Two-Team League

The Two-Team League was a semi-pro league located in Venango County, Pennsylvania, which existed from 1919 to mid-1921. The two teams were located in Franklin, PA and Oil City, PA, and the teams were of high quality, made primarily of major and minor league players.

For instance, the 1920 Franklin team had 13 major leaguers and 3 minor leaguers who played in 10 or more games. Joe Harris led the team with an average of .390 in 73 games, and hit 12 homers, 33 doubles, and 12 triples. Marty Kavanagh was second in batting, with .361, and hit 10 homers in 62 games. Catcher Frank Crossin hit .347 in 70 games. Steve Yerkes played second, and hit .325 with a team-leading 122 hits and 93 games played. Manuel Cueto hit .315 with a team-leading 39 walks. Gene Layden, despite having lost a finger on his left hand over the winter, hit .315 with 10 home runs. Long time minor leaguer Jack McCarty hit .297 with 101 hits. Legendary semi-pro player Ed Gerner pitched and hit .276 in 48 games. Walt Kinney pitched and hit .270 with 3 home runs. Shortstop Harry Pearce hit just .261, but led the team in stolen bases with 14. Harry O'Donnell hit .260. Bert Gallia pitched part of the season with the St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Phillies, and played 12 games with Franklin. Joe Willis pitched in the majors from 1911 to 1913, and pitched in 28 games for Franklin. Manager-pitcher John Brackenridge played with the Phillies way back in 1904. Pitcher Warren Harned spent nine years in the New York State League and New York-Pennsylvania League. (Statistics given include games against other semi-pro teams.)

The Franklin team disbanded in July 1921, and the league folded. At the time, Franklin had a 15-11 record with three ties against Oil City.