Montreal Royals
Encyclopedia

The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team located in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 and its progenitor, the original Eastern League. The Royals are most famous as the top farm club (Class AAA beginning in 1946) of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

 from 1939 to 1960.

The team's nickname was derived from the city name, which means "Mount Royal". Thus the full team name, like that of the Los Angeles Angels, the Phoenix Firebirds
Phoenix Firebirds
The Phoenix Firebirds, formerly the Phoenix Giants, were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, USA from 1958-1959, and 1966 until 1997....

, and the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

, had a built-in redundancy.

History

In 1928, George Stallings
George Stallings
George Tweedy Stallings was an American manager and player in Major League Baseball. His most famous achievement – leading the Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the National League championship and a World Series sweep of the powerful Philadelphia Athletics – resulted in a nickname he...

, a former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 executive and Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 owner, formed a partnership with Montreal lawyer and politician, Athanase David
Athanase David
Louis Athanase David was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and businessman. He is son of Laurent-Olivier David, also a Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician....

, and Montreal businessman, Ernest Savard
Ernest Savard
J. Ernest Savard was a Canadian stock broker and a partner in the brokerage firm of Savard & Hart in Montreal, Quebec.A sports fan, in 1928 Savard partnered with fellow Montreal businessman and politician Athanase David and American baseball executive George Stallings to revive the Montreal Royals...

, to resurrect the Montreal Royals. Among the team's other local affluent notables were close friends Lucien Beauregard, Romeo Gauvreau, Hector H. Racine, and Charles E. Trudeau. Charles Trudeau, businessman and father of former Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, would remain on the Montreal Baseball Club Inc. Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 until his death in 1935. Together these men financed and built Delorimier Stadium
Delorimier Stadium
Delorimier Stadium was a 20,000-seat sports stadium at 2101 Ontario Street East, at the corner of De Lorimier Avenue in the present-day Montreal borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve...

 (also known as Montreal Stadium, Hector Racine Stadium and Delorimier Downs) at Delorimier Avenue and Ontario Street in east-end Montreal to serve as the team's home field. This version of the Montreal Royals enjoyed great success and launched the baseball careers of Sparky Anderson
Sparky Anderson
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson was an American Major League Baseball manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. He was the first manager to win the World Series in both...

, Gene Mauch
Gene Mauch
Gene William Mauch was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers , Pittsburgh Pirates , Chicago Cubs , Boston Braves , St...

, Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...

 and the man who broke Major League Baseball's
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 color barrier
Baseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...

 with the Royals in 1946, Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

. Other Royals' players of note include Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...

, Don Drysdale
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...

, Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....

, Walter Alston
Walter Alston
Walter Emmons Alston , nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall...

, Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella , nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily at the position of catcher, in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball...

 and the winningest pitcher in the history of the team, Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles Lasorda is a former Major League baseball player and manager. marked his sixth decade in one capacity or another with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers organization, the longest non-continuous tenure anyone has had with the team, edging Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully...

.
The team holds a unique place in baseball history for being the first major-league affiliate to break the so-called "baseball color barrier"
Baseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...

. On October 23, 1945, two members of the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club Inc. Board of Directors, Montreal Royals owner and team president, Hector Racine, and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

, Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...

, signed Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

, an African-American. Robinson played with the Royals during the 1946 season. John Wright and Roy Partlow, black pitchers, also played with the Royals that year.

During that season, Robinson faced the racist resistance of his manager, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

an Clay Hopper
Clay Hopper
Robert Clay Hopper was a player and manager in minor league baseball....

, and teammates to his entrance, but soon won them over with his masterful playing (beginning with spectacular play in the opening game against the Jersey City Giants
Jersey City Giants
The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system affiliate of the New York Giants from 1937 through 1950. The Jersey City club played in the International League...

) and courage facing against hostile crowds and opponents. As for his home city, he was welcomed immediately by the public, who followed his performance in that season with intense adoration. For the rest of his life, Robinson remained grateful to the people of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 for making the city a welcome oasis for his wife and himself during the difficult 1946 season. He and his wife lived in an apartment in a white neighborhood of Montreal that summer.

Robinson then left to play for the Dodgers the following year, but not before winning the Little World series and being chased by exultant Montreal fans right to the train as he left. In Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...

' documentary film Baseball
Baseball (documentary)
Baseball is an 18½ hour, Emmy Award-winning documentary series by Ken Burns about the game of baseball. First broadcast on PBS, this was Burns' ninth documentary.- Format :...

, the narrator quotes Sam Maltin, a stringer for the Pittsburgh Courier: "It was probably the only day in history that a black man ran from a white mob with love instead of lynching on its mind."

The Royals continued through the 1960 season. On September 13, 1960 Dodgers President Walter O'Malley announced that due to weak attendance, the Dodgers were ending their affiliation with the team. While a new affiliation with the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

 was arranged, efforts to keep the team in Montreal failed, and the franchise was relocated to Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

 for 1961, where it has played as the Syracuse Chiefs since.

