The Des Moines Demons were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

baseball team that was located in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

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.

Demons' Seasons

1925 In 1925 the Des Moines Boosters of the Western League became the Des Moines Demons. The club from

broke in in fine form, winning the pennant with a 98–70 record, one game ahead of the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

. The Demons had six representatives on the All-Star team:

First baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Charles Stuvengen collected 229 hits, 18 of which were triples, to complement a .349, which was fifth in the Western League.

Outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Sam Langford Samuel Edgar Langford (March 4, 1886 – January 12, 1956) was a Canadian boxing standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Knows", by ESPN, Langford is considered by many boxing historians to be one of ...

hit .339 with a league leading 160 runs. Outfielder Pug Griffin hit .320 with 23 home runs,

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Homer Haworth hit .295,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Herm Holshouser posted a record of 19–8 and pitcher Claude Thomas went 19–6. Leo Moon went 22–13 with 127 strikeouts on the season and tied for third in the league in wins and strikeouts. Left off of the All-Star team was the most productive hitter in the Triple Crown categories, Dutch Wetzel, who batted .353 and was second in the league with 32 homers. 1926 The Demons repeated as champions in 1926, winning another close race. Their 99–64 record gave them fewer wins than the

Oklahoma City Indians The Oklahoma City Indians was the primary name of an American professional baseball team representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1904 though 1957, except for 1913 and three seasons during World War II. The team played in several different minor ...

, though they finished with two fewer losses and a half-game margin of victory overall. Oklahoma City claimed that other clubs (the Wichita Izzies, Lincoln Links and

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tulsa ...

) threw games to Des Moines but Western League president Mike Sexton cleared all involved parties. Des Moines lost a Mid-Western Championship to the Three-I League champion Springfield Senators team by a three games to one margin. The Demons had been led by Moon (an All-Star with a 24–8 record) and Pat Malone (28–13, second in the league in wins and first with 190 strikeouts) on the mound and Wetzel (.352 batting average, 18 home runs, sixth in average and tied for third with 394 total bases) and Griffin (an All-Star again with a .345 average and 18 homers). 40-year-old player-manager Shano Collins batted .315 with 14 home runs. 1927 Collins tied for the team lead with 11 home runs and hit .331 at age 41 in 1927 but the team fell to third at 82–72. Langford returned and led the league in hitting (.409), triples (28) and steals (31, tied for the lead with Wilbur Swansboro). He was tied for fourth in doubles (47), second in hits (250) and fourth in total bases (377). Joining him on the All-Star team were C Joe Sprinz who batted .314, utility man Al Van Camp who hit .309 with 11 home runs and pitcher Fred Ortman who went 21–11. Claude Davenport, who went 21–10, and Ortman tied for second in the league in wins; Davenport was also second in innings worked at 289. 1928 The bottom fell out for Des Moines in 1928 as they finished last in the first half (28–50) and last overall (62–98). The one bright spot was Van Camp's hitting, as he was fifth in the league with 19 triples, hit .351 and led the club with 15 homers. Three pitchers lost 16 or more games. 1929 The next year brought a slight improvement to 72–86 and 7th place in the 8-team Western League. A player named Circle, whose full name is unknown, hit 26 homers, which was fifth in the Western League. 1930 The 1930 campaign saw Des Moines return to the first division with a 77–71 record and fourth-place finish. Van Camp was fourth in the circuit with a .344 average and fifth with 18 homers. All-Stars were first baseman Jim Oglesby who hit .308 with 100 RBI, outfielder

Stan Keyes Stanley Kazmierczak Keyes, (born May 17, 1953 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician. Before politics Before entering politics, Keyes was a television news reporter from 1973 to 1988. He covered local news in Ham ...

