The Moline Plowboys was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in

Moline, Illinois 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 ...

, one of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

. Moline teams played as members the 1892 Illinois-Iowa League, 1894

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 ...

, the Mississippi Valley League (1924–1932),

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 ...

(1914–1923, 1937–1941) and

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. It began operations in 1908, as it was essentially renamed from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association ran continuously through 1917. It was reorganized thirty year ...

(1947–1948), winning four league championships. The franchise played as the "Moline A's" in 1947–1948. Moline was an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers (1932), Chicago Cubs (1937–1940) and Philadelphia Athletics (1947–1948). Moline's home minor league ballpark from 1920 to 1948 was

Browning Field Browning Park is a park in Moline, Illinois, United States, located at 16th Street and 23rd Avenue. Browning Field has been the home of high school and professional athletic events since 1910. It has hosted athletes such as Babe Ruth and Red Gr ...

. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee

Warren Giles Warren Crandall Giles (May 28, 1896 – February 7, 1979) was an American professional baseball executive. Giles spent 33 years in high-level posts in Major League Baseball as club president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds (1937–1951 ...

was President of the Plowboys franchise from 1919 to 1922. 1962 Baseball Guide p4

History

Tracing back to 1879, Quad City professional baseball includes Minor League teams in Davenport, Iowa,

and Rock Island, Illinois, as well as nearby

Kewanee, Illinois Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 at the 2020 census, down from 12,944 in 2000. Geography According to the ...

. The 1879 Davenport Brown Stockings played one season in the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

began play in 1883. Moline began play in 1914. The Davenport team was the foundation of today's Quad City River Bandits, the surviving franchise of the three. Moline and Rock Island partnered with two early teams. In 1892, the Rock Island-Moline Twins played in the final season of the Illinois-Iowa League. In 1894, the Rock Island-Moline Islanders played as a member of the

and captured the Western Association championship with a record of 72–50. The Quad Cities area was able to support two teams, with the Davenport Blue Sox and the

. In July 1914, a third Quad City team was added when the Danville Speakers relocated to Moline and the Moline Plowboys were established. The name "Plowboys" corresponds to Moline's local industry of plow production. Moline was home to companies such as Deere, Moline Plow Company, and

Minneapolis-Moline Motec Industries was a large tractor and farm and industrial machinery producer based in Hopkins, Minnesota known for its Minneapolis-Moline tractor line. It was the product of a merger of three companies in 1929: Minneapolis Steel & Machinery (M ...

in the era. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee

was team President of the Plowboys from 1919 to 1922. Giles later became president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds (1937–1951) and president of the National League (1951–1969). From 1920 to 1922, the Plowboys were managed by Earle Mack, son of Baseball Hall of Fame owner/manager

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

. Moline won Three-I Championships in 1915, 1921 and 1937. The Plowboys were an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers in 1932 and the Chicago Cubs from 1937 to 1940. The franchise reemerged as the Moline A's in 1947–1948, playing in the

as an affiliate of the Philadelphia Athletics. Moline moved to

, on June 18, 1948, becoming the Kewanee A's and winning the Central Association Championship in 1949, the year the league folded. Moline has not hosted another minor league baseball franchise.

The ballparks

The 1892 and 1894 Rock Island-Moline teams played at Twin City Park. The ballpark was located at 5th Avenue & 43rd Street in Rock Island, Illinois. From 1914-1919, the Plowboy teams played at Athletic Park, also nicknamed "Three-I Park". The ballpark was located at 4th Avenue and 37th Street Moline, Illinois. The Plowboys' ballpark from 1920 to 1948 was

. The 5,600 capacity park had dimensions (LF-CF-RF) of 550-440-377. The first night game at the park was July 11, 1930. Located at 16th Street & 23rd Avenue Moline, Illinois, Browning Field and the adjacent

Wharton Field House Wharton Field House is a historic arena located at 1800 20th Avenue in Moline, Illinois. It opened in 1928 and was home to the NBA's Tri-Cities Blackhawks, today's Atlanta Hawks, from 1946 to 1951. It has hosted professional teams, high school t ...

are still in use today by the athletic teams of

Moline High School Moline High School is a public four-year high school located in Moline, Illinois, a city in Rock Island County, in the Midwest area of the United States. The school is the only public high school in the city of Moline, and is part of Moline-Coa ...

