The Bozeman Irrigators, based in Bozeman, Montana, may hold the shortest tenure of any team in this collection. The club arrived on July 10, 1909, played its first home game on July 15, and watched its league disband on July 25.
The franchise began the season as the Boise Irrigators of the Class D Inter-Mountain League and had compiled a 13-38 record when it was moved to Bozeman in July. The nickname came with the team from Idaho rather than from Montana, a reference to the irrigation projects that had opened the Boise Valley to farming. The Inter-Mountain League folded two weeks after Bozeman's first home game, ending the season for everyone in it.
This was Bozeman's second brush with professional baseball and its second collapse. The city had been a charter member of the 1892 Montana State League, a six-team Class B circuit that opened on May 30 and ran a split-season schedule. Bozeman folded on July 23 of that year with a 10-8 record under manager B.E. Vaile, disbanding on the same day as the Great Falls Smelter Cities and leaving the league to finish with four clubs. The money explains most of it. The league had set a salary limit of $200 per club per month, and by the second week of the season Bozeman was reported to be paying between $500 and $700, one of several clubs treating the cap as optional.
Between the two attempts, Bozeman's entire history in organized professional baseball amounts to parts of two summers, neither of which reached August. No professional team has represented the city since. 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 crewneck sweatshirts are classics that anyone is sure to recognize. They are thick, durable Gildan brand crews. They are a cotton/poly blend that stands the test of time.
Size Guide: True to size
- Made with a medium-heavy fabric blend of 50% cotton and 50% polyester (8.0 oz/yd² (271.25 g/m²)), this sweatshirt feels cozy and is the perfect choice for those colder months.
- The classic fit along with the crew neckline deliver a comfy wearing experience with a clean-cut style. Meanwhile, the double-needle stitching at the shoulder, armhole, neck, waistband, and cuff seams add top-tier durability.
- Say goodbye to itchiness thanks to the gray, pearlized tear-away label.
- Made using 100% ethically grown US cotton. Gildan is also a proud member of the US Cotton Trust Protocol ensuring ethical and sustainable means of production. The blank shirt's dyes are OEKO-TEX-certified dyes with low environmental impact.
- Machine wash: cold (max 30C or 90F); Non-chlorine: bleach as needed; Tumble dry: low heat; Do not iron; Do not dryclean.