who hit .340 with 35 HR, 358 total bases and 140 RBI was an All-Star as well. He was 6th in average, first in homers, RBI and total bases, fifth in runs with 123 and he tied for third in the league with 18 triples. Pitcher Bud Tinning, who went 16–11 with a 4.39 ERA, was an All-Star as well. 1931 Des Moines duked it out with the Wichita Aviators throughout the 1931 season. The Demons went 39–26 to finish second in the first half, three games behind Wichita, then won 55 of 80 second-half contests to finish six and a half games ahead of the Aviators. In the championship, the Demons won four of six games. All three 1930 All-Stars returned and again made the All-Star team – Oglesby hit .341 which was 5th in the league to go along with 119 runs, 106 RBI, 200 hits (second-most) and 278 total bases (fifth); Tinning went 24–2 with a league-leading 3.11 ERA and was second in wins and first in winning percentage; Keyes won the Triple crown with a .369 average, 38 homers and 160 RBI, which were 22 more than anyone else. He also led with 401 total bases (111 more than the next player) and 203 hits. Joining them as All-Stars were outfielder

Mike Kreevich Michael Andreas Kreevich (June 10, 1908 – April 25, 1994) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball from to . He batted and threw right-handed. Early life Kreevich was born in Mount O ...

who hit .329, and P Jack Knight who went 17–7 with a 3.30 ERA, which ranked second in the league. Jim Grant went 12–11 with a 3.48 ERA, the fifth-best mark, while

Johnny Niggeling John Arnold Niggeling (July 10, 1903 – September 16, 1963) was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 184 games in Major League Baseball over all or parts of nine seasons (–) with the Boston Bees / Braves, Cincinnati Reds ...

was 17–12 with a 3.65 ERA. 1932 The 1932 Demons finished third in the first half (36–30) but skidded down to 35–42 in the concluding segment of the season. Oglesby made his third All-Star team in a row and finished fifth in the league with 19 triples. Jim hit .385 with nine homers and 86 RBI. 1933 Des Moines won the most games in the Western League in 1933 at 81–47 but finished one and a half games behind the leader in both halves of the season. All-Star outfielder Leo Ogorek, who hit .321, led the league with 60 stolen bases and was fourth with 108 runs scored. Pitcher Al Gizelbach went 18–10, placing him fifth in wins, fourth in winning percentage and third with 203 strikeouts. Roy Hudson, who hit .348 with 16 homers and

Mort Cooper Morton Cecil Cooper (March 2, 1913 – November 17, 1958) was an American baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played from 1938 to 1949 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and ...

, who went 7–5 both split the season between Des Moines and the Muskogee Oilers. 1934 An unusual situation occurred in 1934 when Des Moines, the St. Joseph Saints and Sioux City Cowboys all posted identical 36–23 first-half records and none won the second half (Des Moines was 32–33, behind St. Joseph and ahead of Sioux City). A four-team playoff resulted with Des Moines facing the second-half champion Davenport Blue Sox while the Saints and Cowboys squared off. Davenport beat the Demons three games to one to advance to the finals. Ogorek, who hit .316, again stole the most bases with 38, tied for the hit lead (164, also a 3-way tie) and was tied for second with 108 runs. Hudson hit .318 and led the loop with 94 RBI and Fabian Gaffke hit .311 and was second with 93 RBI, tied for fourth with 163 hits, second with 17 triples, tied for fourth with 15 homers and first with 269 total bases. 1935 The Western League eliminated the split-season format in 1935 and the Demons finished third at 58–55. In the playoffs they were swept in three games by the Saints. Ogorek hit .317 and was among the leaders in outfield fielding percentage (.984, third-best), steals (25, 2 behind the leader), hits (144, third-best) and runs (92, one behind the leader) while August Luther, who hit .306, was third in homers at 15 and second with 14 triples.

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 ( ...

was the staff ace at 20–11 and led the Western League in wins, strikeouts (239) and innings hurled (244). 1936 The 1936 edition of the Des Moines Demons went 33–33 to finish fifth in the first half of the revived split-season system. They were 31–31 and third in the second half in the six-team Western League. All-Stars were pitcher Hal Turpin who went 20–10 with a 2.74 ERA,

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ce ...

