The Ogden Lobsters, based in Ogden, Utah, were the first professional baseball team the city ever fielded, and they won a championship in each of their first two seasons. Ogden went 32-13 to take the 1900 Utah-Idaho Intermountain League title and 31-10 to take the 1901 Inter-Mountain League title, both under manager Frank Gimlin, known throughout the region as Dad.
The 1900 league lasted exactly one season, opening on April 25 and closing on September 19 with four charter clubs: Ogden, the Pocatello Indians, and two Salt Lake City teams fielded by railroads, the Rio Grande Rios and the Short Line Shorts. When it folded, a new four-team circuit formed for 1901 with Ogden, the Park City Miners, the Salt Lake City White Wings and a club that split its season between Farmington and Salt Lake City. Ogden won that one by five games and it folded too.
The Lobsters kept going as the leagues around them kept collapsing. Ogden played in the Utah State League in 1902, though no standings from that season survive, and spent 1905 in the Class B Pacific National League at Glenwood Park. Reference books stop there. The newspapers do not, and the Lobsters name runs through all of it.
The last five years were a study in making do. In 1906 Ogden played in a league with Salt Lake City, Park City and the Tintic mining town of Eureka. By 1907 there was apparently nobody left to schedule, so the Lobsters and Salt Lake simply played each other in a series that stretched across months, with one game drawing a reported 1,200 people. Utah businessmen assembled a new state league for 1908 with four clubs, Ogden, Salt Lake, Murray and Fort Douglas. After that the record thins to scattered games in 1909 and 1910 and passing mentions of a state league and a county league, which is usually what the end looks like.
Ogden sits about 700 miles from the nearest ocean, which makes it one of the more unlikely places in American baseball history to have named a team after a shellfish. A search of the period papers turns up the name in constant use and never once explained. Whatever the joke was, the people telling it assumed everyone already knew.
Ogden later fielded the Ogden Canners, who won the 1914 Union Association title, and the Ogden Gunners, whose 1927 roster included future Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi.
In the 1800s and first half of the 1900s, teams existed in thousands of small towns across the United States, as Americans looked for recreational activities and entertainment in the era before TV.
Retro Baseball Revival celebrates historic baseball teams with unique apparel, honoring their legacy and bringing history to one-of-a-kind clothing with our old school retro baseball tees from defunct Minor League Baseball teams. All of our high quality apparel is designed, printed, and shipped within the USA. This collection features 100% original designs based on the history and nicknames of historic minor league teams.
Our premium lightweight shirts are the hugely popular Bella+Canvas brand 3001 tees. They are much lighter and thinner feeling than a traditional heavyweight tee. They also are more form fitting and feel more snug. These are generally 90% to 100% cotton, although please note that heather colors in this item are 52% cotton.
Size Guide: Fit is true to size or a little snug. Considering ordering one size up if you are normally between sizes.
Brand: Bella Canvas | Product ID: 3001
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