Eastern Iowa League

The Eastern Iowa League was an independent minor league baseball league that played in the 1895 season. The eight–team Eastern Iowa League consisted of teams based in Iowa and Illinois. The Eastern Iowa League played only the 1895 season before permanently folding.

Eastern Iowa League

Sport	Minor league baseball, Independent
Founded	1895
Ceased	1895
No. of teams	8
Country	United States
Most titles	1 Dubuque Colts (1895)

History

The Eastern Iowa League was formed for the 1895 season as an Independent minor league. A league with the same name had operated as a non-classified league in 1890. 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 Bridegrooms), Dubuque, Iowa (Dubuque Colts), Ottumwa, Iowa (Ottumwa Brownies) and Waterloo, Iowa (Waterloo Indians). The Illinois franchises were based in Rock Island, Illinois (Rock Island Tri-Cities) and Galesburg, Illinois (Galesburg Trotters).[1][2][3][4][5]

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.[6][4][7][8]

Cedar Rapids turned a triple play in a 6–2 victory over Dubuque on June 18, 1895.[9]

The Galesburg Trotters franchise disbanded on June 25, 1895, and did not return to league play.[6] [4][10]

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.[6][4][7]

On July 8, 1895, four days after being reinstated, the Clinton Bridegrooms were expelled from the league again. The Waterloo Indians were also expelled from the Eastern Iowa League on July 8, 1895.[6][4][7]

The Dubuque Colts franchise explored joining the Western Association 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.[3]

Local businesses regularly closed when Eastern Iowa League teams hosted home games.[4]

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 Waterloo Indians, who stopped play with a 21–25 record, the Rock Island Tri-Cities (14–18), Galesburg Trotters (13–27) and Clinton Bridegrooms (11–26).[6][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][8]

The Eastern Iowa League permanently disbanded after the 1895 season was completed.[19]

Eastern Iowa League Teams: 1895

Team name	City represented	Ballpark	Year(s) active
Burlington Spiders	Burlington, Iowa	Athletic Park[20]	1895
Cedar Rapids Rabbits	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	West End Grounds[21]	1895
Clinton Bridegrooms	Clinton, Iowa	Ringwood Park[22]	1895
Dubuque Colts	Dubuque, Iowa	26th Street Field, Base Ball Grounds[23][24]	1895
Galesburg Trotters	Galesburg, Illinois	Willard Field[25]	1895
Ottumwa Brownies	Ottumwa, Iowa	Green Street Park[26]	1895
Rock Island Tri-Cities	Rock Island, Illinois	12th Street Grounds, Twin City Park[27]	1895
Waterloo Indians	Waterloo, Iowa	West End Grounds[28]	1895

1895 Eastern Iowa League standings and statistics

Team Standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Dubuque Colts	66	31	.680	-	Joe Cantillon/Tom Morrissey
Burlington Spiders	52	39	.571	11	Paul Hines
Ottumwa Brownies	49	52	.485	19	Fred Orelup
Cedar Rapids Rabbits	43	51	.457	21.5	John Buchan/Pa Rourke
Waterloo Indians #	21	25	.457	NA	Mike Lawrence/Baker
Galesburg Trotters $	13	27	.325	NA	Frank DuShane
Rock Island Tri-Cities %	14	18	.438	NA	Harry Sage
Clinton Bridegrooms %	11	26	.297	NA	George Shugart/Edward Corbett

% Rock Island and Clinton expelled June 14; Clinton rejoined the league July 4, but expelled again July 8.
$ Galesburg disbanded June 25.
# Waterloo expelled July 8.

Playoffs: none held

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot		Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Tom Morrissey	Dubuque	BA	.404		Jake Weimer	Burlington	W	18
Leroy Hackett	Burlington	Runs	97		Jake Weimer	Burlington	SO	148
Tom Morrissey	Dubuque	Hits	137		Pop Dillon	Ottumwa	PCT	.714 10-4
Leroy Hackett	Burlington	HR	13

[29]

References

1. "Eastern Iowa League (EIL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
2. "1895 Eastern Iowa League". Baseball-Reference.com.
3. http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=BASEBALL
4. "Minor League history: Eastern Iowa League". March 28, 2016.
5. https://wcfcourier.com/sports/baseball/circling-the-bases-baseball-has-been-part-of-life-in-waterloo/article_fb5d8f48-5a2b-5768-a07a-35b1892a0f57.html
6. "1895 Eastern Iowa League (EIL) Standings on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
7. "1895 Clinton Bridegrooms Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
8. "1895 Rock Island Tri-Cities Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
9. "1895-06-19 Eastern Iowa League triple play". June 20, 1895. p. 4 – via newspapers.com.
10. "1895 Galesburg Trotters Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
11. "1895 Rock Island Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
12. "1895 Burlington Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
13. "1895 Cedar Rapids Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
14. "1895 Clinton Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
15. "1895 Dubuque Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
16. "1895 Galesburg Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
17. "1895 Ottumwa Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
18. "1895 Waterloo Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
19. "1895 Eastern Iowa League (EIL) on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
20. "Athletic Park in Burlington, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
21. "West End Grounds in Cedar Rapids, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
22. "Ringwood Park in Clinton, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
23. "26th Street Field in Dubuque, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
24. "Base Ball Grounds in Dubuque, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
25. "Tom Wilson: Fond memories of Galesburg baseball emporiums". The Register-Mail.
26. "Green Street Park in Ottumwa, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
27. "Twin City Park in Rock Island, IL history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
28. "West End Grounds in Waterloo, IA history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
29. "Eastern Iowa League - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.