# Mississippi Valley League

The Mississippi Valley League (MVL) was a baseball Class D level minor league that operated from 1922 through 1933. Playing its last year as a Class B level league, the league franchises were based in Iowa and Illinois. Like many leagues at the time, the Great Depression led to its demise. The Mississippi Valley League was founded by Michael H. Sexton, of Rock Island, Illinois, 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, Marshalltown Ansons, Rock Island Islanders, Waterloo Hawks, Ottumwa Cardinals 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 and Burlington Bees. 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 and the Dubuque Dubs became the Dubuque Speasmen, named after their manager Bill Speas. 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. The Marshalltown Ansons and Ottumwa Packers left the league and were replaced by the Keokuk Indians and Davenport Blue Sox. 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, Quincy Indians, Springfield Senators) 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 Bees (1924–1932)
* Cedar Rapids, IA: Cedar Rapids Bunnies (1922–1932)
* Davenport, IA: Davenport Blue Sox (1929–1933)
* Dubuque, IA: Dubuque Climbers (1922–1923); Dubuque Dubs (1924); Dubuque Ironmen (1925); Dubuque Speasmen (1926); Dubuque Dubs (1927–1928); Dubuque Tigers (1929–1932)
* Keokuk, IA: Keokuk Indians (1929–1933)
* Marshalltown, IA: Marshalltown Ansons (1922–1928)
* Moline, IL: Moline Plowboys (1924–1932)
* Ottumwa, IA: Ottumwa Cardinals (1922–1925); Ottumwa Packers (1926–1928)
* Peoria, IL: Peoria Tractors (1933)
* Quincy, IL: Quincy Indians (1933)
* Rock Island, IL: Rock Island Islanders (1922–1933)
* Springfield, IL: Springfield Senators (1933)
* Waterloo, IA: Waterloo Hawks (1922–1932)

## Mississippi Valley League standings and statistics
### 1922 to 1927

1922 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 92 | 37 | .713 | -- | Bill Speas |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 73 | 55 | .570 | 18½ | Frank Boyle |
| Rock Island Islanders | 66 | 63 | .512 | 26.0 | Jimmy Conzelman |
| Waterloo Hawks | 59 | 68 | .465 | 32.0 | Pat Ragan |
| Ottumwa Cardinals | 49 | 76 | .392 | 41.0 | Jim Drohan / Carl Bond |
| Dubuque Climbers | 44 | 84 | .344 | 47½ | Larry Mullen / Harry Henge / Joe McGinnity |
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Fred Leach | Waterloo | BA | .383 | Frank Johnson | Cedar Rap | W | 24 |
| Bill Speas | Cedar Rapids | Runs | 128 | Charles Schwiete | Marshall | SO | 180 |
| Bill Speas | Cedar Rapids | Hits | 182 | Frank Johnson | Cedar Rap | Pct | .828; 24-5 |
| Fred Leach | Waterloo | HR | 13 |
1923 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Dubuque Climbers | 78 | 50 | .609 | -- | Joe McGinnity |
| Ottumwa Cardinals | 73 | 53 | .579 | 4.0 | Wally Mattick |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 69 | 56 | .552 | 7½ | Bill Speas |
| Waterloo Hawks | 58 | 69 | .457 | 19½ | Bert Weeden |
| Rock Island Islanders | 53 | 73 | .421 | 24.0 | Tommy Thompson |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 48 | 78 | .381 | 29.0 | Frank Boyle |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Bill Speas | Cedar Rapids | BA | .363 | John Dill | Ottumwa | W | 22 |
| John Armstrong | Dubuque | Runs | 93 | George Brown | Waterloo | SO | 175 |
| Bill Speas | Cedar Rapids | Hits | 182 | Emil Levson | Cedar Rapids | Pct | .826; 19-4 |
