The Twin Ports League was an American minor baseball league that existed for six weeks (May 30 through July 13) during the wartime season. It consisted of four teams based in Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.
History The Twin Ports League was the only league to be designated Class E—one level below the previously lowest minor league level, Class D—by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (the formal name of Minor League Baseball).
According to Baseball America's Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, many of the players in the Twin Ports League were employed in the Twin Ports' war factories, dockyards and shipyards. The teams included the Duluth Dukes, Duluth Heralds, Duluth Marine Iron, and the Superior Bays. The Superior club was in first place when the league disbanded on July 13, 1943.
Only one player in the Twin Ports League eventually reached Major League Baseball—Superior's Ernie Rudolph, who pitched in seven games for the 1945 Brooklyn Dodgers.
Former major league player Wally Gilbert managed the Marine Iron team.
Cities represented Duluth, MN: Duluth Dukes 1943; Duluth Heralds 1943; Duluth Marine Iron 1943 Superior, WI: Superior Bays 1943
Standings and statistics 1943 Twin Ports League Team standingsWLPCTGB Managers Superior Bays117.611-Red Treadwell / John Schroeder Duluth Marine Iron97.5631Wally Gilbert Duluth Dukes910.4742½Bud McPherson Duluth Heralds510.3334½Frank Summers The league disbanded July 13.
+Player statistics Player TeamStat TotPlayerTeamStatTot Wally GilbertMarine IronBA.456Ed AndersonMarine IronW4 John SchroederSuperiorRuns21Bob ConnollySuperiorW4 John SchroederSuperiorHits27Verl WestergardSuperiorSO56 John SchroederSuperiorRBI23Verl WestergardSuperiorERA2.25John NorlanderDukesHR1R.A. RyanDukesPCT1.000 3-0 Joe ShontsHeraldsHR1
References Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997, page 339
External links 1943 Twin Ports League page at Baseball Reference