Looking Back

Overall Performance

In the eight year history of the ManDak League, the Minot Mallards won three pennants including the 1952, 1953 and 1954 seasons. In addition they won three playoff Championships in 1952, 1953 and 1955. Their overall regular season record was 299 wins and 240 losses. Their playoff record was 44 wins and 27 losses. These numbers do not include the many exhibition games that they played especially in 1950 and 1951. The Minot Mallard Baseball Team was a huge success in the contribution it made to the community. The fans and kids loved the team. In a town of 21,000 people 3700 turned out for a Sunday afternoon game.  Fans overflowed the grandstand and bleachers and spilled out onto the grass along the foul lines in the outfield. A thousand fans would show up on a cold miserable evening.

ManDak League Final Standings (Playoffs not included)

Level of Competition

During the existence of the ManDak League there was ongoing conjecture about how the level of play measured up against the organized leagues. It was commonly thought that the ManDak League was Class AA, A or B level. This is a difficult question because of the variety of talent on the ManDak League teams. The “farm club” teams did not have so much variation of talent. If it was a Class B team, then most of the players were Class B talent. There were always “higher” Class B players that were ready to move up to Class A and “lower” Class B players that were ready to move down to Class C. Most of the players were younger and improving. The ManDak League players included ex-Negro League players that were exceptionally good in their prime but they were past this. They were however very seasoned and played an exciting brand of baseball. Many of the former professional players were also past their prime and their progress up the ladder of professional baseball was over and they could make more money in an independent league like the ManDak League. The ManDak teams included local, amateur and semi-professional players. So it’s difficult to decide where the teams as a whole measured up against the organized teams.

Zoonie McLean 

In late May 1957 while Zoonie McLean and five or six other Mallards were holding a “spring training” practice and playing two exhibition games in Williston, five former ManDak League players were in spring training with Major League Baseball clubs. Charles White, a third baseman for Winnipeg was a catcher with the Milwaukee Braves. Solly Drake, ex-Elmwood Giant was a centerfielder with the Chicago Cubs. Don Lee 1955 Williston Oiler pitcher was with the Detroit Tigers and Sam Hill 1956 Bismarck Baron outfielder was with the Washington Senators. John Kennedy former Winnipeg Buffalo and Minot Mallard second baseman was trying out for the Philadelphia Phillies. Kennedy was errorless and hitting .500 after nine exhibition games.

Over the years, many Minot Mallard fans wondered just how far Zoonie McLean might have gone if he had played organized baseball. McLean ranged from 26 to 33 years old during his eight years with the Mallards. He was 23 years old in 1947 when he played his first of three years with the Minot Merchants. Before that he spent three years in the military.

In early September 1947, Herb Hester, local agent for the Philadelphia Athletics announced to the Minot Daily News that Zoonie McLean had accepted an invitation to tryout for an Athletics Class A farm team in the spring of 1948. He expressed confidence that McLean would make the Class A grade. He also added that it was likely that the Athletics would insist that McLean abstain from playing basketball that winter for Minot State Teachers College. A few days later McLean told Russ Smith of the Minot Daily News that he would definitely play basketball in the upcoming season and that if his ailing ankle improved he would also play football. McLean insisted that he had not signed a contract with the Athletics but merely agreed to a tryout and therefore, the Athletics had no jurisdiction over his activities. In the spring of 1948 the Athletics firmed up the offer and assigned McLean to tryout at their Lincoln, Nebraska Class A farm team of the Western League. However, McLean turned down the offer. He gave the reason that he had interrupted his college education once already for the service, and wanted to finish his education at Minot State Teachers College. Zoonie Graduated in 1949 and by 1950 had two children.

Zoonie was an outstanding athlete. He was named as the all-district American Legion shortstop at the age of 11. At Minot State Teachers College he was a four-year all-conference basketball player. At 6 feet, three inches tall, 180 pounds he had the size and athleticism to play professional baseball. He was highly competitive, a sharp-eyed line drive hitter with outstanding range as a shortstop. He had a powerful arm and was a talented base-runner. His only weakness may have been durability. He was out several times with sicknesses and injuries but part of that may have been his “all-out” approach to the game. He wore special baseball shoes because of ankle problems.

Because of North Dakota’s inclement spring weather and the small class sizes, baseball was not a popular sport until summertime. So most high schools did not have teams and young players only played American Legion baseball. So his first choice for sports was basketball and received only a minimum amount of baseball coaching.

In 1951 Mallard Manager, Otto Huber believed McLean would be a very good professional baseball prospect and considered him a Class A caliber player. Huber and McLean completed 27 double plays in 35 games that year before Huber resigned from the team. He won the ManDak league batting title in 1952. He had the highest fielding percentage among League shortstops in 1954. He held the league record for assists. He led the Mallards in batting average in 1950, 1952 and 1957. His eight year ManDak League batting average was .322.

 A comparison between John Kennedy and Zoonie McLean for the 1952 season when they both played for the Mallards  shows:

I think the conclusion is that if he had went into professional baseball at 23 years old and received that kind of additional playing experience and coaching he more than likely would have succeeded in reaching the Major League level.

Per information received from Jay Dell Mah, McLean was born November 17, 1922 (this birth date does not agree with ages given above) and died August 4, 1987.

Sugar Cain

Sugar Cain’s age might have been 27 or it might have been 33 when he joined the Mallards in 1951. Along with many other ManDak League players his age varied from one report to the next. He was probably closer to 33 years old in 1951, which put him at around 29 years old when Jackie Robinson started playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. By that time Cain had about 13 years of Negro League experience with at least a half dozen different teams. He claimed to have pitched two no-hitters and 22 – 3 record with the San Francisco Cubs in 1950. He was also their best hitter. In 1949 he appeared with the Cubs in an exhibition game against the Minot Merchants in Minot and batted cleanup. During a stretch of the 1954 season at the probable age of 36 he won eleven straight games, posting a 1.87 ERA. Cain spent that spring pitching for the Birmingham Black Barons. He was so impressive that he was offered professional contracts from the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. He rejected the offers because he was expected to start in the low minors and he insisted that he would only play in Triple A or the Majors. Sugar Cain’s seven season record with the Mallards was 62 wins and 31 losses during regular season ManDak League games. He would have gone far in organized baseball.

Barry Swanton's All Time ManDak League All Star Team

Barry Swanton, ManDak League author, has selected an All-time All Star team for the league. Three Mallard players are among the twelve players chosen. In addition , John Kennedy and Butch Davis, from the Winnipeg Buffaloes, each played one year for the Mallards. Here are Barry's selections: