Buffalo Blues

Last updated
Buffalo Blues
Information
Location Buffalo, New York
Year founded 1914
Year disbanded 1915
League championships0
Former name(s)
  • Buffalo Blues (1915)
  • Buffalo Buffeds (1914)
Former league(s)
Former ballparks
OwnershipWalter Mullen
Laurens Enos
Oliver Cabana Jr.
William E. Robertson
Manager Larry Schlafly
Walter Blair
Harry Lord
Buffalo Blues, baseball team 1915 Buffalo Blues, baseball team 1915.jpg
Buffalo Blues, baseball team 1915
William E. Robertson was president of the Buffalo, New York Federal League baseball team William E. Robertson, President of Buffalo Federal League baseball team LCCN2014695917 (cropped).jpg
William E. Robertson was president of the Buffalo, New York Federal League baseball team

The Buffalo Blues were a professional baseball club that played in the short-lived Federal League, which was a minor league in 1913 and a full-fledged outlaw major league the next two years. It was the last major league baseball team to be based in the city of Buffalo. In 1913 and 1914, as was the standard for Federal League teams, the franchise did not have an official name, instead going by the generic BufFeds.

Contents

The Buffalo team played at International Fair Association Grounds. Due to delays in construction of their new ballpark, the team did not play their first home game until a month after the Federal League season had started. Buffalo sold shares of stock of the team to the public through a series of newspaper ads. Preferred shares were sold for $10 each.

In the 1914 season, the team posted an 80–71 record (.530) and finished in fourth place, seven games behind the league champion Indianapolis Hoosiers. In the league's second and final season, the team, then known as the Buffalo Blues, ended in sixth place with a 74–78 mark (.487), 12 games behind the Chicago Whales.

An unusual player who played for the Blues in 1914 was Ed Porray; the only major leaguer whose birthplace is not a place, but rather noted as "on a ship somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean," on December 5, 1888.

Between the Buffalo players who had experience in the American and/or National leagues were Hugh Bedient, Walter Blair, Hal Chase, Tom Downey, Howard Ehmke, Ed Lafitte, Harry Lord and Russ Ford.

Baseball in Buffalo

Baldy Louden, in the uniform of the Buffalo Buffeds of the Federal League of Major League Baseball, 1914. (Baldy Louden, Buffalo Federal League (baseball)) (LOC).jpg
Baldy Louden, in the uniform of the Buffalo Buffeds of the Federal League of Major League Baseball, 1914.

Buffalo has had three attempts at major league baseball. Prior to the Buffeds, were the Buffalo Bisons, from which the current minor league team derives its name and history. They entered the NL in 1879 and came in third place only 10 games out from first place. They had two notable players; Hall of Famers Pud Galvin and Dan Brouthers. The Bisons team was dropped from the NL in 1885. In 1890, another Buffalo baseball team emerged coincidentally called the Bisons. This team, a member of the upstart Players League, has notably one of the worst season records to date. The Buffalo Blues were the last of the three major league teams Buffalo had between 1879 and 1915. [1] A proposed Continental League team (to be owned by future Buffalo Sabres owner Robert O. Swados) was slated for Buffalo in 1961, but the league folded before playing any games.

The closest that any major league baseball team has come to Buffalo since then is Toronto (70 miles (110 km) away as the crow flies), where the Toronto Blue Jays have played since 1977. Due to border travel restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blue Jays played their home games at Buffalo's Sahlen Field (a facility designed to be easily upgraded to MLB standards) for the 2020 and part of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, marking the first major league games played in Buffalo in 104 years. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs was a proposed third major league for baseball in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 1961 season. Unlike predecessor competitors such as the Players' League and the Federal League, it sought membership within organized baseball's existing organization and acceptance within Major League Baseball. The league disbanded in August 1960 without playing a single game as a concession by William A. Shea as part of his negotiations with Major League Baseball to expand to incorporate at least eight new teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trenton Thunder</span> Minor league baseball team

The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Bisons</span> Minor League Baseball (AAA) team in Buffalo, New York

The Buffalo Bisons are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Field, the highest-capacity Triple-A ballpark in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sahlen Field</span> Baseball stadium in Buffalo, New York

