Decatur Commodores
Encyclopedia
The Decatur Commodores were a professional minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team based in Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...

. They played, with sporadic interruptions, from 1900 to 1974 in a variety of minor leagues, but spent the majority of their existence in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League
Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League
The Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League was a minor league baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 years, mostly in those three states. It was popularly known as the Three-I League and also sometimes jokingly as the Three-Eye League....

 (the "Three-I" League), later joining the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
The Mississippi-Ohio Valley League was an American minor league baseball league. It operated from 1949 through 1955.-1949:Teams from Belleville, Illinois, Centralia, Illinois, Marion, Illinois, Mattoon, Illinois, Mount Vernon, Illinois, and West Frankfort, Illinois moved from the Illinois State...

 (1952 to 1955) and the Midwest League
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

 (1956 to 1974). While they spent most of their years as an independent without formal major league baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 team affiliation, their primary affiliations were with the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 and later the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

, with isolated affiliations with the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

, Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 and Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

. They played home games at Fans Field
Fans Field (Decatur)
Fans Field was in Decatur, IL, and was home of the Decatur Commodores, of the Three-I League originally, and later of the Midwest League. It was at East Garfield and North Woodford Streets. It was one of the last of the wooden ballparks, a true throwback to its origin in the early 1920s...

, the 5,200-seat grandstand of which was demolished when the team moved to Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...

 in 1974 and became the Wausau Timbers
Wausau Timbers
The Wausau Timbers were a minor league baseball team.The team began as the Wausau Mets in 1978, but left the affiliation with the New York Mets and went co-op...

. The field is still in use as a softball field.

The nickname Commodores refers to Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur, Jr. , was an American naval officer notable for his many naval victories in the early 19th century. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, Worcester county, the son of a U.S. Naval Officer who served during the American Revolution. Shortly after attending college Decatur...

, for whom the city is named. The team was often called the "Commies" for short, from a time before that became a slang term for "Communist"
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

. In their final years, they wore hand-me-down Giants uniforms, although still called the "Commodores", leading some fans to call them the "Commodore Giants".

The club is the primary ancestor of today's Kane County Cougars
Kane County Cougars
The Kane County Cougars are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Kansas City Royals, that plays in the Midwest League. Their home games are played in Geneva, Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago....

.

Playoffs

  • 1928 - Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League
    Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League
    The Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League was a minor league baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 years, mostly in those three states. It was popularly known as the Three-I League and also sometimes jokingly as the Three-Eye League....

     Champions
  • 1952 - Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
    Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
    The Mississippi-Ohio Valley League was an American minor league baseball league. It operated from 1949 through 1955.-1949:Teams from Belleville, Illinois, Centralia, Illinois, Marion, Illinois, Mattoon, Illinois, Mount Vernon, Illinois, and West Frankfort, Illinois moved from the Illinois State...

     Champions
  • 1953 - Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
    Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
    The Mississippi-Ohio Valley League was an American minor league baseball league. It operated from 1949 through 1955.-1949:Teams from Belleville, Illinois, Centralia, Illinois, Marion, Illinois, Mattoon, Illinois, Mount Vernon, Illinois, and West Frankfort, Illinois moved from the Illinois State...

     Champions
  • 1957 - Midwest League
    Midwest League
    The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

     Champions

Notable former players & managers

  • Ray Benge
    Ray Benge
    Raymond Adelphia Benge , born in Jacksonville, Texas, was a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians , Philadelphia Phillies , Brooklyn Dodgers , Boston Bees and Cincinnati Reds...

     - 1926
  • Bob Clear
    Bob Clear
    Elwood Robert Clear was an American minor league baseball infielder, pitcher and manager, and a Major League coach with the California Angels. He was born in Denver, Colorado....

     - 1947
  • Rube Dessau
    Rube Dessau
    Frank Rolland Dessau was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in two games for the 1907 Boston Doves and in nineteen games for the 1910 Brooklyn Superbas.-External links:...

     - 1928-1931 Manager
  • Murry Dickson
    Murry Dickson
    Murry Monroe Dickson was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s...

     - 1936-1938 Pitcher
  • James Freeman, Negro League ballplayer
    Negro league baseball
    The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...

     - 1952-1953
  • Bob Hartsfield
    Bob Hartsfield
    Robert Milton "Bob" Hartsfield , nicknamed Poochie, was a minor league baseball player, manager and scout. He was the brother of Roy Hartsfield.-Playing career:...

     - 1974 Manager
  • Carl Hubbell
    Carl Hubbell
    Carl Owen Hubbell was an American baseball player. He was a member of the New York Giants in the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained on the Giants' payroll for the rest of his life, long after their move to San Francisco.Twice voted the National League's Most Valuable Player, Hubbell...

     - 1927
  • Bob Knepper
    Bob Knepper
    Robert Wesley Knepper is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball with a 15-year career from 1976 to 1990. He played for the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, both of the National League....

  • Thomas Langan - 1956 Starting Pitcher
  • Johnny Lucadello
    Johnny Lucadello
    John Lucadello born in Thurber, Texas was a second baseman for the St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees .He helped the Yankees win the 1947 World Series....

     - 1954
  • Gary Matthews
    Gary Matthews
    Gary Nathaniel Matthews Sr. , nicknamed Sarge, is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball. He now serves as a color commentator for the Philadelphia Phillies. From through , Matthews played for the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Seattle...

    - 1969
  • Jimmie Schaffer
    Jimmie Schaffer
    Jimmie Ronald Schaffer is an American former Major League Baseball catcher with an eight-year career from 1961 to 1968. He played for the St...

     - 1955-1956
  • Johnny Schaive
    Johnny Schaive
    John Edward Schaive was a backup second and third baseman who played in Major League Baseball between the and seasons. Listed at 5' 8", 175 lb., Schaive batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Springfield, Illinois.Schaive spent 14 years in baseball as a player, manager, coach and scout...

     - 1954 Pitcher
  • Stubby Overmire
    Stubby Overmire
    Frank W. Overmire was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played ten seasons for the Detroit Tigers , St. Louis Browns , and New York Yankees . In ten seasons, Overmire won 58 games and lost 67 with a 3.96 earned run average...

     - 1959 Manager
  • Roe Skidmore - 1967
  • Al Unser
    Al Unser (baseball)
    Albert Bernard Unser was a Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds . He was a native of Morrisonville, Illinois and the father of MLB center fielder Del Unser....

     - 1955-1957 Manager

Memorable games

On August 18, 1960, 18 year old, left-handed pitcher Bob Sprout
Bob Sprout
Robert Samuel Sprout is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for one season. He pitched in one game the Los Angeles Angels on September 27 during the 1961 Los Angeles Angels season....

 of the Commodores pitched a no hitter against the Waterloo Hawks. In that game, Sprout struck out 22 hitters, which stands as the MWL
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

 single-game strikeout record. The Commies won by a 3-0 score.

In fiction

The Commodores appear in Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...

's Worldwar
Worldwar
Worldwar is a series of novels by Harry Turtledove whose premise is an alien invasion of Earth in the middle of World War II. The military invasion begins on or around May 30, 1942, but the aliens, who call themselves the Race, reached Earth orbit in December 1941...

 series, an alternate history in which aliens invade Earth in 1942 and the Second World War turns into an interplanetary war. Members of the team are on a train which is attacked by the aliens at the beginning of the invasion. One ball player is kidnapped by the invaders and is eventually taken by them to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, while another player and the team's manager escape and join the forces fighting the invasion. A considerable part of the series is described from these three characters' points of view, in which their baseball background plays a significant role in a number of ways.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK