Belleville Stags

The Belleville Stags were a minor league baseball team based in Belleville, Illinois from 1947 to 1949. The Belleville Stags were charter members of the Class D level Illinois State League and remained a franchise when the league changed names to the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League in 1949. The league evolved to become today's Midwest League in 1956. The Stags were named and supported by their namesake, Stag Beer.

Belleville Stags
(1947–1949)
Belleville, Illinois
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles 1 (1947)
Team data
Previous parks
Belleville Athletic Field/Stag Park (1947–1949)

The Stags were an affiliate of the New York Yankees in 1949 and St. Louis Browns in 1947 and 1948.

Belleville, IL sign

History

The Stags were a charter member of both the Illinois State League (1947–1948) and its successor, the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League in 1949. In 1947, the Stags joined the Centralia Cubs, Mattoon Indians, Marion Indians, Mount Vernon Blues, and West Frankfort Cardinals as new franchises and charter members of the Illinois State League.[1][2] The 1947 team claimed the Illinois League Championship in the first season of the ISL. Belleville folded after the 1949 season and was replaced in the MOVL by the Vincennes Velvets in 1950.[3] The Stags had been an independent local team before the minor league team, and they regrouped as a local independent team into the 1950s after the demise of the professional franchise.[4]

The Stags were an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns in 1947 and 1948 and the New York Yankees in 1949.[5][6]

1958 Cy Young Award winner and World Series MVP Bob Turley pitched for the 1948 Belleville Stags.

The ballpark

The Belleville Stags played at Belleville Athletic Field. As the team was sponsored by Stag Beer, the ballpark was also referred to as "Stag Park."The ballpark was located at 901 South Illinois Street at Cleveland Avenue (Route 159 and IL 13), Belleville, Illinois. Today, the site houses an auto dealership.[7][8]

Timeline
Year(s)# Yrs.TeamLevelLeagueAffiliate
1947–19482Belleville StagsClass DIllinois State LeagueSt. Louis Browns
19492Mississippi–Ohio Valley LeagueNew York Yankees

Year–by–year records
YearRecordFinishAttendanceManagerPlayoffs/Notes
194775–371st18,539Walter DeFreitasLeague Champions
194851–675th6,085Gerald Nemitz / Shan DenistonNone
194943–766th13,500Mueller / Yurkovich / Nesbit / MickNone

Notable players
Bob Turley 1959

See also

Belleville Stags players

References
  1. "1947 Illinois State League". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. "Belleville, Illinois Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  3. "Baseball in Belleville, Illinois". Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  4. Roger Schlueter. "Roger's Stags History". Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  5. "1947 Belleville Stags". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  6. "1949 Belleville Stags". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  7. "Belleville Athletic Field Minor League History". Baseball Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 27, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  8. "Belleville, IL". Belleville Athletic Field. Retrieved July 3, 2018. The park was funded by Stag Beer, and was home to the Belleville Stags. The catcher faced southeast.
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