Oakland Emery Arms

History

Before joining the Central California League, an Oakland team called the Invaders had won the California State League championship in 1909. The 1910 season saw the Oakland Basches enter the Class D Central California League, a league marked by extreme instability. The league started on April 17, 1910, and ran until November 6, 1910. Of the eight teams that began the season, seven relocated at some point.

Three of those teams moved two or more times, and three others disbanded entirely. In total, the league used fifteen different locations, with two cities hosting two separate teams. The franchise that would eventually become Oakland itself moved through four cities. It began as the Santa Rosa Fruit Pickers on May 5, 1910, then shifted to Alameda on that same day to become the Alameda Brackets.

On July 10, 1910, the team moved to Oakland and was renamed the Oakland Basches. Finally, on July 31, 1910, the team moved to Berkeley. By the time the season ended on November 6, 1910, this traveling club—known as the Santa Rosa Prune Pickers, Alameda Bracketts, Oakland Basches, and Berkeley—finished in fourth place with a 14–15 record, 4.5 games behind the Richmond Merchants. William Bailey and T. Walker managed the team that year.

In 1911, the Oakland Emery Arms took the field. That season, on June 4, 1911, the Elmhurst Carroll & Tilden team relocated to Oakland. However, the Emery Arms folded just two weeks later, on June 18, 1911. The team ended its short 1911 season with a 4–7 record under manager George Worthington.

The Central California League itself began its 1911 season on April 9, 1911, and permanently folded on July 9, 1911. Oakland was credited with a sixth-place finish, 5.0 games behind the San Leandro Cherry Pickers. Meanwhile, the Oakland Oaks of the higher-level Class A Pacific Coast League also played during these two seasons, hosting games at Freeman's Park. The Oakland minor league teams played their home games at Dover Street Park, located at Dover Street and Aileen Street.

The ballpark

The park had a grandstand and could hold 3,500 spectators. Today, Dover Street Park remains a public park at 5707 Dover Street in Oakland.