Sahlen Field is a baseball park in Buffalo, New York, United States. Originally known as Pilot Field, the venue has since been named Downtown Ballpark, North AmeriCare Park, Dunn Tire Park, and Coca-Cola Field. Home to the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, it opened on April 14, 1988, and can seat up to 16,600 people, making it the highest-capacity Triple-A ballpark in the United States. It replaced the Bisons' former home, War Memorial Stadium, where the team played from 1979 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trenton Thunder Ballpark</span> Baseball stadium in Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton Thunder Ballpark, formerly known as Mercer County Waterfront Park and Arm & Hammer Park, is a ballpark in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the home park for the Trenton Thunder, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They were previously a Double-A level Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League (1994–2020). For 2021, it served as temporary home of Triple-A East's Buffalo Bisons, as their regular stadium, Sahlen Field, was being used by the Toronto Blue Jays due to travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The official seating capacity is 6,440.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunedin Blue Jays</span> Minor league baseball team

The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, which opened in 1990 and seats 8,500 people.

The Worcester Worcesters were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team from 1880 to 1882 in the National League. The team is referred to, at times, as the Brown Stockings or the Ruby Legs; however, no contemporary sources from the time exist that support the use of either name. The team played their home games at the Worcester Driving Park Grounds in the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds, located south of Highland Street between Sever Street and Russell Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TD Ballpark</span> Baseball field in Florida, USA

TD Ballpark, originally Dunedin Stadium at Grant Field, is a baseball field located in Dunedin, Florida. The stadium was built in 1990 and holds 8,500 people. It is the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as home to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League and the Dunedin High School Falcons baseball team. The stadium has also been known as Knology Park (2004–2008) and Florida Auto Exchange Stadium (2010–2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Bisons (National League)</span> Former Major League Baseball team of the National League in Buffalo, New York from 1879–1885

The original Buffalo Bisons baseball club played in the National League between 1879 and 1885. The Bisons played their games at Riverside Park (1879–1883) and Olympic Park (1884–1885) in Buffalo, New York. The NL Bisons are included in the history of the minor-league team of the same name that still plays today; it is thus the only NL team from the 19th century that both still exists and no longer plays in Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1915 Buffalo Blues season</span> Major League Baseball season

The 1915 Buffalo Blues season was a season in American baseball. The team, which did not have an official nickname but was generally known as the Buffeds the previous year, adopted the "Blues" nickname for the 1915 season. They finished 74–78, good for 6th place in the Federal League, 12 games behind the Chicago Whales. After the season, both the team and the league folded. It would be 105 more years—when the Toronto Blue Jays temporarily moved to Buffalo to play the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and avoid border restrictions—before Buffalo hosted Major League Baseball again.

The Buffalo Bisons were a professional Triple-A minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York that was founded in 1886 and last played in the International League from 1912 to 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thruway Cup</span>

The Thruway Cup is an annual competition between Minor League Baseball's Buffalo Bisons, Rochester Red Wings, and Syracuse Mets of the International League. The Cup standings are compiled from the games the teams play against each other through the course of the regular season. The team at the top of the standings at the end of the season is crowned the Thruway Cup champion and wins the Thruway Cup trophy. Unique to this competition, it was agreed that any team winning the trophy three times would get to "retire" the cup and keep it as their own. As of the end of the 2021 season, Rochester has won ten times, Buffalo nine times, and Syracuse four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Buffalo</span>

Buffalo and its greater metropolitan area is currently home to three major league sports teams. The Buffalo Sabres & The Buffalo Bandits play in the City of Buffalo, and The Buffalo Bills play in the suburb of Orchard Park. Buffalo is also home to several minor league sports teams, including the Buffalo Bisons and FC Buffalo. Several local colleges and universities are active in college athletics, including Canisius College, Niagara University and The State University of New York at Buffalo at the NCAA Division I level. Buffalo was host city for the 1993 World University Games, for which Burt Flickinger Center and University at Buffalo Stadium were built.

The 2020 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 44th season of the Toronto Blue Jays franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago Espinal</span> Dominican baseball player (born 1994)

Santiago Roman Espinal is a Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 10th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Tampa Bay Rays season</span> Major League Baseball season

The 2021 Tampa Bay Rays season was the 24th season of the Tampa Bay Rays franchise and their 14th as the Rays. The Rays played their home games at Tropicana Field as members of Major League Baseball's American League East Division.

References

  1. "Buffalo Baseball Briefly – Mop-Up Duty".
  2. "Toronto Blue Jays to play home games at Buffalo's Sahlen Field this season".