Rock Island Islanders

The Rock Island Islanders were the moniker for a number of minor league baseball teams from Rock Island, IL, from 1901 through 1937. The Islanders played mostly in the Triple I League (also known as the Illinois - Indiana - Iowa League) and the Mississippi Valley League. In the 1800s and first half of the 1900s, teams existed in thousands of small towns across the United States, as Americans looked for recreational activities and entertainment in the era before TV. 

The Islanders won the Triple I league in 1909 with a 90-48 record during the regular season. That would be their high watermark in the Triple I, as they were towards the bottom of the barrel most years after that. They would drop down to the Class D Mississippi Valley League in 1922. In the 1920s, the team moved to Douglas Park and shared it with the Rock Island Independents, an early NFL team. Douglas Park still exists today. In the MVL, the Islanders would win the league in 1932. They finished second in the regular season and then beat Davenport 4-2 in the playoffs. Those two teams would meet in the playoffs the following year, with Davenport getting the best of Rock Island in their second meeting. 

The MVL would fold after the 1933 season, and the Islanders moved to the Western League for four seasons before folding themselves.