Baseball in Clinton County
Some of this info comes from "The Ultimate Minor League Baseball Road Trip" chapter on Alliant Energy Field.
Alliant Energy Field/Ashford Field, Also Known As: Riverview Stadium 1937-2001 Location: Clinton, Sixth Avenue N. & 1st Street, at the Mississippi River Bridge. Capacity: 4,000 (1937); 3,000 (1949); 3,600 (1971); 3,000 (1994); 4,000 (2005) The catcher faced SE. It was built on a former city dump from 1935 to 1937, largely with WPA funds. Nearly all of the original seats were redwood, and the original lighting system consisted of floodlights mounted on the roof of the grandstand. Renovated in 2005-06 for $3.7 million. Used by: Clinton Owls, Clinton Giants, Clinton Cubs, Clinton Steers, Clinton Pirates, Clinton C-Sox, Clinton Pilots, Clinton Dodgers, Clinton Lumber Kings
The Clinton Lumber Kings are the oldest continously operated franchise in the Midwest League with a history that dates all the way back to when the league was known as the Ohio Valley League. Clinton was one of three expansion teams in 1954, along with Dubuque and Mississippi, to join the Ohio Valley League. In 1956 the circuit became officially known as the Midwest League when a number of teams relocated from Southern Illinois to larger cities in Iowa. Clinton is the only city to make this shift that stills fields a team in the league today. Fittingly, the Lumber Kings play at a historic ballpark. Alliant Energy Field was built in 1937. It was known as Riverview Stadium until 2003 when Alliant Energy shelled out $450,000 in a ten-year naming-rights deal. The stadium is the centerpiece of Clinton's Riverview Park, a sixty-five-acre recreation center on the western banks of the Mississippi River. Here baseball fans find a simple old-time ball-park experience. The river meanders past the ballpark just a few hundred feet from the outfield fences, while a riverboat bobs beyond the left field wall. Although a levee built for flood control blocks the view of the river from the grandstands, the ballpark stills offers a rustic view. A grand lawn and a number of decorative trees fill the well-landscaped space between the stadium and the riverbanks. Beyond the left-center field fence a fountain shoots water high into the air. River Stadium was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. When it opened in 1937, it harkened Clinton's second life as a minor league baseball town. Clinton's first foray into organized baseball occurred in 1906 when the Clinton Orphans played at Ringwood Park as a member of the Class D Iowa State League. Over the next twelve years, the Clinton nine were known as the Infants, Teddies, and Pilots while playing in several different leagues. The onset of World War I began a nineteen-year dearth of professional baseball in Clinton though, as able-bodied young men left the baseball fields of American for the battlefields of Europe. Riverview Stadium welcomed the Clinton Owls, a Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate that played in the Three-I League, to Clinton in 1937. After the 1941 season Clinton's baseball light went dark again, this time due to World War II. A local industrial league team played at the ball-park throughout the war, and then in 1947 the Clinton Cubs brought pro ball back to town, playing in the Central Association. In the six decades since then, the franchise has had a number of different names and has had affiliations with nine different major league teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates twice, but minor league baseball has continued to be played in Clinton without interruption. Clinton alumni include famous basher Gorman Thomas, Ron Kittle and Matt Williams, who used to send long balls toward the river, and pitchers Dave Stewart, Orel Hershiser, and Denny McLain. Future big league managers Tom Kelly and Mike Scioscia both appeared in Clinton as players. In 1956 pitcher Arturo Miro won 19 straight games on his way to a Midwest League record 22 wins in the season for Clinton. On August 3, 2000, Lumber Kings pitcher Scott Dunn pitched a perfect game against Lansing at Riverview Stadium.
Ringwood Park
Location: Clinton, 4th Street & 10th Avenue North, now a residential area. Capacity: 1,500 Used by: Clinton Bridegrooms, Boone/Clinton Miners, Clinton Infants, Clinton Teddies, Clinton Pilots Following are the minor league baseball teams known to have played at Ringwood Park: 1917 Clinton Pilots Central Association 1916 Clinton Pilots Central Association 1915 Clinton Pilots Central Association 1914 Clinton Pilots Central Association 1910 Clinton Teddies Northern Association 1908 Clinton Infants Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League 1907 Clinton Infants Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League 1906 Boone/Clinton Miners Iowa State League 1895 Clinton Bridegrooms Eastern Iowa League
1895: The Clinton Bridegrooms of the Eastern Iowa League ended the 1895 season with a record of 11 wins and 26 losses in the Eastern Iowa League.Rock Island and Clinton expelled June 14; Clinton rejoined the league July 4, but expelled again July 8. George Shugart and Edward Corbett served as manager.
