Kansas State League

The Kansas State League was a professional baseball league in the United States operated in the state of Kansas in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century.

The first circuit was established in 1887 as a Minor League Baseball "no classification" league and existed for that year only.

The league continued again and played four seasons, 1895 to 1898 as a "no classification" league.

Progressing into the 20th century, the circuit played in 1905-06 as a class D league and this stint lasted two years.

The last segment of the league operated as a class D league for six seasons, 1909-14. The 1912 season was played under the Central Kansas League name. After the 1914 season the league permanently disbanded.

League overview

Year	Champion	Teams	Classification	League President	Notes
1905	Ellsworth	6	D	George T. Tremble
1906	Independence Coyotes	8	D	Edward Bero, Jr.
1909	Lyons Lions	8	D	P. H. Hostutler
1910	Hutchinson Salt Packers	8	D	P. H. Hostutler
1911	Great Bend Millers	8	D	C. A. Case/Roy C. Gafford	League disbanded on July 11
1913	Great Bend Millers	6	D	Roy C. Gafford
1914	Emporia Bidwells	4	D	Roy C. Gafford

Season summaries

1905–1906 League

1905

Standings
Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Ellsworth	34	15	.694	-.-	N/A
Great Bend Millers^{[a 1]}	19	9	.679	4.5	Carl Moore
Minneapolis Minnies	24	22	.522	8.5	Roy Gafford
Hutchinson Salt Miners	22	24	.478	10.5	Cook/Fred Abbott
Lincoln Center^{[a 1]}	11	19	.375	13.5	Simpson
Kingman/Hoisington^{[a 2]}	13	34	.276	20.0	N/A

1 2 Great Bend Millers and Lincoln Center joined the league on July 6.
↑ The Kingman franchise disbanded on July 22. Hoisington took team's place in the league July 24.

League Leaders
Statistic	Player	Team	Number
Wins	Jones	Ellsworth	10
	Cy Mason	Hutchinson Salt Miners
	Arthur Relihan	Ellsworth
Winning percentage	Jones	Ellsworth	.909 (10-1)
Complete games	Cy Mason	Hutchinson Salt Miners	15
Shutouts	Jones	Ellsworth	5

Two No-Hitters were thrown in 1905. One by Lefty Holmes of Great Bend, and the other by Salter of Minneapolis.

1906

Standings
Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Independence Coyotes	69	48	.590	-.-	Charles McLin/Crutcher/John Hendley
Iola Grays/Cherryvale Boosters^{[b 1]}	62	50	.554	4.5	William Burns
Parsons Preachers	60	50	.545	5.5	C. Pinkerton/P. P. Duffy/B. L. Taft
Coffeyville Bricks	58	50	.537	6.5	Ed Mahley/Harry Barndollar/Haisman/Finney
Bartlesville Indians	51	64	.443	17.0	Gus Albert
Chanute Browns	31	82	.274	36.0	A. Allen
Fort Scott Giants^{[b 2]}	35	18	.660	NA	M. McDonald
Pittsburg Champs/Vinita^{[b 3]} ^{[b 2]}	30	25	.545	NA	H. Bartley/William Burns

↑ The Iola Grays moved to Cherryvale, Kansas on June 15 becoming the Cherryvale Boosters.
1 2 The Fort Scott Giants and Vinita disbanded on July 5. The league discarded all games played before July 10 and the season was restarted.
↑ The Pittsburg Champs moved to Vinita, Oklahoma on June 6.

League Leaders
Statistic	Player	Team	Number
Batting average	Ben Haas	Independence Coyotes	.341
Hits	Ed Foster	Coffeyville Bricks	97
Runs	Wilder Gray	Coffeyville Bricks	44
Wins	Chick Brandom	Independence Coyotes	16
Strikeouts	Chick Brandom	Independence Coyotes	121
Winning percentage	Harry Womack	Coffeyville Bricks	1.000 (10-0)

