The Evansville Evas was a primary nickname of an early minor league baseball teams in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

between 1877 and 1931. Early Evansville teams played as members of the

League Alliance The League Alliance was the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league. Proposed by Al Spalding on January 15, 1877. Independent baseball teams were to affiliate with National League teams, which would honor their respective contracts. The ...

(1887), Central Interstate League (1889-1890),

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

(1891),

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

(1891), Illinois-Indiana League (1892),

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

(1895),

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

(1897),

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

(1901–1902), Central League (1903–1911), Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League (1912), Central League (1913–1917) and Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League (1919–1931). Evansville was a minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers from 1928 to 1931. Beginning in 1915, Evansville has hosted home games at

Bosse Field Bosse Field is a baseball stadium located in Evansville, Indiana. Opened in 1915, it was the first municipally owned sports stadium in the United States and is the third-oldest ballpark still in regular use for professional baseball, surpassed o ...

, which is the third oldest baseball stadium in the United States, still in use today by the

Evansville Otters The Evansville Otters are a professional baseball team based in Evansville, Indiana. They compete in the West Division of the independent Frontier League. Since their establishment in 1995, the Otters have played at historic Bosse Field, which o ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. Baseball Hall of Fame members

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...

(1931),

Chuck Klein Charles Herbert Klein (October 7, 1904 – March 28, 1958), nicknamed the "Hoosier Hammer", was an American professional baseball outfielder. Klein played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–, –, –), Chicago Cubs ...

(1927) and

Edd Roush Edd J. Roush (May 8, 1893 – March 21, 1988) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1913 to 1931, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds where he was a ...

(1912–1913) played for Evansville during the early era, joining

Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

as Evansville alumni inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Evansville Evas and Hubs directly preceded the 1938 Evansville Bees, who rejoined the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League.

History

After early Evansville minor league teams began play in 1887 as the Evansville Red, other teams followed in the late 1800s: Evansville Hoosiers (1889-1892; 1896),

Evansville Brewers The Evansville Brewers were a minor league baseball team from Evansville, Indiana, that played in the Class C Central League in 1897. Team history On February 7, 1897, the Evansville Brewers were formed as a charter member of the Class C Cent ...

(1897) and the 1895 Evansville Blackbirds of the

. It was reported that the Evansville Blackbirds were facing financial difficulties. As a result, the team began throwing games, allegedly for $1,500.00 per game. In 1901, the

Evansville River Rats The Evansville River Rats were a professional minor league baseball team based in Evansville, Indiana. They played from 1901 to 1902 in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League (the "Three-I" League) and from 1903 to 1910 and 1914 to 1915 in the Cen ...

began league play in the new Class D level

(Three-I) as a 1901 charter franchise. Evansville joined the

Bloomington Blues Bloomington may refer to: Places U.S.A. (most commonly) * Bloomington, Illinois *Bloomington, Indiana * Bloomington, Minnesota U.S.A. (less commonly) * Bloomington, California * Bloomington, Idaho * Bloomington, Kansas * Bloomington, Maryland * ...

Cedar Rapids Rabbitts Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

Davenport River Rats Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta ** District Council of Davenport, former local gover ...

Decatur Commodores The Decatur Commodores were a professional minor league baseball team based in Decatur, Illinois that played for 64 seasons. The Commodores are the primary ancestor of today's Kane County Cougars. They played, with sporadic interruptions, from 1 ...

Rock Island Islanders The Rock Island Islanders was the primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Rock Island, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities, between 1892 and 1937. Rock Island teams played as members of the Illinois–Iowa League (1892), Western Ass ...

Rockford Red Sox Rockford or Rockfords may refer to: Places United States * Rockford, Illinois, a city, the largest municipality of this name *Rockford, Alabama, a town * Rockford, Idaho, a census-designated place * Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois, a United S ...

and

Terre Haute Hottentots The Terre Haute Hottentots were a Minor League Baseball team from Terre Haute, Indiana, that played in the Northwestern League in 1891, Illinois–Iowa League in 1892, Western Interstate League in 1895, Western League in 1895, Class C Central ...

