Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-01-29
EIGHT TEAM
LEAGUE IS
NOW PLANNED
Plan is For an All-State
1eague-Northern
League is Dead.
(By SnOOks.)

(6y
Since no local enthusiasm is evident
regarding the prospects of a Grand
Forks team for a 1919 Northern
League, n since Fargo fans have
given out much the same feeling,
while Duluth, Superior. Winnipeg and
the Twin Cities have all but signed up
in the Western Amateur Baseball as
ISOLATION, the old Northern League
seems to have died a hard death-so
hard that it will take much interest
n more money to resurrect it.
The only prospect of a professional
team for Grand Forks is given by NJ.
Stanchfield, who has always been in
terested n the Northern League, f1nan-
cially and otherwise, and who helped
pick out the bunch of youngsters who
made such a showing here. His idea
as he expressed it yesterday, would be
to have a State league of eight teams,
Glass D players and a 100 game sched-
ule. Unless Sunday games were al
lowed, he said even this plan would be
a doubtful one.
j.. A. Dinnie, former president Of
the local aggregation, j. c. Sheppard,
ex-secretary. and others declared en-
phatically that their ideas of a league
for 1915 had gone glimmering long
g During it's existence, the league
was composed of teams so far away
that mileage was always a problem,
the salaries of the men kept the or
ganization broke all the time. and the
nerves of the manager n the f1nan-
cially-interested fans on edge all sea-
son All efforts to keep the prices Of
the players dow failed, as the larger
cities, with more of a treasury to draw
from, could get better men by "help-
ing out" any who anticipated a jump
to some other league.
Mr.. S%tanchield, in his plan as out
lined last night, would do away with
practically all of these. The funda-
mental point of the idea, is that there
are many young players who are just
out of the service, who would make
fine class ID" players.
With four teams on the Northern
ern, Mr.. Stanchfield believes hat a
Pacific and four on the Great North
NORTH Dakota State League" could
mer. Crookston could be let in on
be established that would be a hum
the deal, with Grand Forks, Minot
and Devils Lake on the G.. N, and
Fargo, Valley City. jamestown and
Bis narck or the N. P, making an
eight team league. He believes that
much more interest could be aroused
than in h Northern League series of
the past.
Only class ID" players would be
used under the plan, which "Stanch'
has advocated for several years. In
pointing u the defects Of the old
league, he. with others, said that at
times the team went in the hole every
month it played, sometimes as much
as $4,000. With this condition, there
was not as much interest as a real
team should have. Then. too. there
was the long mileage. At times the
made jumps from Canada to
Minnesota. and back home, once
jumping from Winona to Port Arthur
and back to Grand Forks without
playing any games between those
towns. With a state league. he be-
lieves that two trips around the course
by each team would make out the
hundred games which would be
enough for a series of the size. This
would also make a full summer, Civ
ing the men plenty of time to prac-
tice. by doing away with early and late
games, which never were profitable
from the financial point of view