Mississippi-Ohio Valley League

From BR Bullpen

In 1949 the Illinois State League was renamed the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League. This class D league continued with that name through 1955, after which it became the Midwest League. Only Mattoon, IL lasted for the entire 7 year run of the league.

1 Cities Represented
2 1949 - 1955 Mississippi-Ohio Valley League
- 2.1 1949
- 2.2 1950
- 2.3 1951
- 2.4 1952
- 2.5 1953
- 2.6 1954
- 2.7 1955
3 Hall of Fame Alumni
4 Source

[edit] Cities Represented

Belleville, IL: Belleville Stags 1949, moved from Illinois State League 1947-1948
Canton, IL: Canton Citizens 1952
Centralia, IL: Centralia Cubs 1949, moved from Illinois State League 1947-1948; Centralia Sterlings 1950; Centralia Zeros 1951-1952
Clinton, IA: Clinton Pirates 1954-1955, moved to Midwest League 1956-1959
Danville, IL: Danville Dans 1951-1954
Decatur, IL: Decatur Commies 1952-1955, moved to Midwest League 1956-1974
Dubuque, IA: Dubuque Packers 1954-1955, moved to Midwest League 1956-1967
Hannibal, MO: Hannibal Stags 1952; Hannibal Cardinals 1953-1954; Hannibal Citizens 1955
Kokomo, IN: Kokomo Giants 1955
Lafayette, IN: Lafayette Chiefs 1955
Mattoon, IL: Mattoon Indians 1949-1954, moved from Illinois State League 1947-1948; Mattoon Phillies 1955, moved to Midwest League 1956
Mount Vernon, IL: Mount Vernon Kings 1949-1954
Paducah, KY: Paducah Chiefs 1949-1950, moved to Kitty League 1951-1955
Paris, IL: Paris Lakers 1950-1955, moved to Midwest League 1956-1959
Springfield, IL: Springfield Giants 1950
Vincennes, IN: Vincennes Citizens 1950; Vincennes Velvets 1951-1952
West Frankfort, IL: West Frankfort Cardinals 1949-1950, moved from Illinois State League 1947-1948

[edit] 1949 - 1955 Mississippi-Ohio Valley League

[edit] 1949

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Centralia Cubs	74	44	.627	0	35,000	Lou Bekeza
West Frankfort	71	49	.592	4	24,140	Robert Stanton
Mattoon Indians	62	56	.525	12	38,325	Chuck Hawley
Paducah Chiefs	54	65	.454	20.5	54,859	Carroll Peterson / Edwin Kearse
Mt. Vernon Kings	53	67	.442	22	36,240	Robert Shreve / William Trotter
Belleville Stags	43	76	.361	31.5	13,500	Mueller / Yurkovich / Nesbit / Mick

Playoffs:Mattoon 3 games, Centralia 0; Paducah 3 games, West Frankfort 0;
Finals: Paducah 4 games, Mattoon 3.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Bunny Mick	Belleville	BA	.354	Joseph Prucha	Centralia	W	19
Ev Joyner	West Frankfort	Hits	170	Joseph Mattis	Mattoon	SO	166
Richard Martz	Paducah	RBI	100	Dick Loeser	West Frankfort	ERA	2.22
Arthur Oliver	Paducah	HR	17	Ev Joyner	West Frankfort	Runs	104

[edit] 1950

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Centralia Sterlings	83	40	.675	0	35,767	Lou Bekeza
West Frankfort	72	47	.605	9	20,910	Robert Stanton
Mattoon Indians	71	47	.602	9.5	27,982	Chuck Hawley
Paducah Chiefs	67	55	.549	15.5	47,297	Walter DeFreitas
Springfield Giants	60	59	.504	21	21,126	Ham Schulte / Von Price
Paris Lakers	43	75	.364	37.5	24,089	Earl Skaggs / Von Price / John Morris
Vincennes Citizens	43	76	.361	38	18,977	Melvin Ivy / Andy E. Smith
Mt. Vernon Kings	37	77	.325	41.5	28,431	Benny Meyer / Robert Schlemmer

Playoffs:Centralia 3 games, Mattoon 1; Paducah 3 games, West Frankfort 0;
Finals: Cancelled; Bad Weather & Military Call-up.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
James Belz	West Frankfort	BA	.349	Gene Pisarski	Centralia	W	22
James Belz	West Frankfort	Hits	154	William Ecklund	Centralia	SO	174
Lou Bekeza	Centralia	RBI	120	Gene Pisarski	Centralia	ERA	2.06
Kenneth Dickens	Vincennes	HR	21	James Belz	West Frankfort	Runs	133

[edit] 1951

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Paris Lakers	84	36	.700	0	51,331	Tom Sunkel
Centralia Zeroes	69	51	.575	15	38,554	Lou Bekeza
Mt. Vernon Kings	60	59	.504	23.5	39,665	Chuck Hawley / Charles Popovich
Danville Dans	51	67	.432	32	24,775	Frank Piet /Everett Hall
Mattoon Indians	49	69	.415	34	28,442	Melvin Ivy
Vincennes Velvets	43	74	.368	39.5	25,652	George "Stormy" Kromer / Robert Signaigo