in the new league. Bloomington, Illinois, Decatur, Illinois and Terre Haute, Indiana left the

to join, while Evansville and the others were new franchises. On July 29, 1906 Evans James Freeman, threw a no-hitter in a 2–0 victory over Terre Haute, with 7 walks and 10 strikeouts. On May 10, 1910, Evansville River Rats pitcher Bill Cristall pitched an 11–inning no-hitter in a losing effort. Cristall lost by the score of 1–0 to the Grand Rapids Raiders in an 11 inning game. Evansville had a third no–hitter when River Rats pitcher Paul Paul Fitterly threw a no–hitter against the Terre Haute Terre-iers on August 6, 1913, in a 5–0 Evansville victory. Evas pitcher Paul Winchell threw the fourth franchise no–hitter in a 1–0 Evansville victory over the Springfield Reapers on August 3, 1916. The fifth no–hitter was thrown by Tom Karnaghan on May 13, 1917 in a 1–0 Evansville Evas win over the South Bend Benders. The sixth franchise no–hitter was thrown by Evas pitcher Frank Winchell on August 22, 1919, as Evansville defeated the

Moline Plowboys The Moline Plowboys was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Moline, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities. Moline teams played as members the 1892 Illinois-Iowa League, 1894 Western Association, the Mississippi Valley League ( ...

2–0. Over the next thirty years, the team shifted names and leagues as the Evansville Hubs (1926–1931), Evansville Evas (1916–1923), Evansville Little Evas (1924), Evansville Pocketeers (1925), Evansville Strikers (1911), Evansville Yankees (1912) and original Evansville River Rats (1913–1917; 1901–1910) took the field in Evansville. The Evansville teams played in the

(1901–1902; 1919–1931),

(1903–1911; 1913–1917) and Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League (1912). Evansville played as an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers from 1928 to 1931. The Evansville franchise stopped play after the 1931 season during the Great Depression. Evansville was without baseball until the 1938 Evansville Bees returned to Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League play as an affiliate of the Bostin Braves/

Boston Bees The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During ...

. That era of Evansville baseball ran through 1957. Today, Evansville hosts the

of the

, who continue play at Bosse Field. Bosse Field Lights

The ballparks

Early Evansville teams played at Louisiana Street Park through 1914. Adjacent to the Evansville Union Stockyards and the Stockyard Hotel with a beer garden, the ballpark was built in 1895 and closed in 1960. The last minor league game was played at the park on June 16, 1915. The Louisiana Street baseball park was located at East Louisiana Street and Read Avenue. Beginning in June, 1915, Evansville minor league teams have played at

. Built at a cost of $100,000, Bosse Filed was the first municipally owned stadium in organized baseball and is named for Evansville mayor, Benjamin Bosse, who helped design the ballpark. Still in use today, the ballpark is located at 1701 Main Street & Morgan Street in Evansville, Indiana. Bosse Field is currently home to the

in the independent

. Behind MLB's

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

, which opened in 1912 and

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

, which opened in 1914, Bosse Field is the third oldest baseball park in the United States. The first game at Bosse Field was played on June 17, 1915.

Timeline

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

(1931) Inducted, 1956 *

(1927) Inducted, 1980 *

(1912–1913) Inducted, 1962

Other notable alumni

Tommy Bridges Thomas Jefferson Davis Bridges (December 28, 1906 – April 19, 1968) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career with the Detroit Tigers from 1930 to 1946. During the 1930s, he used an outstanding cu ...

(1930) 6x MLB All-Star; 1936 AL wins leader; 2× AL strikeout leader (1935, 1936) * Abner Dalrymple (1895) 1878 NL Batting Champion; 1885 NL Home Run Leader *

Pete Fox Ervin "Pete" Fox (March 8, 1909 – July 5, 1966) was an American professional baseball player from 1930 to 1946. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a right fielder, for the Detroit Tigers from 1933 to 1940 and th ...

(1930) MLB All-Star * Jimmy Ryan (1906) 1888 NL HR Leader *

Oscar Stanage Oscar Harland Stanage (March 17, 1883 – November 11, 1964) was an American baseball catcher. He played professional baseball for 24 years from 1903 to 1926, including 13 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers. A native of T ...

(1926) MLB Fielding Records *

Gee Walker Gerald Holmes "Gee" Walker (March 19, 1908 – March 20, 1981) was a Major League Baseball outfielder. During his fifteen-year career he played with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Re ...

MLB All–Star (1928, 1930) *

Whit Wyatt John Whitlow Wyatt (September 27, 1907 – July 16, 1999) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1929–33), Chicago White Sox (1933–36), Clevela ...

(1928–1929) 4x MLB All-Star; 1941 NL wins leader

References

{{Reflist

External links

Baseball Reference
Defunct minor league baseball teams Evansville, Indiana Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League teams Baseball teams disestablished in 1924 Baseball teams established in 1916 Central League teams Defunct baseball teams in Indiana Sports in Evansville, Indiana