The Red Gales Baseball Team

black and white photo of Red Gales Baseball Team standing as a team

The Gale Museum is accepting donations of team equipment, photographs, and memorabilia. Contact curator Maren Svare with questions.

At the turn of the century, baseball was a widely played sport across the United States, including Utah, where many communities formed local teams. The Red Gales was South Jordan's first organized baseball team, whose name references the City's original nickname, Gale, due to the gale-force winds that blew through the area.

In March 1901, local baseball manager Parley Bills registered the new Red Gales baseball team. The team's announcement and original lineup was included in The Salt Lake Herald. Newspaper records of the Red Gales span from 1901 to 1910, which included the team's games and statistics. The Red Gales played Bingham Canyon's Live Oaks, the Lagoons, and the University of Utah.

text clipping from a newspaper Lagoons defeat Red Gales
text clipping from a newspaper red gales organized
text clipping from a newspaper Red Gales defeat U of U club
text clipping from a newspaper Red Gales vs Live Oaks

There are only two known existing pictures of the Red Gales. This picture is of the Red Gales with the University of Utah baseball team. Baseball teams have at least two uniforms: a white one for home games and a grey or dark-colored one for away games. The home team, wearing white, lets the audience quickly identify the players. In this photo, the Red Gales are the away team, wearing a dark (possibly grey, possibly red) uniform, while the U of U team wears home whites.

Red Gales and University of Utah

References:

Bateman, Ronald. Of Dugouts and Spires: The History of South Jordan, Utah. City of South Jordan. 1998.

"Baseball." The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, July 9, 1901, page 2.

"Baseball Notes." The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, June 2, 1901, page 3.

"Lagoons Defeat Red Gales." The Salt Lake Herald, Wednesday, August 14, 1901, page 7.

"Red Gales: Baseball Team Organized in South Jordan." The Salt Lake Herald, Thursday, March 21, page 7.

Team photographs, The Gale Museum Collection

*Information current as of September 2025