The Bi-State League was an American baseball Class D level minor league which operated in 1915. It was the successor of the

Wisconsin–Illinois League The Wisconsin State League was a class D baseball league that began in 1905, changing its name to the Wisconsin–Illinois League in 1908 and operating through 1914. The league re–organized under that name in 1926. Another Wisconsin State League ...

and was represented by five teams from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and one from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The Bi-State folded during the 1915 season.

History

The six–team Bi-State League was formed for the 1915 season with the Aurora Foxes, Elgin Watch Makers, Freeport Pretzels,

Ottawa Indians The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...

Racine Belles The Racine Belles were one of the original teams of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League playing from through out of Racine, Wisconsin. The Belles won the league's first championship. The team played its home games at Horlick Fi ...

and Streator Boosters as charter members under the direction of president B.M. Parsons. The league evolved from the

Wisconsin-Illinois League The Wisconsin State League was a class D baseball league that began in 1905, changing its name to the Wisconsin–Illinois League in 1908 and operating through 1914. The league re–organized under that name in 1926. Another Wisconsin State League ...

, which had Racine as a member and folded after the 1914 season. After beginning play on May 11, 1515, the Bi-State League disbanded on July 7, 1915 after the Elgin and Aurora franchises folded. The Streator Boosters were in 1st place in the league standings when the Bi-State League folded. With a 30–18 record, Streator was 1.0 game ahead of the 2nd place Racine Belles (30–20) in the final standings. They were followed by Elgin Watch Makers (27–26), Aurora Foxes (25–27), Freeport Pretzels (23–29) and Ottawa Indians (20–35) in the final standings.

List of teams

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

: Aurora Foxes *

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

: Elgin Watch Makers *

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linc ...

: Freeport Pretzels *

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Riv ...

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 censu ...

: Streator Boosters

1915 Standings & Statistics

1915 Bi-State League
schedule
Elgin & Aurora disbanded July 5. The league disbanded July 7.

References

Sources

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: Second Edition: This article is based on th
"Bi-States League"
article at Baseball-Reference.com Bullpen. The Bullpen is a wiki, and its content is available under the

GNU Free Documentation License The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the r ...

. {{Professional Baseball Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Illinois Baseball leagues in Wisconsin Sports leagues established in 1915 Sports leagues disestablished in 1915