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26-714: In 1920, the South Dakota League began play as an eight–team Class D level league, with all franchises based in South Dakota. The league would play four seasons and provided the first professional baseball in South Dakota since Sioux Falls played in the 1902–1903 Iowa-South Dakota League . The 1920 South Dakota League charter franchises were the Aberdeen Boosters , Huron Packers , Madison Greys , Miller Climbers , Mitchell Kernels , Redfield Reds , Sioux Falls Soos and Wessington Springs Saints . The league president for

52-536: A 60–37 record under Manager Hank Scharnweber, 4.5 games ahead of the tied 2nd place teams, the Aberdeen Greys and Fargo Athletics . Baseball Hall of Fame member Al Simmons played for the 1922 Aberdeen Greys. At age 20, Simmons led the Dakota League with 144 hits, while batting .365 with 10 home runs. In their final season of 1923, the Dakota League split into two four–team partner entities to condense travel, with

78-539: A 61–36 record under Manager Hank Scharnweber, finishing 3.5 games ahead of the Sioux Falls Soos in the regular season standings to claim the title, as the league had no playoffs for its duration. Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Bottomley , at age 20, played for the 1920 Mitchell Kernels. Bottomley hit .312 with 7 home runs in 97 games. In 1921, the league changed names to the Dakota League , reforming after adding

104-607: A Northern League franchise until 1966. Then, the Sioux Falls Packers began play and spent six seasons in the circuit until the league ceased operations following the 1971 campaign. A handful of independent baseball pioneers revived the Northern League in 1993. Sioux Falls competed in a six-team league, joining the St. Paul Saints , Rochester Aces , Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks , Sioux City Explorers , and Duluth–Superior Dukes . On

130-537: A feature story on the retrofit. The project drew praise for the integration of an existing facility with more modern elements. Sioux Falls Stadium now features nine luxury suites, a 3,000-square-foot (280 m ) home clubhouse, a group barbecue area, and a video wall/scoreboard that features live and recorded video clips as well as animated pieces. On September 29, 2005, the Canaries left the Northern League, along with

156-708: The Canaries Community Fund , an initiative of the True North Family Foundation , to support charitable organizations and causes in South Dakota. The Canaries Community Fund focuses on the True North Family Foundation’s three pillars — education, community engagement, and character-building among youth. The Canaries award scholarships to children to cover participation fees in extracurriculars, provide baseball tickets to youth, families, and charitable organizations, and are active in

182-667: The Lincoln Saltdogs , the Sioux City Explorers and the St. Paul Saints to form the American Association for the 2006 season. Sioux Falls struggled early on in the new league, but everything came together for the Canaries in 2008. They posted their best regular-season record ever at 60–36, and won the first-half North Division championship with a 31–17 mark. The Canaries opened the 2008 playoffs by sweeping rival Sioux City in three games, then took on Grand Prairie for

208-585: The Minot Magicians , New Rockford-Carrington Twins / Valley City Hi-Liners and Bismarck Capitals . The 1923 North Dakota League president was Logan Powell. On May 26, 1923, George Dennison of the Minot Magicians threw a no–hitter against the Bismarck Capitals in a 2–1 victory. The South Dakota League folded on July 17, 1923, with the Sioux Falls Soos in 1st place with a 35–22 record, 0.5 games ahead of

234-681: The Wahpeton–Breckenridge Twins , based in North Dakota and Minnesota. Baseball play on Sunday had been illegal in North Dakota until the law was repealed in 1920, a positive for early professional teams, who needed the revenue from large Sunday crowds to remain financially viable. Wahpeton, North Dakota newspaper publisher Robert J. Hughes formed the new Wahpeton- Breckenridge, Minnesota franchise, hiring Roy Patterson as manager. The Dakota league remained an eight–team Class D level league, with 13–player rosters. The 1921 league members were

260-571: The Western League in 1939, then joined the original Northern League when the Western League folded after the 1941 season. The Canaries played in the Northern League in 1942 and again from 1946 to 1953. The Sioux Falls Packers played in the collegiate summer Basin League from 1964 to 1965. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Don Sutton played for the Sioux Falls Packers in 1964. The city was without

286-518: The Aberdeen Grays, Huron Packers, Madison Greys, Mitchell Kernels, Redfield Red Sox , Sioux Falls Soos, Wahpeton–Breckenridge Twins and Watertown Cubs . The Mitchell Kernels won their second consecutive league championship, again finishing ahead of the 2nd place Sioux Fall Soos. Continuing play as an eight–team Class D level league, the 1922 Dakota League season saw the Mitchell Kernels claim

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312-510: The Aberdeen Greys. The Minot Magicians led the North Dakota League standings with a 48–21 record at the conclusion of the North Dakota League season, 15.0 games ahead of the 2nd place Jamestown Jimkotas. Both leagues permanently folded after the 1923 season. Valley City (25–46) moved to Bismarck August 3. New Rockford–Carrington moved to Valley City July 17. Iowa-South Dakota League The Iowa–South Dakota League

338-622: The American Association championship. Sioux Falls took the best-of-five series three games to one, earning the clinching win in dramatic fashion on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning. On March 25, 2013, Sioux Falls Sports LLC, the ownership group of the Sioux Falls Pheasants and Sioux Falls Stampede, announced they had changed the name of the franchise from the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants back to

