Clinton LumberKings

The Clinton LumberKings are a Midwest League Class A minor league baseball team based in Clinton, Iowa, USA, affiliated with the Seattle Mariners.

Clinton Baseball History

After beginning play in 1895, Clinton had sporadic teams in various leagues over the next few decades, as the Great Depression, WWI and WWII affected many baseball franchises. However, Clinton joined the Midwest League in 1956 and are now the oldest franchise in the league. The team has had several different major league affiliations: the Brooklyn Dodgers (1937–38), New York Giants (1939–41), Chicago Cubs 1947-49), Pirates (1954–58 and 1966–68), White Sox (1959–65), Pilots/Brewers (1969–70), Tigers (1971–75), Tigers/White Sox co-op (1976), Dodgers (1977–79), Giants (1980–94), Padres (1995–98), Reds (1999–2000), Expos (2001–02), and the Rangers (2003–08). Since 2009, they have been an affiliate of the Mariners.

Aside from its time as the C-Sox (1960–65) and the Pilots (1966–76), the team used the parent major league team's nickname before adopting the LumberKings name for the 1994 season.

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, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort Cardinals – began operating as the Class D Illinois State League in 1947. The league changed its name to the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League in 1949 after the Marion team moved to Paducah, Kentucky. The league added teams in Clinton and Dubuque, Iowa, in 1954 and was renamed the Midwest League two years later. Teams from the Three-I/Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League joined the MWL, with Davenport, Iowa/Quad Cities joining in 1960 and Appleton, Burlington, and Cedar Rapids joining the Midwest League for the 1962 season. All remain in the league today. In 1963 the Midwest League became a Class A league after the minor league classification structure was reorganized.

In 1976 the Midwest League contracted from ten teams to eight when teams in Danville and Dubuque were eliminated. In 1982 the league expanded to 12 teams by adding the Beloit Brewers, the Danville Suns, the Madison Muskies, and the Springfield Cardinals. The Peoria Suns relocated from Danville in 1983, and acquired their current name, Peoria Chiefs, the following year. The league began splitting its season into two halves and expanded to 14 teams in 1988 with the addition of franchises in South Bend, Indiana, and Rockford, Illinois. During the 1990s several teams changed cities as Major League Baseball placed higher standards on minor league baseball facilities; franchises in smaller cities were sold to new owners who moved those teams to new ballparks in larger cities. Kenosha, Madison, Rockford, Springfield, Waterloo, and Wausau lost teams during this decade while Battle Creek, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids (West Michigan), Kane County, and Lansing gained teams.

Clinton

Clinton is an English surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton. Clinton has frequently been used as a given name in the United States since the late 19th century. Baron Clinton is a title of peerage in England, originally created in 1298. Some notable people with the surname Clinton include:

Family of Bill and Hillary Clinton

Family of DeWitt Clinton

Burlington Bees

The Burlington Bees are a Class A minor league baseball team, and are an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The franchise was originally founded in 1889. The Bees have played in the Midwest League since 1962. The team was first known as the "Bees" from 1924 to 1932 and again from 1954 to 1981. The Bees nickname was revived for the 1993 season and remains. Their home since 1947 is Community Field in Burlington, Iowa. Baseball Hall of Fame members Billy Williams and Paul Molitor played for Burlington.

History

The team began playing in Burlington in 1889 as the Burlington Babies. Teams with various nicknames played until the Burlington Pathfinders were named in 1906, keeping the nickname until 1916 and playing in the Central Association. After a hiatus, the Burlington Bees played in the Mississippi Valley League from 1924 to 1932. The franchise then returned as the Burlington Indians in 1947, the same year that their current stadium, Community Field, opened. They won the league championship in 1949, their third and final year in the Central Association. The team joined the Three-I (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana) League in 1952 as the Burlington Flints but was renamed the Bees in 1954. In 1958, Billy Williams played 61 games with the Bees before joining the Cubs. Burlington joined the Midwest League in 1962 as a farm team of the Pittsburgh Pirates.From 1963 through 1974 they were a farm team of the Kansas City (later Oakland) A's; subsequent affiliations included the Brewers (1975–81), Rangers (1982–85), Expos (1986–87 and 1993–94), Braves (1988–90), Astros (1991–92), Giants (1995–96), Reds (1997–98), and White Sox (1999–2000). The Bees won the Midwest League championship in 1965, 1977, 1999, 2008, and 2009.