The Iowa State League was a

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

league that played from 1904 to 1907 and again in 1912. The Class D level league had franchises based in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. The Ottumwa Snappers franchise won league championships in 1904 and 1905. In 1908, the Iowa State League evolved to become the

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. The Central Association began play in 1908, evolving from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association played continuously through 1917 before folding. The league reforme ...

History

The Iowa State League began play in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

as an eight-team Class D level

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 ...

in and around

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The league played four seasons and ceased operations following the

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

season. Seven of the eight 1907 Iowa State League teams formed the

in 1908. The Iowa State League had the formal name as the Iowa League of Professional Baseball Clubs.Johnson, Lloyd and Miles Wolff, editors, ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', Second Edition (1997), pp. 142,146,151,155. Baseball America, Inc. . The Iowa State League reformed in 1912 as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

league. Estherville defeated Fort Dodge in the league playoffs to claim the championship. The league permanently folded after the season.

Cities represented

Standings & statistics

1904 to 1907

1904 Iowa State League
schedule
1905 Iowa State League
schedule
1906 Iowa State League
schedule
Boone moved to Clinton July 14. 1907 Iowa State League
schedule

1912

1912 Iowa State League

schedule
Clear Lake folded July 14
Playoffs: Estherville 4 games, Fort Dodge 1.

References

{{Professional Baseball Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Iowa Sports leagues established in 1904 Sports leagues disestablished in 1912 Baseball leagues in Illinois Sports leagues disestablished in 1907 Sports leagues established in 1912