Danville, Illinois minor league baseball history

Danville team history

Danville's first professional baseball team, the Danville Browns, took the field in 1888 as members of the Central Interstate League, and they returned for a season in the Illinois–Indiana League the following year. The Danville Champions played in the Central League in 1900, and the Danville Old Soldiers competed in the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League in 1906. The Danville Speakers debuted in the Eastern Illinois League in 1908 before joining the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, also known as the Three-I League, from 1910 to 1914.

During that time, the Speakers featured future major leaguers such as Medric Boucher, Cecil Coombs, Bob Fisher, Buck Hopkins, Pete Hildebrand, Hosea Siner, Bert Graham, Rube Sellers, Connie Walsh, Otto Vogel, Walt Devoy, and Hod Eller. The franchise relocated to Moline, Illinois, mid-1914 and became the Moline Plowboys. The Danville Veterans returned to the Three-I League from 1922 through 1932, capturing league championships in 1927 and 1930 while serving as a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate from 1927 to 1932.

After World War II, the Brooklyn Dodgers established a Danville Dodgers affiliate in the Three-I League. In 1946, the Dodgers planned to assign Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe to Danville, but the integration effort faced local resistance, so the players were instead sent to the Nashua Dodgers. Following the Dodgers' departure, the team continued as the Danville Dans, joining the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League and winning its championship in 1951.

The Dans later claimed the Midwest League title in 1954 after that circuit renamed itself. The Dans were affiliated with the Boston Braves in 1952, the Chicago White Sox in 1953, and the New York Giants in 1954.

Did You Know?

• Danville Stadium is still in use by today's Danville Dans and is located at 610 Highland Boulevard in Danville, Illinois.
• Joe McGinnity, a 1946 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, is pictured in the Danville team history section.