| Andrew McEwan | Waterloo | HR | 8 | J. Johnson | Cedar Rapids | IP | 317 |
1924 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Waterloo Hawks | 84 | 40 | .678 | -- | Cletus Dixon |
| Dubuque Dubs | 70 | 51 | .579 | 12½ | John Armstrong |
| Rock Island Islanders | 64 | 57 | .529 | 18½ | Preston Gray |
| Ottumwa Cardinals | 58 | 61 | .487 | 23½ | Wally Mattick |
| Moline Plowboys | 59 | 65 | .478 | 25.0 | Jim Shollenberger |
| Burlington Bees | 54 | 67 | .446 | 28½ | Henry Wingfield |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 54 | 67 | .446 | 28½ | Bill Speas |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 43 | 78 | .355 | 39½ | Jack Lacey / Frank Boyle |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Fred Schulte | Waterloo | BA | .368 | Ovid McCracken | Waterloo | W | 23 |
| Hal Anderson | Ottumwa | Runs | 126 | Richard Didier | Ottumwa | SO | 145 |
| Fred Schulte | Waterloo | Hits | 167 | Claude Willoughby | Waterloo | Pct | .750; 21-7 |
| Fred Schulte | Waterloo | 3B | 25 |
| Stan Keyes | Rock Island | HR | 20 |
1925 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 74 | 51 | .592 | -- | 43,429 | Bill Speas |
| Moline Plowboys | 73 | 52 | .584 | 1.0 | 39,738 | Jim Schollenberger |
| Rock Island Islanders | 65 | 60 | .520 | 9.0 | 43,157 | Preston Gray |
| Ottumwa Cardinals | 61 | 64 | .488 | 13.0 | 30,572 | Wally Mattick |
| Dubuque Ironmen | 60 | 65 | .480 | 14.0 | 46,175 | Joe McGinnity / John Armstrong |
| Waterloo Hawks | 59 | 66 | .472 | 15.0 | 54,702 | Cletus Dixon |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 55 | 70 | .440 | 19.0 | 30,442 | Frank Boyle |
| Burlington Bees | 53 | 72 | .424 | 22.0 | 42,179 | Dick Speer / Whitey Mann / Ed Reichle |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Como Cotelle | Davenport | BA | .407 | Al Piechota | Davenport | W | 19 |
| George Meyer | Davenport | Runs | 130 | Ray Harrell | Quincy | SO | 193 |
| Simon Rosenthal | Quincy | Hits | 166 | Al Hollingsworth | Rock Island | ERA | 3.11 |
| Ed Hall | Davenport | HR | 28 | Torsten Lengquist | Davenport | PCT | .833 10-2 |
| Ed Hall | Davenport | RBI | 151 |
1926 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Ottumwa Packers | 75 | 45 | .625 | -- | Pat Harkins |
| Moline Plowboys | 71 | 50 | .587 | 4½ | Jim Shollenberger |
| Waterloo Hawks | 67 | 52 | .563 | 7½ | Cletus Dixon |
| Burlington Bees | 68 | 53 | .562 | 7½ | Ed Reichle |
| Rock Island Islanders | 65 | 55 | .542 | 10.0 | Preston Gray |
| Dubuque Speasmen | 56 | 63 | .471 | 18½ | Bill Speas |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 41 | 79 | .342 | 34.0 | Elmer Lane / Casey Coffin / Dick Brannigan / Dan O'Leary |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 38 | 84 | .311 | 38.0 | Fred Beck / Jack Lacy / Dutch White |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Red Worthington | Waterloo | BA | .389 | Alvin Bauer | Ottumwa | W | 25 |
| Les Smith | Ottumwa | Runs | 99 | Robert Shanklin | Rock Island | SO | 188 |
| Red Worthington | Waterloo | Hits | 185 | Alvin Bauer | Ottumwa | Pct | .862; 25-4 |
| Les Smith | Ottumwa | HR | 20 |
| Nick Conrad | Marshalltown | SAC | 36 |
1927 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Dubuque Dubs | 66 | 41 | .617 | -- | Bill Speas |
| Waterloo Hawks | 75 | 47 | .615 | ½ | Cletus Dixon |