1909–1911 League

1909

Standings
Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Lyons Lions	61	37	.622	-.-	Cecil Bankhead
Hutchinson Salt Packers	60	37	.619	0.5	Bill Zink
McPherson Merry Macks	59	37	.615	1.0	O. P. Depew/Earl Green
Great Bend Millers	49	48	.505	11.5	Rudy Kling/Stillings
Wellington Dukes	44	54	.449	17.0	Cy Mason/John Meade
Newton Railroaders	42	54	.438	18.0	Con Harlow/A. Stillwell
Arkansas City-Winfield Twins^{[c 1]}	41	56	.423	19.5	M. E. Parks/Frank Layne/Bennie Owens
Strong City-Cottonwood Falls/Larned Cowboys^{[c 2]}	32	65	.330	28.5	Butch Freese/Buck Weaver

↑ The city of Winfield bought partial interest in the Arkansas City franchise on July 22.
↑ The Strong City-Cottonwood Falls Twin Cities moved to Larned, Kansas on July 12 becoming the Larned Cowboys.

League Leaders
Statistic	Player	Team	Number
Batting average	Jim Miller	Newton Railroaders	.342
Home Runs	Pete LaFlambois	Arkansas City-Winfield Twins	6
Hits	Jim Miller	Newton Railroaders	119
Runs	Jasper Hainsey	McPherson Merry Macks	66
Wins	Robert Hassler	Lyons Lions	25
Strikeouts	Robert Hassler	Lyons Lions	193
Winning percentage	Pearl Stanley	Hutchinson Salt Packers	.793 (23-6)

1910

Standings
Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Hutchinson Salt Packers	70	39	.642	-.-	Bill Zink
McPherson Merry Macks	58	49	.542	11.0	D. Conklin/F. J. Synek
Lyons Lions	57	53	.518	13.5	Cecil Bankhead/Joe Riggert/Buck Ebright/John Jones
Newton Railroaders	56	54	.509	14.5	Mel Backus
Great Bend Millers	54	55	.495	16.0	Charles Lyons
Wellington Dukes	48	56	.461	19.5	C. Pinkerton/Ody Abbott/Harry Vitter/Lewis Armstrong
Larned Wheat Kings	46	56	.451	20.5	Buck Weaver/Harry McLean
Arkansas City Grays	40	67	.374	29.0	L. Evans/Dennis McGuire/Doc Baker

League Leaders
Statistic	Player	Team	Number
Batting average	Joe Riggert	Lyons Lions	.362
Home Runs	Joe Riggert	Lyons Lions	13
Hits	Bill Zink	Hutchinson Salt Packers	141
Runs	Charles Weisner	Lyons Lions	132
Wins	E. J. Smith	Hutchinson Salt Packers	18
Wins	Walt Sizemore	Lyons Lions	18
Strikeouts	Rolla Maple	Great Bend Millers	205
Winning percentage	E. J. Smith	Hutchinson Salt Packers	.750 (18-6)

1911

The league disbanded on July 11 due to crop failures and drought. There are no team or individual statistics were available.

Standings
Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Great Bend Millers	39	20	.661	0	Affie Wilson/William Luhrsen
Newton Railroaders	39	21	.650	0.5	N/A
Lyons Lions	37	27	.578	4.5	Spencer Abbott
McPherson Merry Macks	31	28	.525	8.0	Joseph Harris
Hutchinson Salt Packers	29	29	.500	9.5	Bill Zink
Larned Wheat Kings	23	32	.418	14.0	Harry Berte
El Dorado Crushers	15	33	.313	18.5	Bill Annis/Walter Sizemore
Wellington Dukes^{[d 1]}	15	38	.283	21.0	Peter Ketter/C. E. Powell/Ned Price

↑ The Wellington Dukes played 10 home games in Wichita, Kansas from June 11 to June 23.

1913–1914 League

1913

Standings
Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Great Bend Millers	53	36	.596	-.-	Affie Wilson/William Luhrsen
Clay Center Cubs	51	37	.580	1.5	Max Addington
Lyons Lions	50	39	.562	3.0	William Nelson
Salina Insurgents	26	63	.292	27.0	Lon Ury/Mike Welday
Manhattan Elks^{[e 1]}	27	24	.529	N/A	Fred Moore
Junction City Soldiers^{[e 1]}	21	29	.420	N/A	Norm Price/Cecil Bankhead

1 2 After the Junction City Soldiers disbanded on July 9, the league to dropped the Manhattan Elks on the following day.

