| Colonial League | |
| Sport: | Minor League Baseball |
| President: | Charles Coppen (1914–1915) Ken Strong (1947) John A. Scalzi Jr. (1948–1950) |
| Inaugural: | 1914 |
| Teams: | 19 |
| Country: | United States |
| Continent: | or |
| Continents: | --> |
| Folded: | 1916 July 14, 1950 |
| Most Champs: | 1 Fall River Spindles (1914) Hartford Senators (1915) Stamford Bombers (1947) Port Chester Clippers (1948) Bristol Owls (1949) Poughkeepsie Chiefs (1950) |
| Classification: | Class C (1914–1915) Class B (1947–1950) |
The Colonial League was the name of two mid-level American minor baseball leagues. The first Colonial League was a Class C level league that existed from 1914 to 1915 as a minor league for the outlaw Federal League. The second Colonial League existed from 1947 through mid-July 1950. It was graded Class B, two levels below the major leagues, and featured teams based in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey
The Colonial League began to operate as a Class C level league based in Southern New England in the 1914 season.[1] In April, Alexander Bannwart drew notice by acquiring Big Jeff Pfeffer to manage the team in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.[2] By May, it was suspected that Bannwart was working as an agent of the Federal League, an outlaw league working outside of the National Agreement. Bannwart denied this.[3] Upon these news reports, some of the founding members of the Colonial League resigned, fearing banishment by the National Baseball Commission.[4] [5]
Though Charles Coppen was nominally the president of the Colonial League, Bannwart began to exert authority at the Colonial League offices. Later in the 1914 season, Bannwart drew anger when he attempted to make last-minute changes to the schedule designed to increase competitiveness in the standings and maximize profits at the box office.[6] Due to the backlash from the teams, the schedule was not changed.[7] The league was reported to have lost $22,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in 1914.[8] After the season, Bannwart unsuccessfully petitioned the National Commission to reclassify the Colonial League as Class B.[9]
At the April 1915 league meeting, Coppen was re-elected as president and Bannwart was elected secretary. Walter S. Ward, the treasurer of the Brooklyn Tip Tops of the Federal League and son of George S. Ward, an owner of the Tip Tops, was elected as the league's treasurer.[10] Wanting to expand into Springfield, Massachusetts, and Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, territory that belonged to the Eastern Association, the Colonial League reorganized itself as a farm system for the Federal League[11] and voluntarily withdrew itself from organized baseball.[12] The Colonial League struggled financially in 1915, and Bannwart's policies were blamed. The quality of baseball was deemed to be below the expected standards of a Class C league in part due to the salary maximums set by Bannwart, diminishing fan interest in the league.[13] In August 1915, Bannwart resigned from the Colonial League.[14] The league collapsed during the 1915-16 offseason.[15]
The Colonial was one of many minor leagues that briefly existed during the post-World War II baseball boom. It competed in the Northeastern United States with five major league clubs in New York and New England, established minor leagues such as the International League, Eastern League, Canadian–American League, Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League (PONY League), and other fledgling circuits such as the postwar New England League and Border League.
As a whole, the Colonial was rarely adopted as a site for farm teams for major league clubs. Only two of its member teams (the 1948 Bridgeport Bees and Port Chester Clippers) ever affiliated with a big league parent club (the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns, respectively).
Baseball Hall of Fame member Jimmie Foxx managed Bridgeport in 1949.
As the minors began to contract in the late 1940s, the Colonial League's days were numbered. It shut its doors on July 14, 1950, with only 80,000 fans reported to have attended games in the entire six-team circuit.
Brockton Shoemakers 1914; Brockton Pilgrims 1915
Fall River Spindles 1914–1915
Hartford Senators 1915
New Bedford Whalers 1914–1915
New Haven MaxFeds 1915
Pawtucket Tigers 1914; Pawtucket Rovers 1915
Springfield Tips 1915
Taunton Herrings 1914–1915
Woonsocket Speeders 1914
Bridgeport Bees 1947–1950
Bristol Owls 1949–1950
Kingston Hubs 1948; Kingston Colonials 1949–1950
New Brunswick Hubs 1948
New London Raiders 1947
Port Chester Clippers 1947–1948
Poughkeepsie Giants 1947; Poughkeepsie Chiefs 1948–1950
Stamford Bombers 1947; Stamford Pioneers 1948–1949
Torrington Braves 1950
Waterbury Timers 1947–1950
1914 Colonial League
