The Mississippi Valley League (MVL) was a baseball Class D level

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

that operated from 1922 through 1933. Playing its last year as a Class B level league, the league franchises were based in

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, 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: Wiscon ...

and

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 ...

. Like many leagues at the time, the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

led to its demise. The Mississippi Valley League was founded by Michael H. Sexton, of

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

, who was then president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.

History

The league began play in 1922 with six teams: the

Cedar Rapids Bunnies 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 * ...

Marshalltown Ansons The Marshalltown Ansons were a minor league baseball team that played in the Central Association from 1914 to 1917 and in the Mississippi Valley League from 1922 to 1928. They were located in Marshalltown, Iowa. History The team was named for H ...

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 Asso ...

Waterloo Hawks The Waterloo Hawks were a National Basketball League and National Basketball Association team based in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hawks remain the only sports franchise ever based in Iowa from any of the current Big Four Leagues. Franchise history ...

Ottumwa Cardinals The Ottumwa Cardinals were a Class-D Mississippi Valley League minor league baseball team based in Ottumwa, Iowa that played from 1922 to 1925. They were preceded and succeeded by the Ottumwa Packers. Of note, Jack Saltzgaver and Johnny Welch, who ...

and the Dubuque Climbers. There were no formal playoffs, and the Bunnies finished in first place. All teams from 1922 returned for 1923 with the Climbers finishing first in the league. Again, there were no formal playoffs. In 1924, the league expanded to eight teams, adding 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 (1 ...

and

Burlington Bees The Burlington Bees are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Burlington, Iowa, and have played their home games at Community Field since 1947. Founded in 1889, the Bees played in Minor League Basebal ...

. The Dubuque Climbers became the Dubuque Dubs, though the other teams remained the same. The Hawks finished first in the league. All teams from 1924 returned for 1925, with the Dubs becoming the Dubuque Ironmen. The Bunnies finished first in the league for the second time four years. In 1926, the Ottumwa Cardinals became the

Ottumwa Packers The Ottumwa Packers was the primary name of the minor league baseball teams that played between 1890 and 1928, based in Ottumwa, Iowa. Ottumwa teams played as members of the Illinois-Iowa League (1890–1891), Eastern Iowa League (1895), Weste ...

and the Dubuque Dubs became the

Dubuque Speasmen Minor league baseball teams have operated in the city of Dubuque, Iowa under a variety of names in various leagues, playing in 52 seasons between 1879 and 1976. Dubuque teams were an affiliate of the Houston Astros (1975–1976), Kansas City Royals ...

, named after their manager

Bill Speas William John Speas, Sr. (August 17, 1887 – January 13, 1969) was a long-time minor league baseball player and manager. He played in the minor leagues for 22 seasons, from 1906 to 1927, and managed at that level from 1918 to 1929. Playing career ...

. The Packers finished in first place. In 1927, the Speasmen returned to their former name the Dubuque Dubs. All other teams returned intact from the year before. Dubuque finished first in the league. The same teams played in 1928, with the Hawks finishing in first place. 1929 saw multiple league changes. The Dubs became the

Dubuque Tigers Minor league baseball teams have operated in the city of Dubuque, Iowa under a variety of names in various leagues, playing in 52 seasons between 1879 and 1976. Dubuque teams were an affiliate of the Houston Astros (1975–1976), Kansas City Royal ...

. The Marshalltown Ansons and Ottumwa Packers left the league and were replaced by the

Keokuk Indians The Keokuk Indians was a primary nickname of the various minor league baseball teams based in Keokuk, Iowa between 1875 and 1962. The 1875 Keokuk Westerns franchise were members of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, a l ...

and

Davenport Blue Sox The Davenport Blue Sox was the name given to three minor league baseball teams based in Davenport, Iowa. The first version of the Blue Sox played in the Class B Three-I League from 1913–1916. The second played in the Class D Mississippi Valle ...

. The Tigers finished first in the league. All teams from 1929 returned for 1930, with the Bunnies finishing in first place for the third time in league history. The teams remained intact for 1931 as well, with the Keokuk Indians finishing in first place. 1932 featured no new teams, though it did have a new feature - a playoff system. All teams returned from 1931, and the Blue Sox finishing in first place. They however lost in the league playoffs four games to two to the Islanders, so the Islanders were the league champions. In 1933, the league featured only six teams for the first time since 1923. It also moved up in rank from Class-D to Class-B, and saw three new arrivals (

Peoria Tractors Peoria can refer to: People * Peoria tribe, Native American tribe Places United States * Peoria, Arizona, largest city in the U.S. with that name; named after Peoria, Illinois. ** Peoria Unified School District **Peoria Sports Complex **Peoria ...

Quincy Indians The Quincy Indians were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1928 to 1933. They were located in Quincy, Illinois. From 1928 to 1932, they played in the Class B Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was ...

Springfield Senators The Springfield Senators were a minor league baseball team based in Springfield, Illinois that played on-and-off from 1889 to 1935. The team played in the Central Interstate League (1889), the Three-I League (1904-1912, 1925–1932, 1935) and the Mi ...

) as well as multiple departures (Burlington Bees, Cedar Rapids Bunnies, Moline Plowboys, Waterloo Hawks, Dubuque Tigers). The Blue Sox finished in first place and defeated the Islanders four games to one in the playoffs to become league champions. The 1933 Davenport Blue Sox are ranked #58 in the All-time Top 100 teams by MiLB.com. The Blue Sox finished the season 82-32, as Como Cotelle hit .407 and Ed Hall drove in 151 runs. The Rock Island Islanders were the only team to play in the league through its entire 12-year existence.

Cities represented: 1922–1933

Burlington, IA Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes ...

(1924–1932) *

Cedar Rapids, IA Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

(1922–1932) *

Davenport, IA Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

(1929–1933) *

Dubuque, IA Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...

: Dubuque Climbers (1922–1923); Dubuque Dubs (1924); Dubuque Ironmen (1925);

(1926); Dubuque Dubs (1927–1928);

(1929–1932) *

Keokuk, IA Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

(1929–1933) * Marshalltown, IA:

(1922–1928) *

Moline, IL Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

(1924–1932) *

Ottumwa, IA Ottumwa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,529 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern section, the city is split into northern and southern halves ...

(1922–1925);

(1926–1928) *

Peoria, IL Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Cent ...

(1933) *

Quincy, IL Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

(1933) *

Rock Island, IL Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 census. Located on t ...

(1922–1933) *

Springfield, IL Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

(1933) *

Waterloo, IA Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, 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 W ...

(1922–1932)

Mississippi Valley League standings and statistics

1922 to 1927

1922 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
1923 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1924 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1925 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1926 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1927 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled.

1928 to 1933

1928 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1929 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1930 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled. 1931 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled 1932 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: Rock Island 4 games, Davenport 2. 1933 Mississippi Valley League
schedule
Playoffs: Davenport 4 games, Rock Island 1

References

{{reflist Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Illinois Baseball leagues in Iowa Sports leagues established in 1922 Sports leagues disestablished in 1933