The Park City Miners, based in Park City, Utah, opened their 1901 season with one of the worst records in the history of professional baseball and were still playing seven years after that. The nickname was as literal as nicknames get. Park City was a silver camp in the Wasatch Range, built around the Ontario mine and the others that followed it up the canyon, and by 1901 the town's entire economy came out of the ground.
The first attempt went badly. Park City were charter members of a four-club circuit alongside the Ogden Lobsters, the Salt Lake City White Wings and a team that split its home games between Farmington and Salt Lake City. The Miners had a 3-20 record when the franchise disbanded on July 15, 1901, and every remaining game on the schedule was recorded as a forfeit. The final published standings show 3-39, last of four, 28 games behind an Ogden club that finished 31-10. The league itself folded after that single season.
The reference books end the story there, and they are wrong. Period newspapers carry the Park City Miners through most of the decade that followed, with games on record in 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908. The pattern suggests a local independent club playing whoever was available rather than a fixed league entry, which is why the standard sources lost track of it. The 1906 season included a run in a circuit with Ogden, Salt Lake City and the Tintic mining town of Eureka, and games against the Salt Lake Occidentals, an all-Black club that barnstormed Utah and Idaho in those years and was among the strongest teams in the region.
Park City's baseball ended along with the silver. The mines wound down across the following decades and the town rebuilt itself around skiing, but for most of a decade a mining camp in the Wasatch put a professional team on the field, lost almost every game it played in its first year, and came back anyway. 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
- Made with 100% Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton, a lightweight fabric (4.2 oz/yd² (142 g/m²)) that is easy to layer, breathable. Perfect for active and leisure wear.
- The retail fit that is perfect for casual and semi-formal settings. The crew neckline adds a classic, neat style that's perfect for accessorizing.
- Bella+Canvas manufactures all its products in the US and internationally in humane, no-sweat-shop, sustainable way and is part of the Fair Labor Association as well as Platinum WRAP certified.
- The tear-away label minimizes skin irritations.
- Fabric blends: Ash and Heather Prism colors - 99% cotton, 1% polyester; Heather and Solid Blend colors - 52% cotton, 48% polyester; Athletic Heather and Black Heather - 90% cotton, 10% polyester.