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall River Spindles | 62 | 37 | .625 | – | John Kiernan | |
| New Bedford Whalers | 60 | 40 | .600 | 2.5 | Jack O'Brien | |
| Woonsocket Speeders | 49 | 48 | .505 | 12.0 | Roy Dickenson / T.M. Walsh | |
| Taunton Herrings | 44 | 54 | .449 | 17.5 | ||
| Pawtucket Tigers | 45 | 56 | .446 | 18.0 | Jeff Pfeffer/ Nixey Callahan / William Fortin | |
| Brockton Shoemakers | 36 | 61 | .371 | 25.0 |
| Joe Gaudette | Woonsocket | BA | .321 | Johnny Tillman | New Bedford | W | 21 | |
| Joe Gaudette | Woonsocket | Hits | 117 | Merdic McLeod | Fall River | SO | 193 | |
| Aime Prouix | Taunton | Runs | 92 | Joe Gulden | Fall River | W Pct | .786; 11–3 | |
| John Gilmore | Pawtucket | HR | 9 |
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford Senators | 55 | 42 | .567 | – | ||
| Brockton Pilgrims | 57 | 44 | .564 | 0.0 | ||
| New Bedford Whalers | 56 | 45 | .554 | 1.0 | Jack O'Brien | |
| New Haven MaxFeds | 52 | 50 | .510 | 5.5 | ||
| Springfield Tips | 47 | 50 | .485 | 8.0 | Henry Ramsey | |
| Pawtucket Rovers | 37 | 57 | .394 | 16.5 | ||
| 22 | 24 | .478 | NA | Frank Connaughton / William Phoenix | ||
| 14 | 28 | .333 | NA |
| Jim Delahanty | Hartford | BA | .379 | Johnny Tillman | New Bedford | W | 22–6 | ||
| Hughie Miller | Taunton / Springfield | Hits | 116 | Johnny Tillman | New Bedford | SO | 176 | ||
| Frank Kiley | Taunton / Brockton | HR | 4 | Johnny Tillman | New Bedford | Pct | .786 |
1947 Colonial League
schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterbury Timers | 83 | 38 | .686 | – | 33,946 | James Acton |
| Poughkeepsie Giants | 66 | 50 | .569 | 14.5 | 43,403 | |
| Stamford Bombers | 67 | 61 | .523 | 19.5 | 28,697 | |
| New London Raiders | 50 | 67 | .427 | 31.0 | 27,431 | |
| Port Chester Clippers | 51 | 71 | .418 | 32.5 | 18,898 | |
| Bridgeport Bees | 46 | 76 | .377 | 37.5 | 28,320 | Carmen Brunetto |
| Connie Creeden | Port Chester | BA | .395 | Mike Kash | Waterbury | W | 20 | |
| Connie Creeden | Port Chester | Hits | 153 | Sid Schacht | Stamford | SO | 180 | |
| Frank LaManna | Waterbury | RBI | 123 | Joe Murray | Port Chester/Brid. | ERA | 2.34 | |
| Frank LaManna | Waterbury | HR | 21 | |||||
| Vito DeVito | Stamford | Runs | 128 | |||||
1948 Colonial League
schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Chester Clippers | 86 | 53 | .619 | – | 32,198 | |
| Poughkeepsie Chiefs | 76 | 61 | .555 | 9.0 | 38,573 | Steve Mizerak |
| Waterbury Timers | 65 | 68 | .489 | 18.0 | 40,988 | Mike Kash |
| New Brunswick Hubs/ Kingston Hubs | 61 | 71 | .462 | 21.5 | 36,397 | Ed Kobesky |
| Bridgeport Bees | 61 | 72 | .459 | 22.0 | 38,049 | Glenn Snyder / Buddy Hall |
| Stamford Pioneers | 54 | 78 | .409 | 28.5 | 25,640 | |
| Ed Kobesky | Brunswick/Kingston | BA | .390 | Guy Coleman | Port Chester | W | 17 | |
| Joseph DeToia | Poughkeepsie | Hits | 157 | Paul Wargo | Port Chester | SO | 158 | |
| Joseph DeToia | Poughkeepsie | RBI | 96 | Sid Schacht | Stamford | ERA | 2.09 | |
| Zeke Bonura | Stamford | HR | 23 | |||||
| Aldo Casadei | Waterbury | Hits | 157 | |||||
1949 Colonial League
schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Owls | 82 | 47 | .636 | – | 62,485 | |
| Stamford Pioneers | 74 | 52 | .587 | 6.5 | 31,092 | Joe Glenn / Herb Stein |
| Bridgeport Bees | 73 | 54 | .575 | 8.0 | 37,309 | |
| Waterbury Timers | 62 | 63 | .496 | 18.0 | 39,857 | Bert Shepard / Leo Eastham |
| Poughkeepsie Chiefs | 45 | 78 | .366 | 34.0 | 25,123 | Woody Williams / Elmer Weingartner / Gabe Mauro |
| Kingston Colonials | 39 | 81 | .325 | 38.5 | 29,231 | Julius Laviano / Eddie McNamara / Emil Gall |
| Leo Eastham | Waterbury | BA | .349 | Emil Moscowitz | Stamford | W | 19 | |
| George Handy | Bridgeport | Hits | 183 | Phillip Frick | Bridgeport | W | 19 | |
| Jim Callahan | Stamford | RBI | 107 | Ed Hrabczak | Stamford | W | 19 | |
| James Paules | Bridgeport | RBI | 107 | Emil Moscowitz | Stamford | ERA | 2.01 | |
| Leo Eastham | Waterbury | HR | 26 | Ed Hrabczak | Stamford | SO | 234 | |
| Carlos Bernier | Bristol | Runs | 136 | |||||
| Carlos Bernier | Bristol | SB | 89 | |||||
1950 Colonial League
schedule
| Team name | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poughkeepsie Chiefs | 43 | 26 | .623 | – | Robert Doyle |
| Kingston Colonials | 39 | 28 | .582 | 3.0 | Emil Gall |
| Bristol Owls | 36 | 31 | .537 | 6.0 | |
| Torrington Braves | 33 | 32 | .507 | 8.0 | Merle Strachan |
| Waterbury Timers | 23 | 39 | .371 | 16.5 | |
| Bridgeport Bees | 23 | 41 | .359 | 17.5 | Bud Stapleton / Frank Silva |
| Nino Escalera | Bristol | BA | .389 | Emil Moscowitz | Poughkeepsie | W | 12 | |
| Nino Escalera | Bristol | Hits | 93 | Emil Moscowitz | Poughkeepsie | ERA | 1.51 | |
| John Sinnott | Poughkeepsie | RBI | 53 | Emil Moscowitz | Poughkeepski | SO | 102 | |
| Carlos Bernier | Bristol | Runs | 67 | Denny Doyle | Poughkeepsie | SO | 102 | |
| Carlos Santiago | Poughkeepsie | HR | 11 |