Defunct Major League Baseball Teams Pins and Buttons

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 (1924–1932), Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League (1914–1923, 1937–1941) and Central Association (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).

The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J. L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time of the establishment of the team. In 1930, the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game in trucks to play games at night, five years before any major league team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration, and triumphed in the first Negro League World Series in 1924.

The Redondo Beach Wharf Rats were a minor league baseball team based in Redondo Beach, California. In 1910, the Wharf Rats played as members of the short– lived Class D level Southern California Trolley League, winning the championship in the league's only season of play.

The Corpus Christi Seagulls were a minor league baseball team based in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1976 and 1977. The Seagulls played as members of the Class A level Gulf States League in 1976 and Lone Star League in 1977, winning the league championship in both seasons. The Seagulls hosted minor league home games at Cabaniss Field.

The Chicago Whales only existed for three years, as part of the Federal League, a renegade baseball outfit that challenged the American and National leagues from 1913 to 1915, before abruptly going broke. The team is barely a footnote in baseball history, but it played an important role in Chicago history, because it brought the game to the North Side, which is why tens of thousands of Big Ten graduates live there today. The Whales were the first team to play baseball at the corner of Clark and Addison, and the first to win a championship there, in 1915 — 101 years before the Cubs did it. Yet I could find nothing commemorating them at Wrigley Field.

The Aberdeen Pheasants was the primary moniker minor league baseball teams located in Aberdeen, South Dakota between 1920 and 1997. The Pheasants played in the Northern League from 1946 until the league folded in 1971. Aberdeen was the Class C affiliate of the St. Louis Browns until 1953, continuing with the franchise when the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954, with the Pheasants remaining in the Oriole farm system. Aberdeen had a team in the Independent Prairie League from 1995 to 1997, also called the Pheasants.

The original Bakersfield Dodgers were a Class A farm club of the L.A. Dodgers from 1968 to 1975. The Dodgers replaced the Bakersfield Bears (1957-1967) in the California League membership in 1968. At the end of the 1975 season Los Angeles withdrew their support of Bakersfield and moved their California League operation to Lodi. The Dodgers returned in 1984 and the new version of the Bakersfield Dodgers played 11 seasons from 1984 to 1994.

The Clarksville Colts were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Class D Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League (KITTY League) from 1946 to 1949. They were located in Clarksville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Goodrich Park. The team was known as the Clarskville Owls in 1946 before operating as the Clarksville Colts from 1947 to 1949.

The Baltimore Terrapins were one of the most successful teams in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915. The team played its home games at Terrapin Park.

The Victoria Rosebuds were a minor league baseball team in the Double-A Texas League located in Victoria, Texas, between 1958 and 1961. On May 27, 1961, the club was transferred to Ardmore, Oklahoma, because of attendance woes. Club owner Tom O'Connor, Jr., a local rancher, suffered a heart attack in 1961, and without his continued support, the team was unable to remain in Victoria. Two weeks later, on June 10, 1961, Victoria received another club struggling at the gate, the Rio Grande Valley Giants, who transferred from Harlingen, Texas. The Rosebuds had originally moved to Victoria from Shreveport, Louisiana. after the 1957 season.

The Giants began as the second baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie. The Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League seven years after its 1876 formation, in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the rival American Association. Nearly half of the original Gothams players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans in upstate New York, whose place in the National League the Gothams inherited. While the Metropolitans were initially the more successful club, after they won the 1884 AA championship, Day and Mutrie began moving star players to the NL Gothams, whose fortunes improved while the Metropolitans' afterwards slumped.

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.

The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the Central League and the Middle Atlantic League, as well as in several various other area-based leagues. The Stogies can be traced back to 1877 and the city's first professional team known as Wheeling Standard, which featured Jack Glasscock and Chappy Lane. Then in 1887 the city once again fielded a new team known simply in the record books as Wheeling. However, the following season, Wheeling came to be called the "Nail City" for its nail industry, creating the Wheeling Nailers, a team name which even today is used for the city's professional ice hoc

The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in 1991 and 1993. They were affiliated with several Major League Baseball teams over the years, most notably with the Houston Astros.

In 1903 the former Des Moines Midgets were renamed the Des Moines Undertakers. The club was just 55-76, 7th in the 8-team Western League, though Harvey Cushman led the league with 195 strikeouts. Shortstop Charley O'Leary was fourth in the circuit with a .311 batting average and had the best fielding percentage at his position. Due to the presence of the insurance industry in Des Moines, IA the club was renamed the Des Moines Prohibitionists in 1904.

The Joplin Miners was the primary name of the minor league baseball team in Joplin, Missouri that played for 49 seasons between 1901 and 1954. Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Mickey Mantle and Whitey Herzog played for Joplin. Professional baseball returned to Joplin and Joe Becker Stadium when the Joplin Blasters began play in 2015.

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.

The Waycross Moguls were a minor league baseball team, based in Waycross, Georgia as a representative of the Florida–Alabama–Georgia League in 1915. However the team originated in 1906 as the Waycross Machinists of the Georgia State League for one season. Waycross' minor league baseball team was then revived in 1913 as the Waycross Blowhards of the Empire State League. In 1914 they were known as the Waycross Grasshoppers before changing their name to the Moguls during the season.

