Baseball a Century Ago

On May 6, 1926, Litchfield hosted a grand celebration that marked the start of the North Star League. This newly formed baseball league included eight teams. Six of the teams, Cosmos, Darwin, Dassel, Grove City, Kingston, and Litchfield, were from Meeker County. Hutchinson and Lake Lillian rounded out the league.

Grove City baseball team in 1926, members of the North Star League. A close inspection of the photo shows the team members are wearing at least five different uniforms.

As the league began to take shape, there were many decisions to make. Perhaps the biggest decision had to do with each team’s roster. When it came to town baseball, it wasn’t uncommon for teams to improve their lineup by bringing in outside talent. At first, the league thought to restrict the roster to local men only, but eventually decided that each team could bring in one outside player.

But before the games could begin, there was the Opening Field Day. At 2:00, a parade began from Litchfield’s Central Park with thousands of people in attendance. Businesses were closed, and schools let out early. The Cosmos Band led the way, with all eight baseball teams to follow, along with community groups, school children, and prominent citizens.

The parade led to the ballpark. There were a few speeches and various entertainment, but the main attraction, of course, was baseball. To give all of the teams a chance to participate, four games of four innings were played.

Like many outdoor sporting events, the weather affected the game. The infield was hot and dry, and any gust of wind or movement by the players would set up a cloud of dust. Luckily, a large sprinkler wagon was brought in to wet down the playing surface. The players might have also blamed the wind for several fielding errors, although the local Litchfield Review wondered if stage fright might have also played a part in things. Grove City, Hutchinson, and Cosmos won. The game between Dassel and Lake Lillian ended in a tie as daylight began to fade.

All in all, the Opening Day was declared a success and a great start to the inaugural season for the North Star League. The 1926 season officially ran from May 9 to August 8. Teams would play each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 56 league games. At the end of the season, the team with the most wins in the first half of the year and the second half would face off for the league championship. In 1926, the two leaders were Dassel and Grove City. Dassel won the championship and went on to participate in the Minnesota State Championship, where they lost to a team from Minneapolis.

Unfortunately, the North Star League only lasted four seasons (although there would be different versions through the years). During those four years, the league’s teams changed every year, with Litchfield and Dassel being the only league members in all four seasons. Over the next several decades, many Meeker County teams came and went. It wasn’t until 2017 that the Litchfield and Dassel teams both found themselves members of the North Star League once again.