364-484: The Canaries overcame a 20–22 first half to the season and posted a 24–18 mark over the second half of the campaign. Even then, the team finished three games back of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks . New ownership took over the club in 1998 and a steady diet of improvements have followed, including a new manager and new logo. The Canaries posted a 55–35 record in 2001 and gained the team's first playoff berth since

390-588: The North Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball , an official Partner League of Major League Baseball . Since the 1993 season, the Canaries have played their home games at Sioux Falls Stadium , commonly known as The Birdcage. From 2010 to 2012, the team was called the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants . Professional baseball in Sioux Falls dates back at least to 1902, when

416-533: The Valley City Hi-Liners, with Charlie Boardman beginning the season as manager. Fargo attorney William H. Barnett was the founder of the Fargo Athletics and hired former major league player Ed Whiting to manage Fargo. On August 25, 1922, Roy Birkenstock of Jamestown threw a no-hitter in a 2–0 win over the Sioux Falls Soos. This was the league's first no–hitter. Mitchell finished the 1922 season with

442-543: The championship, their third consecutive title. The Fargo Athletics , Jamestown Jimkotans and Valley City Hi-Liners became new league franchises in 1922, joining the Aberdeen Grays, Mitchell Kernels, Sioux Falls Soos, Wahpeton-Breckenridge Twins and Watertown Cubs. H.E. Ross founded the Jamestown Jinkotas, with former St. Louis Browns player Wib Smith serving as the Jamestown manager. J.H. Sampson served as president

468-590: The charter members in 1902. The Sioux Falls Canaries won the championship in 1902, with the Le Mars Blackbirds capturing the 1903 Iowa–South Dakota League final championship. The 1903 president of the Iowa–South Dakota League was J. U. Sammism, a Le Mars, Iowa attorney. 1902 Iowa–South Dakota League schedule Flandreau joined on June 20, and was awarded a record of (9–9), which made its overall first-half record 31–22. Flandreau won

494-496: The duration of the South Dakota League/Dakota League was Michael E. Cantillon. Cantillon had been president of the minor league Minneapolis Millers from 1907 to 1918 and was the brainchild behind the formation of the South Dakota League. In the first season for the South Dakota League, the Mitchell Kernels won the 1920 South Dakota League Championship, their first of three consecutive championships. Mitchell had

520-494: The field, the Canaries enjoyed their greatest successes in 1994 and 1996. Former major leaguer Pedro Guerrero batted .329 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs for the 1994 Canaries, as the team posted a 47–33 record. Sioux Falls was narrowly beat out by Sioux City in the first half of the season while the "Birds" finished four games out of first in the second half. Chris Powell batted a league-best .357, while Jamie Ybarra paced all league hurlers with 10 wins and 109 strikeouts. In 1996,

546-621: The league re-emerged in 1993. On July 11, 2001, the Canaries won the first-half title in the South Division on the final day of the half. Sioux Falls won 21–7 win over Duluth-Superior in the game that secured its first pennant and its first playoff appearance. Team owners and city officials hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking in November 1999, kicking off a US$ 5.6 million renovation to Sioux Falls Stadium . The new Birdcage drew national attention on June 2, 2001, as USA Today writer Mel Antonen wrote

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572-519: The leagues called the North Dakota League and South Dakota League. The 1923 South Dakota League began play as a four–team Class D level league with the Aberdeen Grays , Mitchell Kernels , Sioux Falls Soos and Watertown Cubs as member franchises. The North Dakota League formed the counterpart four–team Class D league, comprising the returning Jamestown Jimkotas, and three new franchises,

598-594: The original Canaries joined the Iowa–South Dakota League . That team and its league lasted just two seasons. Another team, known variously as the Soos as well as the Canaries, was a member of the Dakota League from 1920 to 1923, then moved to the short-lived Tri-State League in 1924. The longest-lived Canaries prior to the current team were founded in 1933 as part of the Nebraska State League . They joined

624-405: The original name, "Sioux Falls Canaries." The club unveiled the team logos for the Canaries, designed by Fresh Produce of Sioux Falls. On March 12, 2021, Brian Slipka, small business leader, and Anthony Albanese (Twan), co-founder of Duke Cannon Supply Co., purchased the Canaries through True North Sports LLC. On May 6, 2021, Sioux Falls Canaries owners Brian Slipka and Anthony Albanese launched

650-483: The second half and folded before the playoff against Sioux Falls. 1903 Iowa–South Dakota League Council Bluffs folded on June 20 with a record of 1–22. On June 25, Council Bluffs transferred to Sheldon–Primghar, which was awarded a record of 14–11. Sioux Falls Soos The Sioux Falls Canaries are a professional baseball team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota , United States. The Canaries are members of

676-531: Was a minor league baseball circuit that operated from 1902 to 1903 in the states of Iowa and South Dakota . The league was a Class D level league in both seasons. The Sioux Falls Canaries (1902) and Le Mars Blackbirds (1903) won the league championships. The Iowa–South Dakota League contained six teams in its inaugural season, before being reduced to three in the final season. The Flandreau Indians , Le Mars Blackbirds , Rock Rapids Browns , Sheldon , Sioux City Cornhuskers and Sioux Falls Canaries were

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