Des Moines Demons

The Des Moines Demons, based in Des Moines, Iowa, carried one of the more traveled names in Midwest minor league baseball. The original Demons were a Western League team that ran from 1925 through 1937, winning back-to-back championships in 1925 and 1926. Those squads were strong by any measure: the 1925 club went 98-70, one game ahead of the Denver Bears, and put six players on the Western League All-Star team. The name disappeared when professional baseball left Des Moines after the 1937 season, then sat dormant for more than three decades.

In 1959, the Demons name was revived for a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, playing at Sec Taylor Stadium. That first Three-I season was the best of the three: manager Chuck Kress led the club to a 78-55 combined record across the two-half format, winning the second half, before losing the championship to the Green Bay Bluejays 3 games to 1. Cal Emery led the Three-I League that year with a .323 average, 27 home runs, and 129 RBI, earning the league MVP award. The 1960 team went 64-74 under Andy Seminick. Ray Culp, who would later win 122 games in the major leagues for the Phillies and the Boston Red Sox, pitched that season with a 6-7 record and 6.59 ERA. Pat Corrales, who later caught in the majors for a decade and managed the Phillies in 1982 and 1983, also came through the Des Moines roster.

The 1961 season was a steep decline: Des Moines finished last with a 37-93 record while every other team in the league finished at .500 or better. The Phillies dropped their working agreement in September 1961. The Three-I League folded that January. Professional baseball returned to Des Moines in 1969 with the Iowa Oaks of the American Association, and the Iowa Cubs later revived the Demons name as a Copa de la Diversión identity in 2019.