Burlington Pathfinders
The Burlington Pathfinders were a minor league baseball team based in Burlington, Iowa. The Pathfinders played as members of the Class D level Iowa State League from 1906 to 1907 and Central Association from 1908 to 1916, winning league championships in 1906, 1909 and 1916.
The Pathfinders were preceded by Burlington teams that played as members of the Independent Central Interstate League, Illinois-Iowa League and Eastern Iowa League before a tenure as members of the Class B level Western Association from 1895 to 1898.
In 1914, the Burlington Pathfinders hosted an exhibition game in Burlington against the St. Louis Browns, winning the game 5-4.
The Burlington Pathfinders and the earlier Burlington teams played home minor league games at Athletic Park in Burlington, which hosted minor league games through 1937.
Two Baseball Hall of Fame members played for Burlington. Bud Fowler played with the 1890 Burlington Hawkeyes. Amos Rusie signed his first professional contract and played with the 1889 Burlington Babies before making his major league debut weeks later.
History
Organized baseball was played in Burlington as early as 1867, when a team called the Burlington Crescents played games against other town teams. Due to large crowds at their games, the city of Burlington was chosen as the site to host a state baseball tournament in 1867.1889 & 1890: Central Interstate League
Burlington first hosted minor league baseball in 1889, when the Burlington "Babies" became members of the six-team Central Interstate League. Burlington joined the Davenport Hawkeyes, Evansville Hoosiers, Peoria Canaries, Quincy Ravens and Springfield Senators teams in beginning league play on April 27, 1889.Besides being known as the Babies, the 1889 Burlington team, was also called the "Lightweights." The Lightweights nickname was reportedly due to Burlington having numerous players of smaller stature on their roster.
In their first season of minor league baseball play, Burlington named William Henry Lucas as their manager for the 1889 season. Besides four playing appearances as a pitcher in 1887, Lucas was a minor league manager and executive in his baseball field career. He came to Burlington after beginning his managerial career with the Duluth Jayhawks in 1886 and 1887, In 1888, Lucas managed the Davenport Hawkeyes franchise, who played in both the Central Interstate League, which folded during the season with Davenport in first place, and the Western Association to finish the 1888 season. From 1900 to 1910 Lucas served as the founder or president of numerous minor leagues beginning with the 1900 Montana State League and ending with the 1912 Union Association.
File:1890 Amos Rusie.jpeg|thumb|left| Amos Rusie, New York Giants. Rusie made his professional debut pitching for Burlington in 1889 and made his major league debut that season. Rusie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
In, at the age of 18, Baseball Hall of Fame member Amos Rusie pitched his first professional games with the Burlington Babies. Rusie joined Burlington after playing semiprofessional baseball and working at a factory in Indianapolis, Indiana. In semiprofessional baseball, Rusie had thrown shutouts against the National League member Boston Beaneaters and Washington Nationals teams in two exhibition games. After the two standout pitching performances, John T. Brush, owner of the National League’s Indianapolis Hoosiers signed Rusie to a professional contract. Frank Bancroft the Indianapolis manager assigned Rusie to Burlington to begin his career. Rusie pitched in four games for Burlington before making his major league debut. Rusie made his major league debut with the Indianapolis Hoosiers on May 9, 1889. Rusie went on to a storied career pitching for the Indianapolis Hoosiers, New York Giants and briefly with the Cincinnati Reds. Rusie was traded from the Giants to the Reds in 1901 after experiencing arm trouble, hearing damage from a line drive to the head, and other problems in 1898 that kept him out of baseball for two years. Rusie then retired with a career record of 245 wins against 174 losses, with 1,934 strikeouts and a career 3.07 ERA. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
At age 15, pitcher Willie McGill played for Burlington in 1889. McGill began the 1889 season with the playing in the Central Interstate League with the Evansville Hoosiers. He threw a no-hitter against the Davenport Hawkeyes before losing six straight games and being acquired by Burlington, for whom he pitched for the remainder of the season. After his season with Burlington, the next season, at age 16, Kelly made his major league debut with the 1890 Cleveland Infants. That season he suffered tragedy when his father died that season in a railroad crash while coming to assist his son who had a drinking problem at the time and been arrested for a drunken assault. McGill also pitched Cincinnati Kelly's Killers, St. Louis Browns, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Colts, St. Louis Browns and the Philadelphia Phillies in his major league career, which ended at the age of 22. McGill attended the University of Notre Dame. Following his playing career, McGill later served as a collegiate baseball coach and athletic trainer for Butler University, University of Illinois and Northwestern University.
In their first season of play, the Burlington Babies ended the 1889 Central Interstate League in third place. Burlington ended the season with a record of 55–62 to achieve their third-place finish in the six-team league. The Burlington manager in their first season was William Henry Lucas. Burlington finished 11.5 games behind the first place Quincy Ravens in the final Central Interstate League standings and no playoffs were held, common in the era.
