The Moline Plowboys was a primary name of the

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 ...

teams based in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Rock Island County and the List of municipalities in Illinois, ninth-most populous in Illinois outside ...

, one of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

. Moline teams played as members the 1892 Illinois-Iowa League, 1894

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

, the

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 ...

(1924–1932),

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Class B level Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymo ...

(1914–1923, 1937–1941) and

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 ...

(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 The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1932),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1937–1940) and

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

(1947–1948). Moline's home minor league ballpark from 1920 to 1948 was

Browning Field Browning Park is a park in Moline, Illinois, United States, located at 16th Street and 23rd Avenue. Browning Field has been the home of high school and professional athletic events since 1910. It has hosted athletes such as Babe Ruth and Red Gra ...

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

inductee

Warren Giles Warren Crandall Giles (May 28, 1896 – February 7, 1979) was an American professional baseball executive. Giles spent 33 years in high-level posts in Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league comp ...

was President of the Plowboys franchise from 1919 to 1922. 1962 Baseball Guide p4

History

Tracing back to 1879, Quad City professional baseball includes

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 ...

teams in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

and

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

, as well as nearby

Kewanee, Illinois Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, Henry County, Illinois. "Kewanee" is the Ho-Chunk, Winnebago word for greater prairie-chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 in the 2020 census, down from 12,916 in 2010. Geography ...

. The 1879

Davenport Brown Stockings Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

played one season in the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for six seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, 1886–1887, and 1891. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by t ...

and the

Rock Island Islanders The Rock Island Islanders was the primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Rock Island, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities, between 1892 and 1937. Rock Island teams played as members of the Illinois–Iowa League (1892), Western Asso ...

began play in 1883. Moline began play in 1914. The Davenport team was the foundation of today's

Quad City River Bandits QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrumen ...

, the surviving franchise of the three. Moline and Rock Island partnered with two early teams. In 1892, the Rock Island-Moline Twins played in the final season of the Illinois-Iowa League. In 1894, the Rock Island-Moline Islanders played as a member of the

and captured the Western Association championship with a record of 72–50. The Quad Cities area was able to support two teams, with the

Davenport Blue Sox The Davenport Blue Sox was the name given to three minor league baseball teams based in Davenport, Iowa. The first version of the Blue Sox played in the Class B Three-I League from 1913–1916. The second played in the Class D Mississippi Valley ...

and the

. In July 1914, a third Quad City team was added when the

Danville Speakers Danville or Dansville may refer to: Places Canada *Danville, Quebec United States *Danville, Alabama * Danville, Arkansas *Danville, California *Danville, Georgia *Danville, Illinois *Danville, Indiana * Danville, Iowa *Danville, Kansas *Danvil ...

relocated to Moline and the Moline Plowboys were established. The name "Plowboys" corresponds to Moline's local industry of

plow A plough or (Differences between American and British spellings, US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs ...

production. Moline was home to companies such as

Deere Deere is an English family name. It is variant spelling of Dear. This name as two possible origins, the first is derived from the Middle English (1200–1500) personal name "Dere," from the Old English pre 7th century "Deora," meaning beloved and u ...

Moline Plow Company The Moline Plow Company was an American manufacturer of plough, plows and other list of agricultural machinery, farm implements, headquartered in Moline, Illinois, USA. Moline Plow was formed in the 1870s when the firm of Candee & Swan, a com ...

, and

Minneapolis-Moline Minneapolis-Moline was a large tractor and farm and industrial machinery producer based in Minneapolis and Hopkins, Minnesota, Minnesota known for its Minneapolis-Moline tractor line. It was the product of a merger of three companies in 1929: Min ...

in the era.

inductee

was team President of the Plowboys from 1919 to 1922. Giles later became president and general manager of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

(1937–1951) and president of the National League (1951–1969). From 1920 to 1922, the Plowboys were managed by

Earle Mack Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy (February 1, 1890 – February 4, 1967), known as Earle Mack, was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, Co ...

, son of

owner/manager

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and ga ...

. Moline won Three-I Championships in 1915, 1921 and 1937. The Plowboys were an affiliate of the

in 1932 and the

from 1937 to 1940. The franchise reemerged as the Moline A's in 1947–1948, playing in the

as an affiliate of the

. Moline moved to

, on June 18, 1948, becoming the Kewanee A's and winning the Central Association Championship in 1949, the year the league folded. Moline has not hosted another minor league baseball franchise.

The ballparks

The 1892 and 1894 Rock Island-Moline teams played at Twin City Park. The ballpark was located at 5th Avenue & 43rd Street in Rock Island, Illinois. From 1914-1919, the Plowboy teams played at Athletic Park, also nicknamed "Three-I Park". The ballpark was located at 4th Avenue and 37th Street Moline, Illinois. The Plowboys' ballpark from 1920 to 1948 was

. The 5,600 capacity park had dimensions (LF-CF-RF) of 550-440-377. The first night game at the park was July 11, 1930. Located at 16th Street & 23rd Avenue Moline, Illinois, Browning Field and the adjacent

Wharton Field House Wharton Field House is a historic arena located at 1800 20th Avenue in Moline, Illinois. It opened in 1928 and was home to the NBA's Tri-Cities Blackhawks, today's Atlanta Hawks, from 1946 to 1951. It has hosted professional teams, high school ...

are still in use today by the athletic teams of

Moline High School Moline High School is a public four-year high school located in Moline, Illinois, a city in Rock Island County, in the Midwest area of the United States. The school is the only public high school in the city of Moline, and is part of Moline-C ...

