St. Joseph Drummers

• Location: St. Joseph, MO
• League: Western League 1910-1917
• Ballpark:

Team History

In 1910 the St. Joseph Drummers joined the Western League and went 76-91 to finish 6th in the eight-team league. Their stars were Powell (20 triples to tie for the league lead) and R. Jones (5th with 60 steals, 14 triples and 192 hits and 3rd with 38 doubles). The Drummers finished second in 1911 at 93-72, but they were 18 games behind the Denver Grizzlies. Henry Chellette went 27-12 with 202 strikeouts, leading the WL in wins and finishing third in batters fanned. Kelly (third with 63 steals, fourth with 115 runs) provided speed while Dutch Zwilling (.341, 36 SB) was second in the league in average (one point behind Art Thomason), tied for second in triples (16) and first with 92 RBI.

The Drummers got closer in 1912, finishing 94-72 and seven games behind Denver. Zwilling (.341) was third in average (3 points behind Thomason), Powell led in runs (139) and tied for third in steals (49), Watson also stole 49 and was second with a .342 average and Kelly was second in runs (137) and fifth in stolen bases (46). Johnson (23-10) tied for third in the WL in wins. The St. Joseph, MO team fell to third (89-79) in 1913. Zwilling was among the leaders in total bases (291, 5th) and triples (15, tied for fourth), Kelly led in steals (68) and was second in runs (136) and 5th in hits (209). Tex Westerzil led the loop with 20 triples. Johnson fanned a league-high 265 while George Boehler (27-13, 2.32) led the league in wins and games (55) and was second in ERA and strikeouts (244).

The Drummers won as many games in 1914, lost 4 less and remained in third place. Buck Sterzer led the league in wins (28), games (51), innings (332) and strikeouts (206). Fox tied for second with 18 triples and was 4th with 122 runs, Watson was third with 53 steals and Patterson tied for the WL lead with 46 doubles.

St. Joseph fell all the way to last place (43-94) in 1915. The team did feature a future big-league star in Dazzy Vance, who led the league with 199 strikeouts but also led in hit batsmen (25) and wild pitches (12) and was third with 110 walks. The Drummers improved one slot in 1916 with a 67-86 record. Kirkham was among the leaders in average (.350, second), total bases (283, third), hits (205, tied for the lead) and triples (16, third) while McCabe was third with 37 steals and tied for 4th with 15 three-baggers. Sommers led the loop with 20 losses.

There were actually two teams using the St. Joseph Drummers name in the Western League in 1917. One began the year 33-56 and in 7th place then moved for the second half to Hutchinson, KS where they became the Hutchinson Wheatshockers and make it to the finals after a great second half. Two weeks after the Drummers moved, the Sioux City Indians moved into town and took up the old name. Grover Gilmore (.307) was third in average, total bases (230) and steals (42) and second in hits (169) while leading in runs (116). He played on the second group of Drummers, as did Healey (a league-high 56 steals), Crosby (4th with 35 doubles), Watson (5th with 31 steals) and Connolly (3rd with a .308 average). The first group had included Adams (20-13) and McCabe (third with 8 homers and 12 triples).

In 1918 the league went from two St. Joseph Drummers to none as the St. Joseph-based team was called the St. Joseph Saints.

Source: "The Western League" by W.C. Madden and Patrick Stewart

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1910	76-91	6th	Jack Holland	none
1911	93-72	2nd	Jack Holland / Charles Shaffer	none
1912	94-72	2nd	Jay Andrews	none
1913	89-78	3rd	Jack Holland	none
1914	89-75	3rd	Jack Holland	none
1915	43-94	8th	Jack Holland	none
1916	67-86	7th	Denny Sullivan	none
1917	34-56	--	Jack Holland / Wid Conroy / Babe Adams	--	Team moved to Hutchinson (32-34) July 24
	80-66 overall	3rd	Ed Holly		Sioux City moved to St. Jospeh August 5