The Eastern Iowa League was a minor league baseball league that played in the 1890 and 1895 seasons. The eight–team

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

level Eastern Iowa League consisted of teams based in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and

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

. The Eastern Iowa League permanently folded following the 1895 season.

History

The Eastern Iowa League was formed for the 1895 season as an

level minor league. A league with the same name had operated in 1890 and the teams and statistics of the 1890 league are unknown. The Eastern Iowa League League began play on May 10, 1895, as an eight–team league. The Eastern Iowa League League hosted Iowa franchises from Burlington, Iowa (Burlington Spiders), Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Cedar Rapids Rabbits),

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt C ...

(Clinton Bridegrooms),

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

(Dubuque Colts), Ottumwa, Iowa (Ottumwa Brownies) and

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

(Waterloo Indians). The Illinois franchises were based in Rock Island, Illinois (Rock Island Tri-Cities) and

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

(Galesburg Trotters). After the season began in 1895, two franchises were "expelled" from the league. On June 14, 1895, both the Clinton Bridegrooms and the Rock Island Tri-Cities were expelled from the Eastern Iowa League. Cedar Rapids turned a

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

in a 6–2 victory over Dubuque on June 18, 1895. The Galesburg Trotters franchise disbanded on June 25, 1895, and did not return to league play. After being expelled from the league, the Clinton Bridegrooms were allowed to rejoin the Eastern Iowa League, returning to league play on July 4, 1895. On July 8, 1895, four days after being reinstated, the Clinton Bridegrooms were expelled from the league for a second time. The

Waterloo Indians The Waterloo Indians were a minor league baseball team that played from 1977 to 1988 in the Midwest League. They played their home games at Riverfront Stadium and were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians. They were located in Waterloo, Iowa Wa ...

were also expelled from the Eastern Iowa League on July 8, 1895. The Dubuque Colts franchise explored joining the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Weste ...

in 1895 and one of the Dubuque directors of the Dubuque club wrote a letter to the Cedar Rapids franchise in an attempt to have Cedar Rapids join them in the move. The teams did not leave the 1895 Eastern Iowa League. Local businesses regularly closed when Eastern Iowa League teams hosted home games. The Dubuque Colts (66–31) had the best overall record in the Eastern Iowa League, which ended the season with four teams. Dubuque won the Eastern Iowa League Championship by winning both halves, so no playoffs were held. The rest of the Eastern Iowa League 1895 regular season records were: Burlington Spiders (52–39), Ottumwa Brownies (49–52), Cedar Rapids Rabbits (43–51). The four teams who were didn't finish the season were the

, who stopped play with a 21–25 record, the Rock Island Tri-Cities (14–18), Galesburg Trotters (13–27) and Clinton Bridegrooms (11–26). The Eastern Iowa League permanently disbanded after the 1895 season was completed.

Eastern Iowa League teams: 1895

Standings & statistics

1895 Eastern Iowa League

References

{{Professional Baseball Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Iowa Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Illinois Sports leagues established in 1895 Sports leagues disestablished in 1895