Titles

The Royals won the Governors' Cup
Governors' Cup
The Governors' Cup is the trophy awarded each year to the champion of the International League, one of the two current Triple-A level minor leagues of Major League Baseball.-Governors' Cup history:...

, the championship of the IL, 7 times, and played in the championship series 11 times. For more details on their playoff history, please see Montreal Royals Accomplishments

  • 1935 – Lost to Syracuse
    Syracuse SkyChiefs
    The Syracuse Chiefs are a minor league baseball team based in Syracuse, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals...

  • 1941 – Defeated Newark
    Newark Bears
    The Newark Bears are an American professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 1999 season, the Bears have played their home games at Bears &...

  • 1945 – Lost to Newark
    Newark Bears
    The Newark Bears are an American professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 1999 season, the Bears have played their home games at Bears &...

  • 1946 – Defeated Syracuse
    Syracuse SkyChiefs
    The Syracuse Chiefs are a minor league baseball team based in Syracuse, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals...

  • 1948 – Defeated Syracuse
    Syracuse SkyChiefs
    The Syracuse Chiefs are a minor league baseball team based in Syracuse, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals...

  • 1949 – Defeated Buffalo
    Buffalo Bisons
    The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York. They currently play in the International League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets...

  • 1951 – Defeated Syracuse
    Syracuse SkyChiefs
    The Syracuse Chiefs are a minor league baseball team based in Syracuse, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals...

  • 1952 – Lost to Rochester
    Rochester Red Wings
    The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...

  • 1953 – Defeated Rochester
    Rochester Red Wings
    The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...

  • 1954 – Lost to Syracuse
    Syracuse SkyChiefs
    The Syracuse Chiefs are a minor league baseball team based in Syracuse, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals...

  • 1958 – Defeated Toronto


Montreal Royals records

Year Wins Losses Percentage Finish
1897 49 76 .392 7th
1898 68 48 .586 1st
1899 62 51 .549 2nd
1900 54 72 .429 7th
1901 65 67 .492 6th
1902 59 77 .434 6th
1903 37 95 .280 7th
1904 67 62 .519 5th
1905 56 80 .412 6th
1906 57 83 .407 7th
1907 46 85 .351 8th
1908 64 75 .461 5th
1909 68 83 .450 6th
1910 71 80 .470 5th
1911 72 80 .474 5th
1912 71 81 .467 6th
1913 74 77 .490 5th
1914 60 89 .403 7th
1915 67 70 .489 5th
1916 75 64 .539 3rd
1917 56 94 .373 7th
1928 84 84 .500 5th
1929 88 79 .527 4th
1930 96 72 .571 3rd
1931 85 80 .515 4th
1932 90 78 .536 4th
1933 81 84 .490 6th
1934 73 77 .487 6th
1935 92 62 .597 1st
1936 71 81 .467 6th
1937 82 67 .550 2nd
1938 69 84 .451 6th
1939 64 88 .421 7th
1940 80 80 .500 5th
1941 90 64 .584 2nd
1942 82 71 .536 2nd
1943 76 76 .500 4th
1944 73 80 .477 6th
1945 95 58 .621 1st
1946 100 54 .649 1st
1947 93 60 .608 2nd
1948 94 59 .614 1st
1949 84 70 .545 3rd
1950 86 67 .562 2nd
1951 95 59 .617 1st
1952 95 56 .629 1st
1953 89 63 586 2nd
1954 88 66 .571 2nd
1955 95 59 .617 1st
1956 80 72 .526 4th
1957 68 86 .442 8th
1958 90 63 .588 1st
1959 72 82 .468 6th
1960 62 92 .403 8th

Montreal Royals managers

Year(s) Name
1897 George Weidman
1897–1902 Charles Dooley
1903 Gene DeMontreville
Gene DeMontreville
Eugene Napoleon DeMontreville , was a professional baseball player who played second base in the Major Leagues from 1894-1904. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators , Washington Senators , Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, and St...

1904 Charlie Atherton
Charlie Atherton
Charles Morgan Herbert Atherton is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. Nicknamed "Prexy", he batted and threw right-handed, was 5'10" tall and weighed 160 pounds. Atherton attended Penn State University. He was also an early professional football player for the Greensburg Athletic...

1904 Ed Barrow
Ed Barrow
Edward Grant Barrow was an American manager and executive in Major League Baseball, primarily with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox...

1905–1906 James Bannon
James Bannon
James Bannon is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Longford–Westmeath constituency.A native of Legan, County Longford, he worked as a farmer and auctioneer before entering politics....

1906–1907 Malachi Kittridge
1907 James Morgan
1908–1909 Doc Casey
Doc Casey
James Patrick "Doc" Casey was a third baseman in Major League Baseball. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, he was a switch hitter that threw right-handed....

1910 Ed Barrow
1911 Edward J. McCafferty
1912 Billy Lush
Billy Lush
Billy Lush is an American actor from New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Coral Springs High School in Coral Springs, Florida in 1999. He later attended Florida State University to pursue theatre. He is known for his portrayal of Kevin Donnelly on the NBC drama The Black Donnellys, which was...

