Belleville Stags

The Belleville Stags (1947–1949) were a Class D minor league baseball team based in Belleville, Illinois. The Stags were charter members of the Illinois State League and remained a franchise when the league changed names to the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League in 1949, eventually becoming the Midwest League in 1956. The Stags were named and supported by their namesake, Stag Beer. The Stage were an affiliate of the New York Yankees (1949) and St. Louis Browns (1947–1948).

Belleville, IL sign
Belleville Stags
1947–1949
(1947–1949)
Belleville, Illinois
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes
  • Class D 1947–1949
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Previous teams
Minor league titles
League titles 1 (1947)
Team data
Previous parks
Belleville Athletic Field (1947–1949)

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 New York Yankees (1949)[5] and the St. Louis Browns (1947–1948).[6] 1958 Cy Young Award winner and World Series MVP Bob Turley pitched for the Stags in 1948.

Bob Turley 1959

The ballpark

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

Notable 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. "1949 Belleville Stags". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  6. "1947 Belleville Stags". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 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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