Jim Asbell who hit .284 and catcher Hack Wilson (not the

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player), who hit .267. Asbell tied for fourth with 13 homers. Keyes returned to blast 20 homers (second-best in the league) with 233 total bases, which was fourth best. Van Camp came back with 148 hits (fifth in the league) and tied for the league lead with 14 triples. Turpin led the league in complete games (28) and wins, was second in innings (259), third in ERA and fifth with 124 strikeouts. Julio Bonnetti, who went 14–13 with a 2.56 ERA had the best ERA in the Western League that year. 1937 In 1937 Des Moines went 32–31 to finish second in the first half then went 25–31 in the second half as the league was crumbling. All-Stars were catcher Bus Payton who hit .276, utility man Walt Menke who hit .293 and southpaw pitcher Art McDougall who went 16–11 with a 4.02 ERA. McDougall led the Western League in complete games (24) and innings (233) and was third in wins while teammate Gil Gebo (11–15, 4.63) was fourth in innings (216), games pitched (36) and losses. Henry Martínez hit just .216 but led the team in homers (12, which ranked fifth in the Western League) and steals (28, which was third most). He struck out the most (107 times) as well. Bob Allaire hit 2.84 and was among the leaders in walks (95, tied for second) and runs (94, fourth-most) while leading with 34 steals. Harry Hughes, who hit .303, drew 109 walks, the most in the circuit. The Demons were affiliated with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

in 1937.

The end of the Demons

After the Western League collapsed following the 1937 season, Des Moines was without baseball for its longest stretch in the 20th century as the professional game did not return until 1947 with the

Des Moines Bruins Des Moines Bruins were a minor league baseball team based in Des Moines, Iowa. The team played in the Western League from 1947 to 1958. Their home ballpark was Pioneer Memorial Stadium, and they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs (1947–195 ...

The rebirth of the Demons: 1959–1961

In 1959, the Demons name was revived after 21 years of non-usage. The new Des Moines Demons were a

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

farm club in the Three-I League. Managed by Chuck Kress, they finished second in the first half (38–26) then won the second-half pennant (40–29) before falling to the first-half champion Green Bay Bluejays in the championship three games to one. Cal Emery hit .323 and led the league with 281 total bases, 27 homers and 129 RBI. In 1960,

Andy Seminick Andrew Wasal Seminick (September 12, 1920 – February 22, 2004) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1943 and 1951, and the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs ...

took over as manager and the Demons went 64–74, tied for last in the Three-I. Jerry Reimer hit .331 with 18 home runs and led the league with 179 hits and 294 total bases.

Ray Culp Raymond Leonard Culp Jr. (born August 6, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Chicago Cubs (), and Boston Red Sox (–). Early life Culp was b ...

went 6–7 and had a 6.59 ERA, not indicative of his future big-league performance. The final year was a poor one. Kress was managing again and Des Moines finished last – by a wide margin, with a pitiful 37–93 record. They were so bad every other team in the Three-I League's final season of existence finished .500 or better. Five pitchers lost in double digits while no one won more than six contests. Dick Haines led the league with a .355 average while future big-leaguer

Pat Corrales Patrick Corrales (March 20, 1941 – August 27, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1964 to 1973, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Philadelp ...

batted .309. The Demons name has not been used since that time by the Des Moines teams – when organized baseball returned to the city in 1969 the club was called the Iowa Oaks.

Notable Demons alumni

* Bill Cissel (1926) *

(1961) *

Doc Crandall James Otis Crandall (October 8, 1887 – August 17, 1951) was an American right-handed pitcher and second baseman. He was the first player to be consistently used as a relief pitcher. Consequently, he was given the nickname Doc by Damon Runyon ...

(1935) *

(1960–1961) 2 x MLB All-Star * Shano Collins (1926) *

Jack Kramer John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 – September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, and a pioneer promoter who helped drive the sport towards professionalism at the elite level. Kramer also ushered in the serve-an ...

(1937) 3 x MLB All-Star *

(1931) MLB All-Star * Pat Malone (1926) * Johnny Niggling (1931)

References

{{Reflist

Sources

*Three-I League website by Bill Steinbacher-Kamp *''The Western League'' by W. C. Madden and Patrick Stewart
Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database

External links

Sanborn map showing the ballpark, 1951
Defunct minor league baseball teams Baseball teams established in 1925 Baseball teams disestablished in 1935 St. Louis Browns minor league affiliates Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates Sports in Des Moines, Iowa Defunct baseball teams in Iowa 1925 establishments in Iowa 1961 disestablishments in Iowa Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League teams Defunct Western League teams Baseball teams established in 1959 Baseball teams disestablished in 1961