The men of Carlin, especially railroad employees, enjoyed taking the field against similar teams from Eureka, Elko, and others. The “Carlin Nine” as they were often called played and practiced on a baseball diamond between the town and the Western Pacific tracks on the south side of Carlin. The earliest mention of a game was in 1888 (played against Battle Mountain) and one of the last was in 1947.
During WWI, the Carlin team played a makeshift team of soldiers stationed at Palisade. Carlin won with a score of 32 to 7. Even mines would form a team and enter the fray. The season would usually go from May to September, with special games often played on the Fourth of July. Sometimes teams would come to Carlin and other times Carlin would hit the road.
In 1925, the teams of Northern Nevada formed a baseball league. The Humboldt League included teams from Winnemucca, Wells, Lovelock, Battle Mountain, and Elko. In the first season, there were 30 games and the players paid for all their own expenses for travel, etc. The league was still playing in 1947 but in 1955 had to be “revived”. In 1956, the newspapers reveal that the funds of the Humboldt League had been given to the communities to finance little league teams. So ended a long-lasting, small-town tradition.
