Boston Doves Team Mystery Postcard

[Abravefan11]

In 1912 at the conclusion of a small Michigan league a millionaire named Tom Stevens who owned the Otsego team decided to put on a series of 3 exhibition games to be played starting the last week of September into the first two weeks of October. For this exhibition he brought in several major league players and paid them well to play with the Otsego squad including Killian, Mullin and Bowerman. Bowerman had recently returned to Michigan after he left his job as manager in the Canadian minor leagues. The other teams involved brought in major league players as well including Donnie Bush, Davy Jones and Jean Dubuc.

The 1912 series was a big success and in 1913 it was repeated with several of the teams employing major league players for one or more games. Again Killian, Mullin and Bowerman played for Otsego. Walter Johnson was reported to have been offered $1,500 to pitch the final game but he did not play.