. In an exhibition game on April 12, 1920 the Plowboys defeated the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

7–1 in the first "major-league" game played at Browning Field. The

played an exhibition at Browning Field against their affiliate Plowboys on April 14, 1938.

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

appeared at Browning Field on June 26, 1940. 2,600 were in attendance for the Plowboys exhibition game featuring Ruth. Ruth put on a batting practice exhibition as well.

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

(1919–1921, team president) Inducted

, 1979 *

Elden Auker Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker wa ...

(1932) *

Bill Barrett William Emery Barrett (February 9, 1929 – September 20, 2016) was an American Republican politician from Nebraska who served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2001 as the congressman for Nebraska's third ...

(1921) *

Art Ditmar Arthur John Ditmar (April 3, 1929 – June 11, 2021) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1954–56, 1961–62) and the New York Yankees (1957–61) ...

(1948) *

Rube Ehrhardt Welton Claude Ehrhardt (November 20, 1894 – April 27, 1980) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched from 1924 to 1929 with the Brooklyn Robins and Cincinnati Reds. A right-hander, Ehrhardt's career was delayed while he served in t ...

(1917) * Hod Eller (1915) * Joe Glenn (1947–1948 MGR) *

Fred Heimach Frederick Amos Heimach (January 27, 1901 – June 1, 1973) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics (1920–1926), Boston Red Sox (1926), New York Yankees (1928–1929) and Brooklyn Robins / Brooklyn Dodgers ( ...

(1921) *

Kirby Higbe Walter Kirby Higbe (April 8, 1915 – May 6, 1985) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1937 to 1950. Best known for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was a two-time National League (NL) All-Star ...

(1937) 2x MLB All–Star *

Len Koenecke Leonard George Koenecke (January 18, 1904 in Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA – September 17, 1935 in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada) was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. He di ...

(1932) (

List of baseball players who died during their careers This is a list of baseball players who died during their careers. While some of these deaths occurred during a game, the majority were the result of accidents off the field, illnesses, acts of violence, or suicide. Repeated studies have shown tha ...

) *

Peanuts Lowrey Harry Lee "Peanuts" Lowrey (August 27, 1917 – July 2, 1986) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs (1942–43; 1945–49), Cincinnati Reds (1949–50), St. Louis Cardinals (1950–54) and Philadelphi ...

(1937) MLB All-Star *

(1920–1922, MGR) *

Lennie Merullo Leonard Richard Merullo (May 5, 1917 – May 30, 2015) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1941 to 1947, and scouted for MLB from 1950 to 2003. Chicago Cubs A native of East Boston, Mass ...

(1939) * Fritz Mollwitz (1927) *

Lou Novikoff Louis Alexander Novikoff (October 12, 1915 – September 30, 1970), nicknamed "the Mad Russian", was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in all or parts of five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1941 ...

(1938) *

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 ( ...

(1932) 5x MLB All–Star * Fred Smith (1921) *

Evar Swanson Ernest Evar Swanson (October 15, 1902 – July 17, 1973) was an American professional baseball and football player. He played outfielder in the Major Leagues from to . He would play for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. In the National ...

(1924) * Mike Tresh (1932) MLB All–Star *

Dutch Ulrich Frank W. "Dutch" Ulrich (November 18, 1899 – February 11, 1929) was a Czech-American professional baseball player who played three seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies from through . In 1927, he had the seventh-best earned run average (ER ...

(1922) * Jake Wade (1932) *

Eddie Waitkus Edward Stephen Waitkus (September 4, 1919 – September 16, 1972) was a Lithuanian American professional baseball player who played as a first baseman. He played a total of 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), before and after serving ...

(1939) 2x MLB All–Star *

Bob Weiland Robert George Weiland (December 14, 1905 – November 9, 1988) was a professional baseball pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1928 to 1940. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, and St. Louis Ca ...

(1928) *

Hank Wyse Henry Washington Wyse (March 1, 1917 – October 22, 2000) was an American professional baseball pitcher. Between 1942 and 1951, Wyse played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs (1942–47), Philadelphia Athletics (1950–51) and Washi ...

(1940) MLB All–Star *

Moline A's players Moline may refer to: Places in the United States * Moline, Illinois, the largest city of that name in the United States ** East Moline, Illinois, a city * Moline Township, Rock Island County, Illinois * Moline, Kansas * Moline, Michigan, an uninc ...

Moline Plowboys players Moline may refer to: Places in the United States * Moline, Illinois, the largest city of that name in the United States ** East Moline, Illinois, a city * Moline Township, Rock Island County, Illinois * Moline, Kansas * Moline, Michigan, an uni ...

External links

Moline - Baseball Reference
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moline Plowboys Professional baseball teams in Illinois Defunct baseball teams in Illinois Sports clubs and teams in the Quad Cities Defunct minor league baseball teams Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates Central Association Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League teams Philadelphia Athletics minor league affiliates 1914 establishments in Illinois 1948 disestablishments in Illinois Baseball teams established in 1914 Baseball teams disestablished in 1941 Moline, Illinois Sports in the Quad Cities Central Association teams Mississippi Valley League teams