Kewanee A's
{{Infobox Minor League Baseball
| name =Kewanee A's
| firstseason =1948
| lastseason =1949
| allyears =
| city =Kewanee, Illinois
| logo =
| uniformlogo =
| class level =Class C (1948–1949)
| league =Central Association (1948–1949)
| majorleague =Philadelphia Athletics (1948–1949)
| nickname =Kewanee A's (1948–1949)
| ballpark =Northeast Park (1948–1949)
| classnum =
| classchamps =
| leaguenum =1
| leaguechamps =1949
| confnum =
| conferencechamps =
| divnum =
| divisionchamps =
| wildcardnum =1
| wildcardberths =1949
}}
The Kewanee A's were a minor league baseball team based in Kewanee, Illinois in the 1948 and 1949 seasons after the nearby Moline A's relocated to Kewanee. The A's played as exclusively as members of the Central Association, winning the 1949 league championship. The Kewanee A's were a minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Athletics.
The Kewanee A's hosted home minor league games at Northeast Park, which is still in use today.
The A's were preceded in Kewanee by the Kewanee Boilermakers, who played from 1908 to 1913.
History
Minor league baseball began in Kewanee, Illinois in 1908, when the Kewanee Boilermakers became charter members of the Class D level Central Association, playing in the league through 1913.{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor1-first=Lloyd |editor1-last=Johnson |editor2-first=Miles |editor2-last=Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=Baseball America |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=Kewanee, Illinois Encyclopedia|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}
After folding in 1913, minor league baseball returned to Kewanee in 1948. On June 18, 1948, the Moline A's of the Central Association moved from Moline, Illinois to Kewanee and became the "Kewanee A's". The team was an affiliate of the Philadelphia Athletics. Playing under manager Joe Glenn, the Moline/Kewanee A's finished with an overall record of 53–74 (36–49 in Kewanee), ending the season sixth place in the 1948 Central Association standings. Moline had been a founding member when the Central Association reformed as a six–team league in 1947, along with the Burlington Indians, Clinton Cubs, Hannibal Pilots, Keokuk Pirates and Rockford Rox.{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-CENA2/y-1949|title=1949 Central Association (CA) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}
In their final season, Kewanee captured the 1949 Central Association championship. The 1949 Kewanee A's finished with a regular season record of 68–60, placing third in the Central Association standings, finishing 12.5 games behind the first place Burlington Indians, to qualify for the playoffs. Kewanee had season attendance of 29,482, playing home games at Northeast Park.{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-CENA2/y-1949| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-CENA2/y-1949| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=1949 Central Association (CA) Standings on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}{{cbignore}} Kewanee's John Miller led the Central Association with 158 total hits.
In the first round of the 1949 playoffs, playing under the manager Harold Hoffman, Kewanee defeated the Keokuk Pirates three games to none to advance.{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-ka12326/y-1949| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-ka12326/y-1949| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=1949 Kewanee A's Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}{{cbignore}} In the Central Association Finals, Kewanee defeated the Cedar Rapids Rockets four games to two and captured the 1949 Central Association championship. It was the last game played in the league.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1949 Kewanee A's Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=777377b3|title=1949 Central Association|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}
The Central Association folded permanently after the 1949 season. Of the six Central Association teams, only Cedar Rapids fielded a team in 1950.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1950 Cedar Rapids Indians Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}} Kewanee has not hosted another minor league team.
The ballpark
The 1948 and 1949 Kewanee A's played minor league home games at Northeast Park.{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-1324| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-1324| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Northeast Park in Kewanee, IL history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}{{cbignore}} The ballpark had a capacity of 2,500 in 1948 and 4,000 in 1949. Today, Northeast Park is still in use as a public park. The location is 1200 North Main Street, Kewanee, Illinois.{{Cite web|url=https://regionaldailynews.com/local-news/376101| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://regionaldailynews.com/local-news/376101| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Kewanee's Baseball History with the Kewanee Historical Society|first=Envisionwise Website Service /|last=LinkedUpRadio|website=Regional Daily News}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://kewaneeparkdistrict.org/northeast-park/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://kewaneeparkdistrict.org/northeast-park/| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Northeast Park|date=October 1, 2013}}{{cbignore}}
Timeline
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;"
! Year(s) !! # Yrs. !! Team !! Level !! League!!Affiliate!!Ballpark | ||||||
| 1948–1949 | 2 | Kewanee A's | Class C | Central Association | Philadelphia Athletics | Northeast Park |
Year–by–year records
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||
| style="background: #F2F2F2;"
! Year !! Record !! Finish !! Manager !! Playoffs/Notes | ||||
| 1948 | 53–74 | 6th | Joe Glenn | Moline (17–25) moved to Kewanee June 18 Did not qualify |
| 1949 | 68–60 | 3rd | Harold Hoffman | League Champions |
Notable alumni
{{Div col|colwidth=40em}}
- Art Ditmar (1948)
- Joe Glenn (1948, MGR)
- Billy Shantz (1948)
{{Div col end}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?city=Kewanee&state=IL&country=US Kewanee - Baseball Reference]
Category:Defunct minor league baseball teams
Category:Defunct baseball teams in Illinois
Category:Professional baseball teams in Illinois
Category:Sports clubs and teams in the Quad Cities
Category:Central Association teams
Category:Baseball teams established in 1948