Playoffs:Mt. Vernon 2 games, Centralia 0. Danville 2 games, Paris 1.
Finals: Danville 2 games, Mt. Vernon 0.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Clint McCord	Paris	BA	.363	Lee Tunnison	Centralia	W	20
Clint McCord	Paris	Hits	173	Lee Tunnison	Centralia	SO	170
James Given	Mt. Vernon	RBI	119	Lee Tunnison	Centralia	ERA	3.12
Clint McCord	Paris	HR	16	Clint McCord	Paris	Runs	132
Lou Bekeza	Centralia	HR	16

[edit] 1952

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Danville Dans	87	40	.685	0	75,898	Virl Minnis
Paris Lakers	85	42	.669	2	36,606	Tom Sunkel
Decatur Commodores	73	52	.584	13	94,300	Julian Acosta
Hannibal Stags	70	57	.551	17	36,616	Walter DeFreitas
Mt. Vernon Kings	55	67	.451	29.5	34,752	Granneman / Sadich / Brookman
Vincennes# / Canton	54	70	.435	31.5	25,654	Chuck Hawley / Robert Sisk
Centralia Zeroes	41	83	.331	44.5	28,755	Charles Starasta / John Streza
Mattoon Indians	35	89	.282	50.5	49,316	Dunkovich / Popovich / Robert Carson

#Vincennes moved to Canton June 7.

Playoffs: Hannibal 3 games, Danville 1. Decatur 3 games, Paris 2.
Finals: Decatur 3 games, Hannibal 1.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Clint McCord	Paris	BA	.392	Ken Gohn	Danville	W	22
Clint McCord	Paris	Hits	189	Amacio Ferro	Hannibal	SO	183
Jim Zapp	Paris	RBI	136	Ken Gohn	Danville	ERA	1.58
Jim Zapp	Paris	HR	20	Quincy Smith	Paris	Runs	124

[edit] 1953

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Decatur Commodores	68	50	.576	0	96,337	Ray Taylor
Paris Lakers	66	53	.555	2.5	35,000	Tom Sunkel
Mattoon Phillies	64	56	.533	5	61,000	James Deery
Hannibal Cardinals	55	62	.470	12.5	35,200	Tince Leonard
Mt. Vernon Kings	55	64	.462	13.5	31,600	Robert Schmidt
Danville Dans	48	71	.403	20.5	62,700	Virl Minnis

Playoffs: Decatur 3 games, Hannibal 0. Paris 3 games, Mattoon 0.
Finals: Dacatur 3 games, Paris 2.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Robert Schmidt	Mt. Vernon	BA	.358	Juan Garcia	Decatur	W	18
James Partin	Danville	Hits	167	Dennis Hamilton	Mattoon	SO	195
James Freeman	Decatur	RBI	106	William Bright	Mattoon	ERA	2.51
Kenneth Payne	Paris	HR	16	Tince Leonard	Hannibal	W	18

[edit] 1954

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Decatur Commodores	74	52	.587	0	38,776	John Lucadello
Danville Dans	66	59	.528	7.5	39,992	Richard Klaus
Clinton Pirates	63	59	.516	9	74,768	Robert Clark
Dubuque Packers	62	61	.504	10.5	65,993	Jack Conway
Mattoon Phillies	62	64	.492	12	48,422	Carl Bush / Don Osborn
Paris Lakers	58	68	.460	16	39,103	Tom Sunkel
Hannibal Cardinals	58	68	.460	16	33,065	J.C. Dunn
Mt. Vernon Kings	57	69	.452	17	27,584	Lou Bekeza

Playoffs: Clinton 2 games, Decatur 0. Danville 2 games, Dubuque 1. .
Finals: Danville 3 games, Clinton 1.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Johnny Lucadello	Decatur	BA	.362	John Bumgarner	Decatur	W	22
Leon Wagner	Danville	Hits	160	David Jiminez	Clinton	SO	249
Joseph Schmidt	Paris	RBI	125	John Bumgarner	Decatur	ERA	2.67
J.C. Dunn	Hannibal	HR	26	Leon Wagner	Danville	Runs	108

[edit] 1955

President: C.C. "Dutch" Hoffman

Team Name	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Managers
Dubuque Packers	74	52	.587	0	94,925	Ira Hutchinson
Mattoon Phillies	68	57	.544	5.5	51,277	Burl Storie
Clinton Pirates	68	57	.544	5.5	57,683	Robert Clark
Kokomo Giants	64	62	.508	10	45,289	Walt Dixon / Jack Milaskey
Lafayette Chiefs	63	63	.500	11	61,287	Mark Wylie
Decatur Commodores	62	64	.492	12	54,260	Al Unser
Paris Lakers	62	64	.492	12	30,245	Richard Rigazio
Hannibal Citizens	42	84	.333	32	40,977	James Granneman / Allan Shinn

Playoffs: Dubuque 2 games, Clinton 0. Mattoon 2 games, Kokomo 0. .
Finals: Dubuque 3 games, Mattoon 0.

Player Statistics

Player	Team	Stat	Tot	Player	Team	Stat	Tot
Orlando Cepeda	Kokomo	BA	.393	Allen Evans	Kokomo	W	21
Jimmy Lynn	Dubuque	Hits	180	Benjamin Rich	Clinton	SO	199
Jimmy Lynn	Dubuque	RBI	121	Dave Wegerek	Lafayette	ERA	2.59
Walt Dixon	Kokomo	HR	24	Jimmy Lynn	Dubuque	Runs	121