DNR - Lansing Senators Baseball Team

Lansing Senators Baseball Team

For an extended view of the above image, click 1914 Lansing Senators - Large View.

Behold, the Lansing Senators!

The Senators held an appropriate name, as they represented Michigan's capital city. Sadly, this photo was taken during the team's last season in Lansing. However, it was neither the beginning nor the end of Lansing's association with minor league baseball.

According to Marc Okkonen's Minor League Baseball Towns in Michigan: Adrian to Ypsilanti, Lansing welcomed its first professional baseball team in 1889. A Corunna, Michigan native named William Mumby managed this team (unnamed in Okkonen's account) and also played shortstop. In the team's first year, it finished at fifth place in the Michigan State League. Okkonen notes that the league "collapsed" the following year and that the Lansing team collapsed with it.

Five years later, there was a new Michigan State League and former Lansing manager William Mumby was the president. Lansing, also, had a new team that year, and this was the first "Lansing Senators" team. Perhaps the most noteworthy fact about this 1895 team is that one player, Bud Fowler, was black (This was over fifty years before Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black major league player.).

The 1895 team played at the "State Lot," located on the corner of Washtenaw and Walnut. The team failed to renew its lease and didn't play in 1896. It played again at the State Lot in 1897, but then the new Michigan State League disbanded. Yet another Michigan State League was formed in 1902, with yet another Lansing team, but it fell apart in August of the same year.

Finally, in 1906, the Southern Michigan League was founded. The next year, Jack Morrisey (a member of the 1895 Lansing Senators) put together another Lansing Senators team for the SML. This new team endured until 1914 and is the one depicted in the image above. It, too, used the State Lot at Washtenaw and Walnut. Morrisey served as owner, manager and player.

The new Senators fared poorly during their first three seasons. In 1910, however, they acquired a new pitcher, Homer "Slab" Warner and a new first baseman, Vic Saier. Afterwards, their fortunes improved, and in 1910 and 1911, they finished in second place (The Kalamazoo team finished first in both seasons.). They lost a star player in 1911, however, as Sair moved to the major leagues and began playing for the Chicago Cubs. After that season, the team's fortunes declined.

Finally, in 1914 - the year of the above photo - the Senators left Lansing. On June 30, 1914, the State Journal reported that "President [James] Frank of the Southern Michigan League has demanded as a condition of maintaining the team here that 150 books of tickets be circulated." The State Journal noted that a "citizen's committee" of fans were working to sell the tickets. The paper also stated that "canvassers were optimistic over the outlook" and that "One [canvasser] declared that there is every indication that Lansing will retain its baseball club..."

Alas, this hope was shortly dashed. The very next day, a prominent State Journal headline read, "President Frank Orders Transfer of Lansing Club." Only eighty-two ticket books had been sold, and this was far short of the 150-book goal. Peter Filichia, in his book, Professional Baseball Franchises: From the Abbeville Athletics to the Zanesville Indians, Peter Filichia notes that the Lansing Senators moved to Mount Clemens, Michigan. The former Senators then became the Mount Clemens Bathers (This was undoubtedly a reference to Mt. Clemens' famed mineral baths. Click Mount Clemens history for more information.)

In subsequent decades, there were several attempts to form a successful minor league team in Lansing. A new Senators team appeared in 1921, but only lasted a couple years. Another Lansing team formed in 1926 and disbanded after a single season. The Lansing Lancers formed in 1940, became the Senators in 1941, and then were no more.

Finally, in 1996, the Lansing Lugnuts began their inaugural season at Lansing's Oldsmobile Park. They remain in this location today. The Lugnuts represent Lansing in the Midwest League and are currently a class A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. For more information on the Lugnuts, click Lansing Lugnuts Official Web Site.

-Bob Garrett, Archivist
E-mail:garrettr1@michigan.gov

For statistics on the 1914 Lansing Senators/Mount Clemens Bathers team, click 1914 Lansing Senators Statistics (www.baseball-reference.com)

Below is a list of previous Image of the Month features with baseball themes. Click on a title to access the corresponding feature.

The Detroit Wolverines and the 1887 World Series

Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers

Hank Greenberg and the Detroit Tigers 1945 Season

House of David Baseball Team

See a Michigan "vintage baseball team!"

The following three teams - representing Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries sites - play baseball by nineteenth century rules. Click the team names below for information on each team.

Fort Mackinac Never Sweats

Hartwick Pines Swampers Base Ball Club (Hartwick Pines Logging Museum)

Walker Wheels Base Ball Club (Walker Tavern Historical Site)

Below are some books on early baseball and on baseball in Michigan. Some were consulted for this article. Clicking on a title retrieves the MELCat library catalog record for the book.

Professional Baseball Franchises: From the Abbeville Athletics to the Zanesville Indians by Peter Filichia

Baseball Fever: Early Baseball in Michigan by Peter Morris (This is a 2004 Michigan Notable Books Selection.)

Minor League Baseball Towns in Michigan: Adrian to Ypsilanti by Mark Okkonen

The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It by Lawrence S. Ritter

Baseball (3 volumes) by Harold Seymour

Click Archives of Michigan to visit the Archives of Michigan home page.

Click Image of the Month Archives to access former Image of the Month pages.

Archives of Michigan
Michigan Library and Historical Center
702 W. Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48913
Phone: (517) 373-1408
E-mail: archives@michigan.gov

This page is the Archives Image of the Month page for June 2009.

Updated 06/24/2009

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
Use and Reproduction Information [PDF]
Contact us with your question or comment about this page.