Minor League Baseball Magnets
Description: The Muncie Fruit Jars were a professional minor league baseball team based in Muncie, Indiana. The club was first formed in 1906 as a team in the class-C Interstate Association. The Fruit Jars' name was inspired by Muncie's local economy, which was the home of Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, famous for producing glass canning jars. The team was expelled from the league on May 18, 1906, after posting a 4-12 record. Less than two months later, the league folded on July 8, 1906. The team was fielded again in 1908 as a member of the class-D Indiana-Ohio League. The league began play on May 9, however it was forced to fold on June 8, 1908.
Description: The Lizards faced off against the Albuquerque Dons at Municipal Park on July 23, 1932. Although the final score was 9-6, the game did go 13 innings with “excellent defensive play by the Tucsonans.” “Fine fielding by Joe Silva and Vincent DeMaggio” made them standouts in the losing Lizard cause. The Lizards and Dons were members of the Arizona-Texas League. But trouble was looming at the league’s door. A short item, following the game story, said the Dons were in financial trouble. Team members had not been paid since June 1st.
Description: Joliet first hosted minor league baseball in 1890. The Joliet Convicts became members of the Independent level Illinois-Iowa League. In their first season of play, the Joliet Convicts placed 6th with a record of 56–59 in the eight–team Illinois-Iowa League. W.E. Buckley and Ed Culberson served as the Joliet managers as the Convicts finished 14.0 games behind the 1st place Ottumwa Coal Palace Kings in the final standings. The Joliet use of the "Convicts" moniker was in reference to local industry, with Joliet, Illinois being home to the Joliet Correctional Center beginning in 1858.
Description: The Sheboygan Indians operated from 1940–1942 and 1946–1953 as members of the Class D Wisconsin State League. The Indians were preceded by the Sheboygan Chairmakers, who played in the Independent Wisconsin State League from 1923–1932 and 1934–1937. Joe Hauser was the manager of the Indians for their duration. Hauser, incidentally, had been a major-league first baseman in the 1920s primarily with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1924, he hit 27 home runs to finish second in the American League to Babe Ruth. Hauser began his career with the Sheboygan Indians as a player/manager and then a full-time manager.
Description: One team, from Springfield, Illinois played in the Central League from 1912-1917. Another team, from Springfield, Ohio played in the Ohio State League in 1908 and 1911. The Springfield Reapers/Portsmouth Cobblers, a minor league baseball team, played in the Central League and Ohio State League between 1908 and 1917.
Description: Hannibal teams played under a variety of monikers throughout their history. The first Hannibal minor league team was known as the Hannibal Cannibals, beginning play in the 1908 Illinois–Missouri League and continuing in the Central Association from 1909 to 1912. Baseball Hall of Fame member Jake Beckley played and managed for the 1911 Hannibal Cannibals. On August 25, 1911, Roy Brown of the Hannibal Cannibals pitched a no-hitter against the Monmouth Browns as Hannibal won the game 3–0.
Description: In 1892, minor league baseball began, as the Jacksonville Lunatics joined the eight–team 1892 Illinois–Iowa League. The Lunatics finished with a 30–57 record to place 4th in the league standings as four of the league members folded during the season. Only Jacksonville, the Joliet Convicts, Rockford Hustlers and Rock Island-Moline Twins competed the season and Jacksonville finished 27.0 games behind 1st place Joilet. The Illinois–Iowa League folded after the season. With the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League folded, the Jacksonville Lunatics joined the eight–team 1907 Iowa State League. The Lunatics placed 4th in the standings with a 63–61 record, ending the season 16.0 games behind the 1st place Waterloo Cubs.
Description: The Schenectady Blue Jays baseball club was an American minor league baseball franchise based in Schenectady, New York, for 12 consecutive seasons, 1946–57. It was a member of the Class C Canadian–American League through 1950, and the Class A Eastern League thereafter. The Blue Jays were affiliated with Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies and played at McNearney Stadium from the middle of 1946 through their final season.[
Description: The Shenandoah Huns were a minor league baseball club, based in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania in 1894 and 1895. The team was formed when the Scranton Miners jumped from the Pennsylvania State League to the Eastern League on July 26, 1894. A week later the Huns were formed to replace Scranton in the league on August 2. The team continued to play in the Pennsylvania State League the following year, but disbanded during the season on May 20, 1895. Prior to the Huns, Shenandoah fielded the Shenandoah Hungarian Rioters a minor league team that played from 1888 to 1889 in the Middle States League and the Central League.
Description: Allentown Peanuts refers to two baseball teams: one that played in the Central League in 1888, and another that played in the Atlantic League from 1898 to 1900. They were based in Allentown, Pennsylvania and had no big league affiliations. In 1898, they went 55-67 under managers James McGeehan and Billy Sharsig, and in 1899 they went 37-47 under manager Sharsig.
Description: The San Francisco Seals were a minor league baseball team in San Francisco, California, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 until 1957 before transferring to Phoenix, Arizona. The organization was named for the abundant California sea lion and harbor seal populations in the Bay Area. The 1909, 1922, 1925, and 1928 Seals were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.