| Burlington Bees | 71 | 52 | .577 | 4½ | Ed Reichle |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 65 | 54 | .546 | 8½ | Jim Shollenberger |
| Moline Plowboys | 63 | 55 | .534 | 10.0 | Fritz Mollwitz |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 50 | 70 | .417 | 24.0 | Pete Hughes/ Spoke Emery |
| Rock Island Islanders | 40 | 75 | .348 | 31½ | Joe Kernan |
| Ottumwa Packers | 41 | 77 | .347 | 32.0 | Pat Harkins |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Jim Stroner | Rock Island | BA | .380 | Duncan Grant | Waterloo | W | 22 |
| James Worth | Dubuque | Runs | 127 | Harold McKain | Waterloo | SO | 147 |
| James Worth | Dubuque | Hits | 171 | Duncan Grant | Waterloo | SO | 147 |
| Len Koenecke | Moline | HR | 20 | Elbert Fisch | Dubuque | Pct | .800; 20-5 |

### 1928 to 1933

1928 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Waterloo Hawks | 81 | 41 | .664 | -- | Cletus Dixon |
| Moline Plowboys | 69 | 54 | .561 | 12½ | Richard Manchester |
| Rock Island Islanders | 67 | 59 | .532 | 16.0 | Lester Patterson |
| Dubuque Dubs | 63 | 60 | .512 | 18½ | Bill Speas / John Armstrong |
| Burlington Bees | 59 | 61 | .492 | 21.0 | Ed Reichle |
| Marshalltown Ansons | 58 | 65 | .472 | 22½ | Jim Shollenberger / George Tomer / Ben Diamond |
| Ottumwa Packers | 48 | 72 | .400 | 32.0 | Preston Gray / Bill Speas |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 45 | 78 | .366 | 36½ | Spoke Emery / Bob Hasbrook |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player Statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Len Koenecke | Moline | BA | .389 | Duncan Grant | Waterloo | W | 21 |
| Walter Genin | Rock Island | Runs | 115 | Ray Wolf | Moline | W | 21 |
| Len Koenecke | Moline | Hits | 182 | Bob Weiland | Moline | SO | 209 |
| Len Koenecke | Moline | HR | 22 | Duncan Grant | Waterloo | Pct | .808; 21-5 |
1929 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Dubuque Tigers | 75 | 51 | .595 | -- | Lester Patterson |
| Waterloo Hawks | 72 | 54 | .571 | 3.0 | Cletus Dixon |
| Davenport Blue Sox | 69 | 57 | .548 | 6.0 | Ed Reichle |
| Moline Plowboys | 63 | 63 | .500 | 12.0 | Richard Manchester |
| Burlington Bees | 62 | 64 | .492 | 13.0 | George Young |
| Keokuk Indians | 60 | 65 | .480 | 14½ | Ben Diamond |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 58 | 67 | .464 | 16½ | Bill Speas / Tibb Serre |
| Rock Island Islanders | 44 | 82 | .349 | 31.0 | Walt Genin / Buck Wheat |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Spot Grant | Cedar Rapids | BA | .368 | Albert Eckert | Dubuque | W | 19 |
| Paul Speraw | Dubuque | Runs | 112 | H.H. Miller | Cedar Rapids | W | 19 |
| Ed Hendee | Davenport | Hits | 183 | Fred Witte | Davenport | W | 19 |
| Ken Storm | Waterloo | HR | 23 | Lester Neisslie | Moline | SO | 141 |
| Jack Frost | Waterloo | AB | 547 | Johnny Niggeling | Waterloo | Pct | .789;15-4 |
1930 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 71 | 55 | .564 | -- | Paul Speraw |
| Rock Island Islanders | 70 | 56 | .556 | 1.0 | Clarence Roper |
| Davenport Blue Sox | 64 | 61 | .512 | 6½ | Ed Reichle |
| Moline Plowboys | 63 | 62 | .504 | 7.5 | Riley Parker |
| Waterloo Hawks | 63 | 63 | .500 | 8.0 | Cletus Dixon |
| Burlington Bees | 61 | 65 | .484 | 10.0 | George Young |
| Keokuk Indians | 56 | 70 | .445 | 15.0 | Sam Schwartz / Lester Patterson / Henry Wingfield / John Schinski |
