We hop into our way back machine and head to the year 1902 where the Red & Assiniboine Rivers converge, darn near the longitudinal centre of North America and the capital of the province of Manitoba. Grab a snack and a beverage of your choosing (currently a back bacon sammich, some all-dressed Ruffles, and a small cup of maple syrup for me…no not really, just a Diet Coke over here), and let’s head to Winnipeg.
I’ve broadly broken down the background into two “eras”:
The “Maroons” Era (1902-1953)
The “Goldeyes” Era (1954-present day)
The Maroons Era
Starting in 1902, Winnipeg was a mainstay in the Northern League until 1942 with some pitstops in the Northern-Copper Country League, Western Canada League, and Central International League, scattered throughout this time. Playing their home game at Happyland Park from 1906 to 1922 and at Sherburn Park after that, The Maroons were eight-time Northern League champions (1902/1903/1907/1916/1935/1939/1942) while being affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1936.
Their first manager was Edward Francis “Ned” Egan, who spent three seasons at the helm winning two championships. Ned has been known as “The Connie Mack Of The Minors” and “King Of The Bushes” winning an additional 6 titles over his managerial career. He has also been credited with helping develop future major leaguers Burleigh Grimes, Lee Magee, Cy Slapnicka, Hank Severeid, and Cliff Lee. Career managerial record: 16 seasons, 252 games, 215-171 (.557)
We last see the Maroons in 1942 with no baseball in the mix again until the Winnipeg Buffaloes showed up in the Manitoba-Dakota League in the 1950 season and played there until the end of the 1953 season.
This takes us to…
The Goldeyes Era
Returning to the Northern League fray from 1954 through 1964, the Goldeyes won three league titles (1957/1959/1960) and were a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate.
A five-year gap with no Goldeyes baseball was broken in 1969, jumping back into the Northern League as a short-season affiliate of the expansion Kansas City Royals.
1970 & 1971: The Winnipeg Whips, playing in the International League, were the Triple-A affiliate of the Montreal Expos.
Originally the Buffalo Bison, The Expos bought the club in 1969 and relocated the team to Winnipeg
By the 1971 season, the team (parent and minor leagues) didn’t have many players that could contribute at any of their levels and it showed. A 44-96 season wrapped up with the team becoming the Peninsula Whips for 1972 with ever-increasing costs and some bad attendance being the main culprits.
This led to a very large gap in pro ball in Winnipeg that ended in 1994 when the Rochester Aces relocated to Winnipeg and the Goldeyes entered a newly formed independent Northern League. To say they returned with a bang may be an understatement. How about a championship in their first year and nearly a quarter million fans attending games? Sounds pretty good and that’s exactly what happened.
The Goldeyes remained in the Northern League until the 2011 season when they joined former Northern League teams St. Paul’s, Sioux City, and Sioux Falls in the American Association, where they continue to play today. In 2012 they won the American Association championship then won back-to-back titles in 2016 & 2017.
The 2023 season was a tough one for the Goldeyes finished with a 43-57 record, last place in the West Division, and 16.5 games back of the division-winning Kansas City Monarchs.
Thanks for checking in with a little bit of Canadian baseball history today. This “series” will be going on hiatus through the rest of the regular season and will be looking to bring this or some version of a Canadian history series back in the off-season. We’ll still visit with some Inductees throughout the season but we’re going to be plunging into Canadian prospects and MILBers. We’ll start by concentrating on our Elite EH!ght and those that were on spring breakout rosters during spring training.
Until the next time…KEEP IT 80 GRADE!
Resources & Reading
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?city=Winnipeg&state=MB&country=CA
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=egan--001edw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Maroons
Thank you for this. As a Winnipegger, I have naturally attended Goldeyes games occasionally, and I appreciate you filling some gaps in my knowledge of the city's sports history.