League Leaders
Statistic	Player	Team	Number
Batting average	John Singleton	Clay Center Cubs	.335
Hits	John Singleton	Clay Center Cubs	133
Runs	John Singleton	Clay Center Cubs	78
Wins	J. L. O'Byrne	Lyons Lions	17
Winning percentage	C. H. Riley	Great Bend Millers	1.000 (9-0)

1914

Standings
Team	W	L	GB	Managers
Emporia Bidwells	54	32	0.0	Ira Bidwell
Salina Coyotes	47	41	8.0	Dick Robin
Hutchinson Packers	40	49	15.5	Jesse Clifton
Great Bend Millers	35	54	20.5	Affie Wilson

Statistics
Stat	Player	Team	Number
Batting average	Pete LaFlambois	Emporia Bidwells	.342
Hits	Rick Freeman	Hutchinson Packers	98
Wins	Otis Lambeth Ralph Shimeal	Emporia Bidwells Emporia Bidwells	14
Runs	Paul Turgeon	Emporia Bidwells	61
Strikeouts	Powell Burnett	Salina Coyotes	166
Winning percentage	Otis Lambeth	Emporia Bidwells	.737 (14-5)

League Presidents

1905–1906 League

George T. Tremble: 1905
Edward Bero, Jr.: 1906

1909–1911 League

P. H. Hostutler: 1909–1910
C. A. Case: 1911
Roy C. Gafford: 1911

1913–1914 League

Roy C. Gafford: 1913–1914

Cities represented

1905–1906 League

Bartlesville, Oklahoma: Bartlesville Indians 1906
Chanute, Kansas: Chanute Browns 1906
Cherryvale, Kansas: Cherryvale Boosters 1906
Coffeyville, Kansas: Coffeyville Bricks 1906
Ellsworth, Kansas: Ellsworth 1905
Fort Scott, Kansas: Fort Scott Giants 1906
Great Bend, Kansas: Great Bend Millers 1905
Hoisington, Kansas: Hoisington 1905
Hutchinson, Kansas: Hutchinson Salt Miners 1905
Independence, Kansas: Independence Coyotes 1906
Iola, Kansas: Iola Grays 1906
Kingman, Kansas: Kingman 1905
Lincoln Center, Kansas: Lincoln Center 1905
Minneapolis, Kansas: Minneapolis Minnies 1905
Parsons, Kansas: Parsons Preachers 1906
Pittsburg, Kansas: Pittsburg Champs 1906
Vinita, Oklahoma: Vinita 1906

1909–1911 League

Arkansas City, Kansas & Winfield, Kansas: Arkansas City-Winfield Twins 1909; Arkansas City Grays 1910
El Dorado, Kansas: El Dorado Crushers 1911
Great Bend, Kansas: Great Bend Millers 1909–1911
Hutchinson, Kansas: Hutchinson Salt Packers 1909–1911
Larned, Kansas: Larned Cowboys 1909; Larned Wheat Kings 1910–1911
Lyons, Kansas: Lyons Lions 1909–1911
McPherson, Kansas: McPherson Merry Macks 1909–1911
Newton, Kansas: Newton Railroaders 1909–1911
Strong City, Kansas & Cottonwood Falls, Kansas: Strong City-Cottonwood Falls Twin Citys 1909
Wellington, Kansas: Wellington Dukes 1909–1911

1913–1914 League

Clay Center, Kansas: Clay Center Cubs 1913, moved from Central Kansas League
Emporia, Kansas: Emporia Bidwells 1914
Great Bend, Kansas: Great Bend Millers 1913–1914, moved from Central Kansas League
Hutchinson, Kansas: Hutchinson Packers 1914
Junction City, Kansas: Junction City Soldiers 1913, moved from Central Kansas League
Lyons, Kansas: Lyons Lions 1913, moved from Central Kansas League
Manhattan, Kansas: Manhattan Elks 1913, moved from Central Kansas League
Salina, Kansas: Salina Insurgents 1913, moved from Central Kansas League; Salina Coyotes 1914

Sources

Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (1997, second edition), edited by W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff
Baseball Reference: Kansas State League

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