The Doherty Silk Sox

Baseball’s best-kept secret… until now.

Who were the Doherty Silk Sox?

Credit: Passaic County Historical Society

They won just under 400 games, dominating other semipro teams and battling toe-to-toe against the great African American and Major League teams. Blazing across a backdrop of World War I, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and the Roaring Twenties, the Doherty Silk Sox defeated all comers in their pretty ballpark in Clifton, N.J. – thanks to the single-minded obsession of owner Harry Doherty. Their story is told in the book, When the Yankees Came to Town: The lost history of the Doherty Silk Sox, the independent team who took on all comers … and won! by Jack DeVries.

About the book

The above is a cover mockup. The book has not yet been published.

When the Yankees Came to Town: The lost history of the Doherty Silk Sox, the independent team who took on all comers … and won! by Jack DeVries is a page-turning story combining history and sports. By the end of the story, readers will be openly rooting for the Silk Sox against Ruth and his mighty New York Yankees … and cheering as they win.

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For great players like Howard Lohr, playing for the Doherty Silk Sox was preferable and, combined with his regular job, more profitable than playing in the major leagues.

In a 1922 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Lohr smashed a three-run homer. As Lohr crossed the plate, Pirates catcher Walter Schmidt told the Doherty slugger that he should be playing with the major leaguers instead of the Silk Sox.

Lohr looked at Schmidt and stated plainly, “I don’t know why.”