Edmonton Eskimos (baseball)

This article is about the minor league baseball team in the early 20th century. For the Canadian Football League team previously known as the Eskimos, see Edmonton Elks.

Edmonton Eskimos
(1909–1914, 1920–1922, 1953–1954) Edmonton, Alberta
Minor league affiliations
Class	Class A (1953–1954) [1] Class B (1920–1921,1922) Class D (1909–1914) [2]
League	Western International League (1953–1954) Western International League (1922) Western Canada League (1909–1914, 1920–1921) [3]
Minor league titles
League titles	1910 (co-champions with Calgary Bronchos) [3]
Team data
Previous names	Edmonton Esquimos (1920) Edmonton Gray Birds (1912–1913) [3]
Ballpark	Diamond Park, Renfrew Park [ citation needed ]

The Edmonton Eskimos were a Canadian minor league baseball team that played in Edmonton, Alberta in various leagues between 1909 and 1914, and again from 1920 to 1922.

Class D years: 1909–1914

The first incarnation of the Eskimos team joined the Western Canada League in 1909, playing against teams from various provinces in western Canada. The league was classified as a Class D league, the lowest minor league level, and the team had to operate under a $750 salary cap. ^[4]

The team was not particularly successful. In 1910, the team earned a co-championship with the Calgary Bronchos, but the team's overall record across their six seasons was 273-324. The team folded, along with the Western Canada League as a whole, after the 1914 season. ^[3]

The team was known as the Gray Birds in 1912 and 1913. ^[3]

Class B years: 1920–1922

In 1919, after World War I ended, the Western Canada League re-formed. A year later, in 1920, the Eskimos also re-formed and joined the new Western Canada League. They played as the Esquimos for the 1920 season before returning to the original spelling for 1921 and 1922.

The new Western Canada League was a six-team Class B league, two levels higher in the minor league system, and with a $1000 salary cap. ^[4] The team played in this league for the 1920 and 1921 season, but again had little success, finishing in the bottom half of the league both years. ^[3]

After the 1921 season, the Western Canada League folded again. Two teams from the WCL (Calgary and Edmonton) joined with two teams from the Pacific Coast International League to form the Western International League, a new Class B league. The WIL was unstable and folded midway through the 1922 season, when Edmonton was in second place out of the four teams. The team folded as well. ^{[3] : 587}

1950s revival

Another baseball team called the Edmonton Eskimos were members of a new Western International League in 1953 and 1954, a Class A league. They won 141 games and lost 124 across their two seasons. In 1954, the league and the team folded. ^{[3] : 589}

References

1. "Western International League (A) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
2. "Western Canada League (D) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
3. Sumner, Benjamin Barrett (2000). Minor league baseball standings : all North American leagues, through 1999. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. pp. 580–581, 587, 589. ISBN   978-0-7864-0781-1 . Retrieved June 2, 2025.
4. "Minor Leagues Form an Agreement For Protection—National and American Left Out". Davenport Weekly Republican. Davenport, Iowa. September 10, 1901. p. 3. Retrieved June 2, 2025– via newspapers.com.