Play Ball! Take Me Out to The Sandpoint Ball Game

Sandpoint baseball team of 1906. (Top row: Travis sub, Tager LF, Andrews second, Dean third, Yates SS, Fleming P, Judge, Sandy RF. Lower row: Swanson first, Judge, Tom C, Barrett, Trand mascot, Jones CT). Photo courtesy of the Bonner County Museum & Historical Society, donated by Lee Lepke.

Brought to you by the Bonner County Historical Society & Museum

Play Ball! Take me out to the Sandpoint ball game and journey back to the early 1900s. It is the season for baseball players to soak up the sun and slide in the dirt. In the early days, the Sandpoint team made quite a name for themselves.

Their legacy began in 1904 when the first Sandpoint Baseball Club was formed. The town was so invested that they put up a grandstand and added fencing around the field—although their field was interrupted by Spokane and International’s right of way going through it. In 1906, a proper field was secured in the Peterson Addition at the corner of Michigan Street and Euclid Avenue.

The historical Sandpoint Baseball team peaked in 1907 when they became known as one of the fastest semi-professional teams in the entire Inland Empire. High-ranking teams and players from all over, such as the best from Spokane, would come to Sandpoint and test the Sandpoint players’ title but did not succeed.