THE END OF THE ALL IOWA LEAGUE

by Mike Comfort

The start to the offseason of the Iowa League really began in August as Waterloo was sold for $500 to the owner of the St. Paul club. The sale was fortunate as Waterloo almost lost the franchise because of unpaid back pay. They had to raise $300 to pay salaries and keep the team. The Sioux City Journal speculated that other larger clubs will purchase Iowa League clubs in order to try out prospective players – almost like a farm system that would later be developed by the St. Louis Cardinals. It was already suspected that Burlington was controlled by the Minneapolis manager.

Overall the attendance for the season was 136,591 with Burlington leading the way at 30,089. Oskaloosa was the only other team above 20,000 with 21,426. Ft Dodge had the fewest fans at 11,703. The financials seemed to say the league was in good shape. The league receipts on all games was $3356.57 and the league had $925.52 on hand. The league received $275 from player fines. Some of the largest expenses were umpire salaries ($2,230.89), Boone player salaries ($674.02), President Peckham’s salary ($500), official scorers ($487.94), umpire transportation ($298.28), and postage
($53.26).

As usual, the rumors of an overhaul of the Iowa League sprouted as the offseason began. Also, as usual, conflicting reports emerged. As early as July 31, the Marshalltown Times reported that the league would include Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Quincy IL, Hannibal MO, Burlington, Clinton, Waterloo, and Oskaloosa with Keokuk and Muscatine held in reserve. On October 6, the Davenport Times noted that the Iowa League might be remade because the Three I League was in trouble. The new Iowa League could include Davenport, Rock Island, Dubuque, and Cedar Rapids. Four days later, the Sioux City Journal noted that the league was in good shape and it looked like it would comprise the same teams. The Cedar Rapids Gazette refuted the notion of their team joining the Iowa League and reported that they would stay in the Three I League for 1907.

In the first meeting of the offseason in October, every town was represented except Waterloo, who was still planning on being in the league. Muscatine was invited to attend. During the meeting, the feeling was that it was a foregone conclusion that Fort Dodge would not remain in the league. The next meeting was planned for January with talk of kicking out Fort Dodge and Waterloo and adding Quincy (IL) or Jacksonville (IL). The Cedar Rapids Gazette noted in November that “Quincy will probably enter the new league”. The Gazette reported a few days later that Fort Dodge and Marshalltown would be dropped while Quincy and Jacksonville would be added. Hannibal (MO) was another possibility. The Davenport Times reported over a two week period in October and November that the league may consist of Davenport, Burlington, Clinton, Hannibal, Quincy, Jacksonville, Keokuk, Freeport, Oskaloosa, and Ottumwa, or Jacksonville, Keokuk, Oskaloosa, Waterloo, Burlington, Ottumwa, Clinton, and Muscatine. A day after the second report, the Times noted that the new league might be impossible to make because of other teams’ commitments to their own leagues.

The smoke around adding Quincy turned into fire when they were admitted to the Iowa League on November 9 by a 6-1 vote with Clinton not present. With the addition of Quincy, a team was expected to be dropped. In December, the other shoe dropped as Clinton asked President Peckham for a release so they could join the Three I League. Their release would become official in December with a 7-1 vote. They were not required to pay a fee. In January the other rumors became official as Jacksonville was released from their league and Fort Dodge was voted out of the Iowa League. With that, the 1907 Iowa League season would consist of 6 Iowa towns (Ottumwa, Burlington, Marshalltown, Oskaloosa, Keokuk, Waterloo) and 2 Illinois towns (Quincy, Jacksonville).

The Iowa State League would last for one more season. The season would be completed without President Peckham who passed away suddenly at the age of 40 due to “Bright’s disease” and “typhoid pneumonia”. Waterloo would win the pennant at 80-45, followed by Burlington (78-51), Oskaloosa (70-55), Marshalltown (62-58), Jacksonville (63-61), Quincy (52-73), Ottumwa (51-74), and Keokuk (39-88).

After 1907 the Iowa League would transform into the Central Association and last through 1917. Of the six Iowa teams, only Marshalltown did not continue to the new league. However, none of the other towns existed for the duration of the league. Oskaloosa folded after 1908, Ottumwa after 1914, and Keokuk after 1915. Burlington lasted through 1916, although for that last season they combined with a revived Ottumwa franchise. Waterloo dropped out after 1909 and then returned in 1913. Other Iowa towns would join the Central Association before it folded after 1917 when many leagues folded due to World War I.

Sources:
Sioux City Journal, Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Davenport Times, Cedar Rapids Gazette, Muscatine Times, Waterloo Courier, Quad City Times, Oskaloosa Herald, Baseball-Reference

This article is copyright Mike Comfort and used with his permission. You can read more at his Substack by clicking HERE.

Mike Comfort is an Oskaloosa native as well as a baseball and history buff. He resides in Oskaloosa and is an educator and coach.