The Union Association was a Class D level Minor league baseball circuit that operated from through , with franchises based in Idaho, Montana and Utah. It was unrelated to the like-named 1884 major league.
History Beginning play in 1914, the Union Association was classified as a Class D league, based in the Rocky Mountains of the Western United States. The 1911 charter members were the Great Falls Electrics, Salt Lake City Skyscrapers, Butte Miners, Boise Irrigators, Helena Senators and Missoula.
Frank Huelsman was a star player in the league, completing the Triple Crown in 1911 and 1913, while winning three of the four league batting titles. The Salt Lake City, Helena and Ogden franchises played for the entire duration of the Union Association. On July 20, 1914, Boise and Murray disbanded, then on August 5, 1914 Butte dropped out, which led to the disbandment of the entire league. Despite the rest of the league disbanding, Salt Lake City and Ogden played 16 games against each other to complete their seasons.
Teams CityTeamSeasons Boise, Idaho Boise Irrigators 1911, 1914 Butte, Montana Butte Miners 1911–1914 Great Falls, Montana Great FallsGreat Falls Electrics 1911–19121913 Helena, Montana Helena Senators 1911–1914 Missoula, Montana Missoula 1911–1913 Murray, Utah Murray Infants 1914 Ogden, Utah Ogden Canners 1912–1914 Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City Skyscrapers 1911–1914 Champions SeasonChampion1911 Great Falls Electrics1912 Missoula1913 Great Falls Electrics1914 Ogden Canners Standings & statistics 1911 Union Association - schedule Team standingsWLPCTGB Managers Great Falls 9046.662– George Reed Salt Lake City Skyscrapers 8558.5948.5 Cliff Blankenship Butte Miners 7760.56213.5John McCloskey Boise Irrigators6478.45129.0 Hugh Kellackey Helena Senators6078.43531.0 Charles Irby Missoula 4298.30050.0 William Joyce / Charles McCaffery +Player statisticsPlayer TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Frank HuelsmanGreat FallsBA.411 Roswell Hildebrand Great FallsW30 Howard MurphyGreat FallsRuns146 Amos Morgan Salt Lake CitySO267 Howard MurphyGreat FallsHits220 Leo Dressen Salt Lake City PCT.813 13–3 Frank HuelsmanGreat FallsRBI125 Frank HuelsmanGreat FallsHR17 1912 Union Association - schedule Team standingsWLPCTGB Managers Missoula 8351.620–Cliff Blankenship Salt Lake City Skyscrapers 7761.5588.0Art Weaver Great Falls 7261.54110.5 George Reed Ogden Canners7168.51114.5John McCloskey Butte Miners5382.39330.5Charles McCaffery /Jesse Stovall Helena Senators 5083.37632.5 Charles Irby +Player statisticsPlayer TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Howard MurphyGreat FallsBA.390Joe BushMissoulaW29 Jacob Bauer Salt Lake CityRuns143 Joe BushMissoulaPCT.709 29–12 Howard MurphyGreat FallsHits240 Frank HuelsmanGreat FallsRBI114 A.E. Spencer HelenaHR14 Mike Killilay Helena 3B25 1913 Union Association - schedule Team standingsWLPCTGB Managers Great Falls Electrics 7842.650– Harry Hester Salt Lake City Skyscrapers 7547.6154.0John McCloskey Butte Miners 5464.45823.0 Arthur Merkle / Frank Kafora Missoula5468.44325.0Cliff Blankenship / Nig Perrine Helena Senators5267.43725.5Danny Shay Ogden Canners 4974.39830.5 George Knight / Dad Gimlin +Player statisticsPlayer TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Frank HuelsmanSalt LakeBA.423 Amos Morgan Salt LakeW26 Frank HuelsmanSalt Lake Runs123 Pat BohenMissoulaSO228 Frank HuelsmanSalt LakeHits200 Amos Morgan Salt Lake PCT.722 26–10 Frank HuelsmanSalt LakeRBI126 Frank HuelsmanSalt LakeHR22
1914 Union Association - schedule Team standingsWLPCTGB Managers Ogden Canners5432.628– Dad Gimlin Salt Lake City Skyscrapers 5234.6052.0 Harry Hester Butte Miners4440.5249.0Ducky Holmes Helena Senators2753.33824.0 Jesse Garrett / William Quigley Boise Irrigators 3239.451NA Ervin Jensen Murray Infants 3142.425NACliff Blankenship Boise and Murray disbanded July 20; Butte disbanded August 5; League disbanded August 5.Ogden & Salt Lake played 16 games with each other to complete their seasons; Ogden won 10 games and Salt Lake won 6. Playoff: Ogden 4, Salt Lake 2. +Player statisticsPlayer TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTotFrank HuelsmanSalt LakeBA.424 Amos Morgan Salt LakeW16 Swede RisbergOgden Runs84 George Knight Ogden W16 Fred CarmenOgden/BoiseHits130 Tom Tomer Boise/Salt Lake SO124Frank HuelsmanSalt LakeHR23 Amos Morgan Salt LakePCT.762 16–5
References
Sources The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing (NY), 2007. Format: Paperback, 1824 pp. Language: English.