A Short History of Chippewa Falls Baseball

I know that this article is going to have a niche audience, but given the fact that Chippewa Falls was a small, post lumber mill town at the time, I found this little nugget amazing:

Now referred to as “Captain,” Porter returned to Chippewa Falls as a player-manager in 1902, and within a few years was fielding one of the top independent teams in the Midwest.

Led by African-American pitcher George Wilson, regarded to be one of the best pitchers in the country, the Chippewa Gotzians were crowned the 1904 Northwestern Champions. The deciding game was a 10-2 defeat of Renville, Minn. at Lexington Park in St. Paul that saw Wilson strikeout 17 batters.

Not too bad for a small lumber town in Northwestern Wisconsin in 1902.