| Player | Birth Date | Hometown |
| Albert Boxendale | ||
| Burkhart | ||
| James Connor | ||
| Teddy Corbett | July 5, 1871 | |
| Crandall | ||
| George Cummings | March, 1872 | Hennepin, IL |
| George Dalrymple | Nov 03, 1872 | |
| Frank DuShane | ||
| Goodhart | ||
| John Held | ||
| Martin Lee | ||
| M. Lyons | ||
| Phil Meyers | ||
| O'Donnell | ||
| George Oertling | ||
| P. Quinn | ||
| Bert Ramsey | ||
| Ted Ready | ||
| James Riley | ||
| Bay Sanderson | ||
| John Schooley | ||
| Holly Souders | Corydon, IA | |
| Harry Staats | ||
| Stephenson | ||
| Sweeney |
1904: The Boone Coal Miners of the Iowa State League ended the 1904 season with a record of 50 wins and 61 losses sixth in the Iowa State League. Tommy Reynolds, Walter Holcomb and O. P. Depew served as manager.
| Player | Birth Date | Hometown |
| Anderson | ||
| Jimmy Archer | 05/13/1883 | Dublin, IRE |
| John Bassey | 03/04/1884 | IL |
| Harry Corns | 08/01/1882 | IA |
| O. P. Depew | ||
| Bert Smithson | 03/18/1881 | |
| Walter Holcomb | ||
| Ollie Johns | 08/21/1879 | Trenton, OH |
| Albert McGuire | ||
| Billy Mehl | 12/31/1879 | NJ |
| Ed Painter | 05/20/1879 | |
| George Pennington | 12/16/1882 | |
| J. Quigley | ||
| Tommy Reynolds | ||
| Savage | ||
| William Sedgwick | May, 1881 | |
| Dan Tucker |
1906: The Boone/Clinton Miners of the Iowa State League ended the 1906 season with a record of 46 wins and 70 losses sixth in the ISL. Boone (25-33) moved to Clinton July 14. William Wooley, Patrick Ryan and Harold Johnson served as manager.
| Player | Birth Date | Hometown |
| Bobby Alberts | ||
| Fred Bennett | ||
| J. Chase | ||
| H. Cross | ||
| L. Dennis | ||
| Jimmie Fagan | Jan, 1884 | NE |
| Fise | ||
| Chuck Fleming | 05/26/1877 | |
| Girsch | ||
| Mickie Jamison | ||
| Harold Johnson | ||
| Wilbur Johnson | ||
| Albert Kennedy | OH | |
| Hugh Lally | ||
| James McGregor | ||
| James McKenna | ||
| Charlie Middleton | ||
| Harry Moody | 09/25/1876 | |
| Morgan | ||
| George Pennington | 12/16/1882 | |
| Homer Plake | 10/02/1876 | IN |
| Edward Seitz | ||
| Smith | ||
| Irv Yessler | 12/26/1875 |
1907: The Clinton Infants of the Illinois-Iowa-Indiana League ended the 1907 season with a record of 53 wins and 78 losses sixth in the IIIL. Monte McFarland and Harry Stauffer served as manager.
| Player | Birth Date | Hometown |
| Johnnie Baker | ||
| Joe Burg | 06/04/1882 | Chicago, IL |
| Robert Corkill | 03/01/1884 | OH |
| Karl Crandall | 03/30/1889 | Wadena, IN |
| Davey Crockett | 10/05/1875 | Roanoke, VA |
| Clyde Curtis | 04/03/1883 | Edinburg, PA |
| Davis | ||
| Bill Fleet | 03/19/1878 | |
| Charlie French | 10/12/1883 | Indianapolis, IN |
| Harry Harrod | 11/21/1883 | |
| Ely Kaphan | 01/25/1878 | Allendale, SC |
| Bill Lelivelt | 10/21/1884 | Chicago, IL |
| Lee Lemon | 03/30/1885 | Coffeyville, KS |
| Gordon Lewis | 03/12/1883 | WI |
| Harry Long | Hanover, PA | |
| Monte McFarland | 11/07/1872 | White Hall, IL |
| Harry Ohland | 08/29/1883 | |
| Robert Riggs | ||
| Schultz | ||
| Charles Smith | ||
| Harry Stauffer | ||
| Carl Vandagrift | 04/22/1883 | Cantrall, IL |
| Otto Vogel |