The Doherty Silk Sox
The Lost History of Baseball’s Maverick Independent Team
Book by Jack DeVries to be published by Bloomsbury in early 2027
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, The Doherty Silk Sox, The Lost History of Baseball’s Maverick Independent Team by Jack DeVries.
About the book
The Doherty Silk Sox, The Lost History of Baseball’s Maverick Independent Team 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.”