1912–1914 Kitty Bransfield
Kitty Bransfield
William Edward "Kitty" Bransfield , was a professional baseball player who played first base in the Major Leagues from 1906–1914. He would play for the Boston Beaneaters, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs.-External links:...

1914–1917 Dan Howley
Dan Howley
Daniel Philip "Dapper Dan" Howley was a Major League Baseball manager with the St. Louis Browns and the Cincinnati Reds. His first year as manager of the Browns saw his team lose 94 games and finish 50½ games behind the legendary 1927 New York Yankees. He stayed two more years in St. Louis, with...

1928 George Stallings
George Stallings
George Tweedy Stallings was an American manager and player in Major League Baseball. His most famous achievement – leading the Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the National League championship and a World Series sweep of the powerful Philadelphia Athletics – resulted in a nickname he...

1928–1932 Ed Holly
Ed Holly
Edward William Holly was a Major League Baseball shortstop. He played all or part of four seasons in the majors. He is also a member of the International League Hall of Fame....

1932–1933 Doc Gautreau
Doc Gautreau
Walter Paul "Doc" Gautreau was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. The native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a second baseman during his playing days...

1933–1934 Oscar Roettger
Oscar Roettger
Oscar Frederick Louis Roettger was an American first baseman and right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he first played as a pitcher for the New York Yankees from 1923–1924, and later returned to the major leagues with the Brooklyn Robins in 1927 and as a...

1934–1936 Frank Shaughnessy
Frank Shaughnessy
Francis Joseph "Shag" Shaughnessy was an American athlete and sports executive. Shaughnessy played both baseball and football and was an executive in baseball, football and ice hockey. He was born in the United States and moved to Canada in the 1910s, where he was involved with football and ice...

1936 Harry Smythe
Harry Smythe
William Henry Smythe was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched from 1929-1934.-External links:...

1937–1938 Walter “Rabbit” Maranville
Rabbit Maranville
Walter James Vincent Maranville , better known as Rabbit Maranville due to his speed and small stature , was a Major League Baseball shortstop. At the time of his retirement in 1935, he had played in a record 23 seasons in the National League, a mark which wasn't broken until 1986 by Pete Rose...

1938 Alex Hooks
Alex Hooks
Alexander Marcus Hooks was an American Major League Baseball infielder. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics during the season.-References:...

1939 Burleigh Grimes
Burleigh Grimes
Burleigh Arland Grimes was an American professional baseball player, and the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1954. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.-Career:Nicknamed "Ol' Stubblebeard", Grimes was...

1940–1942 Clyde Sukeforth
Clyde Sukeforth
Clyde Leroy Sukeforth , nicknamed "Sukey," was a former Major League Baseball catcher, coach, scout and manager who was best known for scouting and signing the Major Leagues' first black player in the modern era, Jackie Robinson.Sukeforth was born in Washington, Maine...

1943 Fresco Thompson
Fresco Thompson
Lafayette Fresco Thompson was a Major League Baseball second baseman and executive. He was born in Centreville, Alabama, but attended George Washington High School and Columbia University in New York City...

1944–1945 Bruno Betzel
Bruno Betzel
Christian Frederick Albert John Henry David "Bruno" Betzel was an American infielder in Major League Baseball and a longtime manager at the minor league level...

1946–1949 Clay Hopper
Clay Hopper
Robert Clay Hopper was a player and manager in minor league baseball....

1950–1953 Walter Alston
Walter Alston
Walter Emmons Alston , nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall...

1954 Max Macon
Max Macon
Max Cullen Macon was a Major League Baseball player and Minor League Baseball Manager. He was primarily a pitcher but also played first base and the outfield during his career which spanned 1938-1947. His most extensive playing time was with the 1944 Boston Braves...

1955–1957 Greg Mulleavy
Greg Mulleavy
Gregory Thomas "Greg" Mulleavy was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played in 79 games for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox in 1930, 1932 and 1933....

1957 Al Campanis
Al Campanis
Alexander Sebastian Campanis was an American executive in Major League Baseball. He had a brief Major League career as a second baseman, playing for both the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers' minor-league team...

1957 Al Ronning
1957 Tommy Holmes
Tommy Holmes
Thomas Francis Holmes was an American right and center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played nearly his entire career for the Boston Braves...

1958–1960 Clay Bryant
Clay Bryant
Claiborne Henry Bryant was a Major League Baseball player from 1935 to 1940 for the Chicago Cubs. Bryant was mainly a pitcher, although in 1939 he played one game as an outfielder. In 1938 he compiled a 19-11 record with a 3.10 ERA...


Notable former players

  • Goody Rosen – Major League Baseball All-Star outfielder
  • Jackie Robinson
    Jackie Robinson
    Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

     – Major League Hall of Famer
  • Roberto Clemente
    Roberto Clemente
    Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...

    – Major League Hall of Famer
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