. In an exhibition game on April 12, 1920 the Plowboys defeated the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

7–1 in the first "major-league" game played at Browning Field. The Chicago Cubs played an exhibition at Browning Field against their affiliate Plowboys on April 14, 1938.

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

appeared at Browning Field on June 26, 1940. 2,600 were in attendance for the Plowboys exhibition game featuring Ruth. Ruth put on a batting practice exhibition as well.

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

(1919–1921, team president) Inducted, 1979

Notable alumni

Elden Auker Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker ...

(1932) *

Bill Barrett William Emery Barrett (February 9, 1929 – September 20, 2016) was an American Republican Party United States, Republican politician from Nebraska who served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2001 as the con ...

(1921) * Art Ditmar (1948) * Rube Ehrhardt (1917) * Hod Eller (1915) * Joe Glenn (1947–1948 MGR) *

Fred Heimach Frederick Amos Heimach (January 27, 1901 – June 1, 1973) born in Camden, New Jersey, was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics (1920–26), Boston Red Sox (1926), New York Yankees (1928–29) and Brooklyn Dodgers, Brookl ...

(1921) * Kirby Higbe (1937) 2x MLB All–Star *

Len Koenecke Leonard George Koenecke (January 18, 1904 in Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA – September 17, 1935 in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada) was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseb ...

(1932) (

List of baseball players who died during their careers This is a list of baseball players who died during their careers. These deaths occurred during a game, due to illness, results of accidents, acts of violence, or suicide. Repeated studies have shown that Major League Baseball players have a greate ...

) *

Peanuts Lowrey Harry Lee "Peanuts" Lowrey (August 27, 1917 – July 2, 1986) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs (1942–43; 1945–49), Cincinnati Reds (1949–50), St. Louis Cardinals (1950–54) and Philadelp ...

(1937) MLB All-Star * Earle Mack (1920–1922, MGR) * Lennie Merullo (1939) * Fritz Mollwitz (1927) * Lou Novikoff (1938) *

Claude Passeau Claude William Passeau (April 9, 1909 – August 30, 2003) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1935 through 1947, Passeau played with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1935), Philadelphia Phillies (1936–39) and Chicago Cubs ( ...

(1932) 5x MLB All–Star * Fred Smith (1921) *

Evar Swanson Ernest Evar Swanson (October 15, 1902 in DeKalb, Illinois – July 17, 1973 in Galesburg, Illinois), was a professional baseball and football player. He played outfielder in the Major Leagues from to . He would play for the Cincinnati Reds an ...

(1924) * Mike Tresh (1932) MLB All–Star *

Dutch Ulrich Frank W. "Dutch" Ulrich (November 18, 1899 – February 11, 1929) was a Czech-American professional baseball player who played three seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies from through . In 1927, he had the seventh-best earned run average ( ...

(1922) * Jake Wade (1932) *

Eddie Waitkus Edward Stephen Waitkus (September 4, 1919 – September 16, 1972) was a Lithuanian American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career (1941, 1946–1955). He played for the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies in the ...

(1939) 2x MLB All–Star * Bob Weiland (1928) *

Hank Wyse Henry Washington Wyse (March 1, 1917 – October 22, 2000) was an American professional baseball pitcher. Between 1942 and 1951, Wyse played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs (1942–47), Philadelphia Athletics (1950–51) and Washin ...

(1940) MLB All–Star

External links

Baseball Reference

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moline Plowboys Professional baseball teams in Illinois Defunct baseball teams in Illinois Sports teams in the Quad Cities Defunct minor league baseball teams Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates Central Association Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League teams Philadelphia Athletics minor league affiliates 1914 establishments in Illinois 1948 disestablishments in Illinois Baseball teams established in 1914 Baseball teams disestablished in 1941 Moline, Illinois Rock Island County, Illinois Central Association teams Mississippi Valley League teams

History

The ballparks

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

Notable alumni

See also

External links

References