukee. He posted a very respectable 166-132 career record with a 3.55 ERA with the Braves, Cubs and Phillies across a14 year major league career. Buhl was named to the NL All-Star team twice and earned a World Series ring with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957.
The Madisonville Miners, like the Kitty League, ceased to exist after the 1955 season. Their ballpark is still standing however and is currently used by a collegiate summer league team (also using the Miners name) and a local high school.
