Empire State League (1905–1907) Explained

The Empire State League was a minor league baseball league that played from 1905 to 1907. The 14 different league franchises were based exclusively in New York (state). The league name was succeeded by the 1913 Empire State League based in Georgia and Empire State League (1987) based in New York (state).

History

On March 22, 1905, the Empire State League was formed at a meeting held in Syracuse, New York. The teams were selected and R.C. Mayor of Rome was elected secretary and treasurer. Salaries were set at $600.00 per month for each team.^[1]

The 1905 Empire State League began play as an eight–team independent league on May 26, 1905. Seneca Falls won the championship with a 42–26 record and several teams folded or relocated during the 1905 season.^{[2] [3]}

In 1906, the Empire State League reduced to six teams, beginning the season on May 26, 1906 and becoming a Class D level minor league.^{[4] [5]} With a record of 48–26, Seneca Falls again won the championship.^[6]

In its final season of play, the 1907 Empire State League continued play as a six–team Class D level league and crowned a new champion.^{[7] [4]} The Oswego Starchmakers finished 1.0 game ahead of second place Seneca Falls to win the league championship.^[8]

M.T. Roche served as president of the Empire State League for all three seasons of play.^[9]

Cities represented

• Auburn, NY

Auburn 1906–1907

• Canandaigua, NY

Canandaigua 1905

• Cortland, NY

Cortland 1905

• Fulton, NY

Fulton 1905–1907

• Geneva, NY

Geneva 1905–1907

• Ilion, NY

Ilion 1905

• Lyons, NY

Lyons 1905, 1907

• Oneida, NY

Oneida 1905

• Oswego, NY

Oswego Starchmakers 1905–1907

• Palmyra, NY

Palmyra 1905

• Penn Yan, NY

Penn Yan 1906

• Rome, NY

Rome 1905

• Seneca Falls, NY

Seneca Falls 1905–1907

• Syracuse, NY

Syracuse 1906 ^[10]

Standings & statistics

1905 Empire State League

Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Seneca Falls	42	26	.618	-	Larry Sutton / J. Doyle
Palmyra / Geneva	33	22	.600	2.5	Bade Myers / George Williams
Rome	41	30	.577	2.5	NA
Lyons	31	35	.470	10.0
Oswego Starchmakers	32	44	.421	14.0	NA
Ilion / Fulton	20	39	.339	22.5	NA
Oneida	22	13	.629	NA	Flanagan
Canandaigua	11	19	.367	NA	NA
	00	00	.000	NA	NA

Palmyra moved to Geneva in June; Ilion moved to Fulton July 10; Cortland disbanded July 18 (record unknown); Oneida disbanded July 25; Canandaigua disbanded July 27. ^{[3] [2] [11]}

1906 Empire State League
schedule

Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Seneca Falls	48	32	.600	-	Edward McGuire
Geneva	47	32	.595	0.5	John Murray
Auburn	37	35	.514	7.0
Oswego Starchmakers	40	38	.513	7.0	Larry Sutton / William Mackey
Fulton	30	45	.400	15.5	John Stevenson
Penn Yan / Syracuse	20	40	.333	18.0	Manion / John O'Neil

Penn Yan (20–40) moved to Syracuse August 23; Syracuse folded before playing a game.^{[12] [6] [11]}

1907 Empire State League
schedule

Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Oswego Starchmakers	55	29	.655	-	Chauncer Elliot
Seneca Falls	56	32	.636	1.0	T.C. Doyle
Auburn	44	39	.530	10.5
Fulton	43	42	.506	12.5	John Stevenson
Geneva	34	51	.400	21.5	John Murray
Lyons	25	64	.281	32.5	J.M. Flynn

^{[8] [11]}

Notes and References

1. Seneca County courier-journal. (Seneca Falls, N.Y.) 1902-1944, March 23, 1905, Image 1. March 23, 1905. 1905/03/23. 1. nyshistoricnewspapers.org.
2. Web site: 1905 Empire State League (ESL) Minor League Baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
3. Web site: 1905 Empire State League. Baseball-Reference.com.
4. Web site: 1906 Empire State League (ESL) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
5. Web site: 1906 Empire State League. Baseball-Reference.com.
6. Web site: 1906 Empire State League (ESL) Minor League Baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
7. Web site: 1907 Empire State League. Baseball-Reference.com.
8. Web site: 1907 Empire State League (ESL) Minor League Baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
9. Book: Kane, Mary Ann. Cortland County. June 11, 1999. Arcadia Publishing. 9780738544533 . Google Books.
10. Web site: Empire State League (ESL) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
11. Book: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball . Lloyd . Johnson . Miles . Wolff . Third . . 2007 . 978-1932391176.
12. Web site: 1906 Penn Yan/Syracuse minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.