Vintage Montana Shirts: Defunct Montana Baseball Teams

Montana's first professional league opened in 1892 with six teams, a salary limit of $200 a month per club, and no intention of honoring it. Within two weeks the papers reported Philipsburg, Helena and Bozeman each paying triple that, and called the limit a dead letter from the start. The league did not survive the season. Helena finished with the best record in the state and lost the championship anyway, after Butte withheld $176 in gate money and the deciding game went unplayed.

What that era left behind is the best set of team names in the mountain west. The copper towns of Butte and Anaconda produced the Smoke Eaters and the Serpents, both chosen in newspaper campaigns to find something worthier than Miners. Great Falls became the Electrics for the dams on the Missouri and won five championships across five decades. Missoula's Timberjacks sent Jim Kaat to the Hall of Fame and gave Charley Pride the last three games of his baseball career. Our vintage Montana shirts honor these defunct clubs with original designs grounded in real research.

Every team below links to its own collection, where you can read the full history and shop shirts, hoodies, and crewnecks for that club. Find your hometown team, or the one your grandfather used to talk about.

Butte Smoke Eaters · Anaconda Serpents · Philipsburg Burgers · Helena Senators · Great Falls Electrics · Missoula Timberjacks · Bozeman Irrigators