The Waco Pirates were a minor league baseball team based in Waco, Texas who played in the Big State League from 1947–1956. They were an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team actually began as the Waco Dons in 1947 but changed their name when they became a Pirates affiliate. The team briefly moved to Longview, Texas on May 22, 1953 as a result of damage caused by the 1953 Waco tornado outbreak

The 1883 season was the first in the history of the Philadelphia Quakers. The team was founded earlier in the year as a replacement for the Worcester franchise. It was the first year Philadelphia was represented in the National League since the original Athletics were disbanded in 1876. The American Association's Philadelphia Athletics had been founded a year earlier. The team opened the year managed by Bob Ferguson; however, he was fired as manager after a disappointing 4–13 start and replaced by Blondie Purcell. The team finished the season 17–81, worst in the National League.

The Phoenix Firebirds were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1958 to 1959, and from 1966 to 1997. Before 1986, the team was known as the Phoenix Giants. The franchise was a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL), and were the top minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The Firebirds were forced to leave Phoenix following the 1997 season, as the new National League expansion team, the Arizona Diamondbacks would begin play in Phoenix the following year. In a complicated series of events, the owners of the Firebirds moved their team to Tucson, Arizona, and became the Tucson Sidewinders, dropping their affiliation with the Giants in favor of the expansion Diamondbacks.

The Statesboro Pilots were a minor league baseball team based in Statesboro, Georgia. From 1952 to 1955, the Pilots played exclusively as members of the Class D level Georgia State League. The Pilots hosted minor league home games at Pilots Field.

The Atlanta Firecrackers of the Southern League ended the 1892 season with a record of 58 wins and 65 losses, finishing sixth in the SL.

The Miami Beach Flamingos were a professional minor league baseball team based in Miami Beach, Florida periodically from 1940 until 1954. The team played its home games at Flamingo Field and was a member of the Class D Florida East Coast League as the Miami Beach Tigers in 1940. The following season they changed their nickname to the Flamingos and won the league's championship. The FECL the then folded in May 1942 due to World War II. After the War, the Flamingos joined the new Class C Florida International League in 1946. The league became Class-B in 1949. The Flamingos played the 1952 season, sat-out 1953, and rejoined in 1954 only to move across Biscayne Bay and relocate to Miami as the Miami Beach Flamingos/Greater Miami Flamingos.

The Ogden Gunners was the final moniker of the minor league baseball teams based in Ogden, Utah between 1900 and 1928. The Ogden Gunners played the 1926 to 1928 seasons in the Class C level Utah–Idaho League. The Gunners were preceded by Ogden teams in the 1901 Inter-Mountain League, 1902 Utah State League, 1905 Pacific National League, Union Association (1912–1914) and the 1921 Northern Utah League, winning three championships and a league pennant.

The Colt .45s started their inaugural season on April 10, 1962, against the Chicago Cubs with Harry Craft as the Colt .45s' manager. Bob Aspromonte scored the first run for the Colt .45s on an Al Spangler triple in the first inning. They started the season with a three-game sweep of the Cubs but eventually finished eighth among the National League's ten teams. The team's best pitcher, Richard "Turk" Farrell, lost 20 games despite an ERA of 3.02. A starter for the Colt .45s, Farrell was primarily a relief pitcher prior to playing for Houston. He was selected to both All-Star Games in 1962.

The Asbury Park Sea Urchins were a minor league baseball team based in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1914. The Asbury Park team previously played as members of the 1897 New Jersey State League before the Urchins played a partial season as members of the 1914 Atlantic League. Minor league baseball play began in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1897, when the Asbury Park team played as members of the 1897 New Jersey State League. The league was a four–team Class D level league. The New Jersey State League was formed with teams in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Bridgeton, New Jersey and Millville, New Jersey joining Asbury Park as charter members.

The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter member of both the first professional league in 1871 and the National League in 1876.

The El Centro Imperials was an independent professional baseball team based out of El Centro, California. The team started play in 1947 in the Sunset League and was folded in 1952. Another team, the Imperial Valley Brahmas played in El Centro in 1995 as part of the Golden State League and the Imperials were revived on April 3, 2009, as one of the four charter members of the new Arizona Summer League, an instructional summer professional baseball league affiliated with the Golden Baseball League. That version of the team was managed by former Los Angeles Dodgers player Mike Marshall, but lasted just the one season.

The Des Moines Demons were a minor league baseball team that was located in Des Moines, Iowa from 1925 to 1937 and 1959 to 1961. The teams played at Holcomb Park. The first professional night baseball game was played at Holcomb Park when the Demons played at home on May 2, 1930.

The Enterprise Boll Weevils were a minor league baseball team based in Enterprise, Alabama. Preceded by the 1936 Enterprise Browns of the Class D level Alabama-Florida League, the Boll Weevils played as members Alabama State League from 1947 to 1950 and the Alabama-Florida League in 1951 and 1952, winning the 1950 league pennant. The Boll Weevils hosted home minor league games at Peanut Stadium.

The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in general were largely ignored by the major league baseball teams before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

Defunct Los Angeles Dons All Star Baseball Team

Defunct Cleveland Spiders Retro Style

Charleston, West Virginia went without pro baseball for three summers after the Charleston Charlies pulled up stakes for Maine in late 1983. The Charlies were a triple-A club just one step removed from the Major Leagues. But by 1983, Charleston was the smallest Class AAA city in America by population. So it was little surprise that when pro ball returned with the formation of the Charleston Wheelers in the spring of 1987, local hardball fans had to accept a two-level demotion to the Class A South Atlantic League.

The Stockton Millers were a minor league baseball team located in Stockton, California. They competed primarily in the California League between 1886 and 1915.