Description: The Salem Witches were a baseball team of the New England League, a minor league in American major league baseball. The team played a total of five non-consecutive seasons using the "Witches" moniker. Salem also hosted the New England League Salem Fairies (1887) and Salem (1891–1892), as well as Salem of the New England Association (1895). Salem first had a team in the 1884 Massachusetts State Association
Description: The Bisbee Bees were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Bisbee, Arizona from 1928 to 1941. The Bisbee Bees played as members of the Arizona State League (1928–1930) and Arizona–Texas League (1931–1932, 1937–1941). The Bees were an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs in 1930, Cincinnati Reds in 1937 and Chicago Cubs from 1939 to 1941.
Description: Early Corpus Christi teams played in various leagues under differing monikers. The first minor league team based in Corpus Christi was the 1910 Corpus Christi Pelicans, who played as charter members of the Southwest Texas League in 1910 and 1911. The Corpus Christi Seahawks were members of the Gulf Coast League in 1926, Texas Valley League in 1927 and 1928 and Rio Grande Valley League in 1931. The Corpus Christi Spudders played in the 1938 Texas Valley League.
Description: In 1886, Boston fielded another minor league team, as the Boston Blues became members of the New England League. The Blues finished the 1886 season with a record of 35–63, placing 6th and last in the New England League under managers Walter Burnham and Tim Murnane. The Boston Blues finished in the New England League standings with Brockton (45–56), Haverhill (59–38), Lawrence (42–55), Newburyport Clamdiggers/Lynn (53–52) and Portland (66–36). The Blues their played home games at South End Grounds.
Description: The Brownsville Charros were a minor league baseball team, based in Brownsville, Texas. The team played as the Brownsville Brownies from 1910-1911 in the Southwest Texas League before shutting down. They were revived in 1928 and then became the Charros in 1938 in the Texas Valley League. The team returned again in 1939 as part of the Rio Grande Valley League and moved to the Gulf Coast League in 1951. A new team by the same name began in 2014 as part of the United League Baseball. The team finished its season on August 15, 2014 with its last game on the road against the Fort Worth Cats. The team was managed by former Major League Baseball player Ozzie Canseco.
Description: The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia. The team was named for the city and used the oak tree and the acorn as its symbols.
Description: Minor league baseball teams were based in Fitchburg, Massachusetts between 1877 and 1929. Fitchburg minor league teams played as members of the New England Association in 1877 and 1895, the New England League in 1899, 1914–1915 and 1919, the Eastern League in 1922 and New England League in 1929. The 1919 New England League resumed play as a six-team league. The Fitchburg Foxes placed 3rd in the reformed Class B level league, after the league stopped play on August 2, 1919. The Foxes had a record of 31–36, playing under managers John F. Quinn, Bill Phoenix and Bill Page. Fitchburg was 9.0 games behind the 1st place Lowell Grays franchise when the league folded.
Description: The Nevada Lunatics were a minor league baseball team based in Nevada, Missouri in 1901 and 1902. Preceded by the 1901 Nevada Reds, Nevada played exclusively as members of the Missouri Valley League, winning the 1902 championship. Nevada teams played home games at Centennial Park. The "Lunatics" nickname corresponds to Nevada serving as home to the Missouri State Hospital for the Insane in the era.
Description: The Clinton Pilots, a minor league baseball team, played in the Central Association and Midwest League between 1914 and 1976. Clinton was the A-level affiliate of the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969. They kept the Pilots name when the parent club moved to Milwaukee in 1970. Manager Sibby Sisti was a former Atlanta Braves utility man who played every position except catcher. He also consulted on the film "The Natural" in the 1980s.
Description: The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The club was founded in 1888, and played in the Texas League at various levels throughout the majority of its existence. Most recently, from 1959 through 1961, the team played in the Triple-A American Association as the top affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Buffaloes derived their nickname from Buffalo Bayou, the principal waterway through Houston to the Houston Ship Channel, outlet to the Gulf of Mexico.
Description: The San Leandro Cherry Pickers were a minor league baseball team based in San Leandro, California. In 1910 and 1911, San Leandro teams played as members of the Class D level Central California League, with the Cherry Pickers winning the 1911 championship, as the league permanently folded during the season. The 1910 "San Leandro Grapevines" played a partial season, when the Healdsburg team relocated to San Leandro. San Leandro hosted minor league home games at San Leandro Park.
Description: The San Jose Prune Pickers (also called the Bears, Fullers, Brewers, Dukes, Athletics and simply San Jose Baseball Club) were a minor league baseball team located in San Jose, California. They competed in the California League and its various offshoots and predecessors on and off from 1885 through 1915. The city would later be represented in the minor leagues by the San Jose Red Sox and San Jose Giants.
Description: The Lincoln Abes were a minor league baseball team based in Lincoln, Illinois. From 1910 to 1914, the Abes played as members of the Class D level Illinois-Missouri League. Lincoln won consecutive league championships in 1912 and 1913 and were in 1st place when the franchise folded during the 1914 season.
Description: A number of different minor league baseball teams have played in San Francisco, California from 1878 through the arrival of the Major League San Francisco Giants in 1958. The most notable team was the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League but prior to their formation in 1903 a number of teams operated primarily in the California League and its various predecessors and offshoots, including multiple teams in the same league at various times.