| Dubuque Tigers | 55 | 71 | .437 | 16.0 | Richard Manchester / Ed Woerber |
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Riley Parker | Moline | BA | .376 | Delano Wetherell | Rock Island | W | 21 |
| Dick Esrey | Moline | Runs | 114 | Delano Wetherell | Rock Island | So | 217 |
| Dick Esrey | Moline | Hits | 183 | Walter Murphy | Rock Island | Pct | .667; 10-5 |
| Joe Prerost | Waterloo | HR | 15 |
| John Kerr | Cedar Rapids | SB | 84 |
1931 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Keokuk Indians | 73 | 51 | .589 | -- | Bob Rice |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 74 | 52 | .587 | ½ | Paul Speraw |
| Moline Plowboys | 68 | 58 | .540 | 6.0 | Riley Parker |
| Burlington Bees | 64 | 60 | .516 | 9.0 | Art Mueller |
| Rock Island Islanders | 61 | 65 | .484 | 13.0 | Clarence Roper |
| Waterloo Hawks | 57 | 68 | .456 | 16½ | Dick Manchester / Babe Thomas |
| Davenport Blue Sox | 53 | 73 | .421 | 21.0 | Ed Reichle / Cletus Dixon |
| Dubuque Tigers | 51 | 74 | .408 | 22½ | Preston Gray / Ed Hendee / Elmer Peters |
Playoffs: None Scheduled
Player Statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Riley Parker | Moline | BA | .374 | Gil Paulsen | Burlington | W | 19 |
| Pep Young | Keokuk | Runs | 125 | John Ziegler | Cedar Rapids | W | 19 |
| Dick Esrey | Moline | Hits | 176 | Al Gizelbach | Burlington | SO | 185 |
| Malcolm Pickett | Moline | HR | 13 | Gil Paulsen | Burlington | ERA | 2.21 |
| | | | | Fred Newton | Rock Island | PCT | .750 12-4 |
1932 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Davenport Blue Sox | 78 | 47 | .624 | -- | Cletus Dixon |
| Rock Island Islanders | 70 | 56 | .556 | 8½ | George Young/ Riley Parker |
| Burlington Bees | 69 | 60 | .535 | 11.0 | Art Mueller / Jack Tesar |
| Keokuk Indians | 67 | 61 | .523 | 12½ | Bob Rice |
| Cedar Rapids Bunnies | 65 | 60 | .520 | 13.0 | Paul Speraw |
| Moline Plowboys | 55 | 66 | .455 | 21.0 | Ernie Lorbeer |
| Waterloo Hawks | 52 | 73 | .416 | 26.0 | Doc Bennett |
| Dubuque Tigers | 47 | 80 | .370 | 32.0 | Clarence Roper / Dave Lamb |
Playoffs: Rock Island 4 games, Davenport 2.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Brown Braley | Keokuk | BA | .374 | Fred Newton | Davenport | W | 20 |
| Harold Patchett | Moline | Runs | 90 | Ed Linke | Davenport | SO | 228 |
| Thomas Leonard | Rock Island | Hits | 163 | Fred Newton | Davenport | Pct | .800; 20-5 |
| Lawrence Wilbanks | Moline | HR | 9 |
| William Mizeur | Cedar Rapids | RBI | 86 |
1933 Mississippi Valley League schedule
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
| Davenport Blue Sox | 82 | 32 | .719 | - | Cletus Dixon |
| Rock Island Islanders | 64 | 53 | .547 | 19½ | Riley Parker |
| Peoria Tractors | 62 | 53 | .539 | 20½ | Paul Speraw / Frank Murphy |
| Quincy Indians | 53 | 59 | .473 | 28.0 | Joe Klugmann |
| Springfield Senators | 43 | 70 | .381 | 38½ | Clay Hopper |
| Keokuk Indians | 40 | 77 | .342 | 43½ | Ed Sicking / Ray Caldwell |
Playoffs: Davenport 4 games, Rock Island 1
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Como Cotelle | Davenport | BA | .407 | Al Piechota | Davenport | W | 19 |
| George Meyer | Davenport | Runs | 130 | Ray Harrell | Quincy | SO | 193 |
| Simon Rosenthal | Quincy | Hits | 166 | Al Hollingsworth | Rock Island | ERA | 3.11 |
| Ed Hall | Davenport | HR | 28 | Torsten Lengquist | Davenport | PCT | .833 10-2 |
| Ed Hall | Davenport | RBI | 151 |