The Central Interstate League continued play in 1890 with the Burlington "Hawkeyes" remaining as a league member of the six-team league. Burlington became known by the Hawkeyes nickname when the Davenport franchise did not return to the league. The state of Iowa is nicknamed as the Hawkeye State. Burlington was the only Iowa team to play in the 1890 Central Interstate League.
After William Lucas left Burlington and became the manager of the Tacoma Daisies team in the Pacific Northwest League, Burlington's 1890 player-manager Varney Anderson came to Burlington after pitching in 1889 for the major league Indianapolis Hoosiers team. After his season with the Burlington Hawkeyes, Varney later pitched for the Washington Senators in the 1894 and 1895 seasons. Varney had a career record of 9-20 with a 6.16 ERA in 35 major league games.
In their second season of Central Interstate League play, the 1890 Burlington Hawkeyes ended the season as the league runner-up in a shortened season. The Hawkeyes ended their season with an overall record of 48–36, with their second-place finish being led by managers Varney Anderson and William Fuller. The Central Interstate League ended play on August 17, 1890 and Burlington finished 4.0 games behind the first place Evansville Hoosiers in the six-team league final standings. Burlington's Frank Shugart led the Central Interstate League with both 80 runs scored and 108 total hits in the shortened season.
File:Frank Shugart.jpg|thumb| Frank Shugart, Chicago White Sox. Shugart led the league in hits and runs scored playing for Burlington in 1890. In 1901, he was banned from baseball for an assault on an umpire.
After the season with Burlington ended on August 17, Frank Shugart played the remainder of the season with the Chicago Pirates. He continued his major league career playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Browns, Louisville Colonels, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox teams through, playing in 745 career games and batting.267. Shugart's major league career ended after an incident on August 21, 1901, in which he punched an umpire in the face. During an argument in a game against the Washington Senators, umpire Jack Haskell had pulled out his watch to give Shugart one minute to get to the bench, but Shugart failed to comply and instead attempted to grab Haskell’s watch away from him. At the same time, teammate Joe Sugden shoved Haskell, and while Haskell was off-balance, Shugart punched him in the face. After being punched, Haskell held Shugart in a headlock before police, players, and spectators intervened. Shugart was arrested by police, jailed and paid a fine. In the aftermath, he became the first American League player to be banned from baseball, which happened because of the incident. On August 23, 1890, American League founder and president Ban Johnson banned Shugart from the American League for life, stating "I have expelled Shugart from the league for life for assaulting Umpire Haskell. No slugging will be permitted in this league in the future while I am president of it, and each man who commits that offense will be expelled forthwith. That is final."
After the folding of the Central Interstate League on August 17, 1890, the Burlington franchise continued their season after joining a new league in September 1890.
Second 1890 team: Illinois–Iowa League / Hall of Fame player
After the folding of the Central Interstate League, the Burlington Hawkeyes continued play in a second minor league in 1890 due to a relocation. The Aurora Hoodoos, Cedar Rapids Canaries, Dubuque Giants, Joliet Convicts, Monmouth Maple Cities, Ottawa Pirates, Ottumwa Coal Palaces and Sterling Blue Coats teams began play on May 1, 1890, as charter members of the Illinois-Iowa League without Burlington.During the season, Sterling had compiled a record of 21–51 when the team moved to Galesburg, Illinois on July 31, 1890. While based in Galesburg, the team had compiled a record of 8–17 while based in that city, when the franchise moved to Burlington on September 4, 1890. The Burlington Hawkeyes team then disbanded on September 10, 1890, and the league ended the season with seven teams. After compiling a 1–4 record while based in Burlington, the Sterling/Galesburg/Burlington team ended the season with an overall record of 30–72. Despite folding before the end of the season, Burlington was given an eighth-place finish in the eight-team league. In the three locations, the team was managed by James Donnelly, Charles Wirsche, Al Weddige, Clarence Hoyt and Varney Anderson.
Baseball Hall of Fame member Bud Fowler played with the 1890 Burlington Hawkeyes during their short tenure in the Illinois-Iowa League. At age 32, Fowler batted.322 on for the 1890 season. Fowler was the first professional black baseball player, beginning his baseball career in 1878, only one year after the first minor league was organized. In the early days of professional baseball there was no official color line. Fowler played in organized baseball with white teams until the color line became established practice. He played until 1904, at age 46. A native of Cooperstown, New York, Fowler was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in his hometown, in 2022. Fowler's induction speech was given by Dave Winfield, who said, "Fowler made baseball history today, but he's always been a part of American history."
The Burlington franchise did not return to the 1891 Illinois-Iowa League, replaced in the eight-team league by the eventual champion Quincy Ravens team. The Following the 1890 season, Burlington did not host another minor league team until 1895.