The Sioux City Corn Huskers (and the interchangeable "Cornhuskers") were an early minor league baseball team based in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. The Corn Huskers teams played as members of the Western Association (1888–1891) and Western League (1894), winning 1891 and 1894 league championships.
Following the 1891 regular season, the Sioux City Corn Huskers were victorious in both post-season series against the major league Chicago Orphans and St. Louis Browns teams, hosting both series at home.
The team became the St. Paul Saints in 1895 after Charles Comiskey purchased the franchise and moved the team to St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1900 Comiskey relocated the team from St. Paul to become the Chicago White Sox of the American League.
Following their Western League tenure, Sioux City Cornhusker teams played as a member of the 1900 Western League II and 1902 Iowa-South Dakota League, evolving to become the Sioux City Soos beginning in 1903.
The Sioux City Corn Husker teams hosted home minor league home games at the Evans Driving Park Baseball Grounds until 1900, when the team began play at the Riverside Baseball Grounds.
History
1888 to 1890: Western Association
In their first season of minor league play, Sioux City joined a newly formed minor league during the 1888 season. The Sioux City Corn Huskers became charter members of the Class A level Western Association during the season. In forming the ten–team Western Association Sioux City joined with the Chicago Maroons, Davenport Onion Weeders, Des Moines Prohibitionists, Kansas City Blues, Milwaukee Brewers, Minneapolis Millers, Omaha Omahogs, Saint Paul Apostles and St. Louis Whites franchises in the newly formed league.
In the era before formal team nicknames, the "Corn Huskers" nickname derived from local newspapers as was common in the early minor league era. The newspapers dubbed the Sioux City team as "the Corn Huskers from the Corn Palace City." In the era, Sioux City was the home to elaborate 200 foot tall Corn Palaces that were constructed annually between 1887 and 1891 to celebrate the fall harvest. The structures were made using corn husks, stalks and silks.
After the St. Louis Whites disbanded on June 20, the Sioux City Corn Huskers joined the league on July 4, 1888, playing their first game on that date at Des Moines. After beginning play, the Sioux City team folded in the 1888 season, playing in the ten-team Western Association season, finishing the season with a 21–38 record playing the season under managers Will Bryan and Jim Powell. The first place Kansas City Blues led in the final league standings. The champion Kansas City team featured Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Kid Nichols, who led the Western Association pitchers with both 16–2 record and 1.14 ERA at 18 years of age.Maddon, W.C. & Stewart, Patrick. (2002) The Western League: A baseball history 1885 through 1995. McFarland & Company
After player/manager Will Bryan left Sioux City and finished the 1888 season with Hutchinson in the Western League, first baseman Jim Powell began a three-season tenure as the Sioux City player/manager at age 28. Powell had been the player/manager of the Charleston Seagulls to begin the 1888 season, having also managed Charleston the prior two seasons. After joining Sioux City, Powell batted .256 with one home run while appearing in 58 games for the Corn Huskers. Prior to his tenure with the Corn Huskers, Powell had previously played in the major leagues with the Richmond Virginians and Philadelphia Athletics, appearing in 60 total games and batting .217.
Known as a strong fielder, infielder Davy Force was 38 years old when he played for the Huskers in 1888, his final professional season as a player, batting .210 in 66 games. Playing seven seasons with the National League's Buffalo Bisons, between 1871 and 1886 Force played at the major league level with nine different teams in total, collecting 1,060 career hits and one career home run in 1,029 career games, batting .249. He later was implicated in the newspapers, but not charged in an 1896 murder that occurred in San Francisco, California.
Despite folding in 1888, Sioux City returned to play as members of the 1889 Western Association. Defending champion Kansas City Blues did not return to play, replaced by the St. Joseph Clay Eaters in the eight-team league.
Sioux City ended the 1889 season in fourth place in the eight-team league. Jim Powell returned as manager as the Corn Huskers finished with a 59–61 record. The Omaha Omahogs won the league title with a 83–38 record, finishing 20½ games ahead of Sioux City and 8.0 games ahead of the second place St. Paul Apostles. Corn Husker Monk Cline won the league batting title in 1889, hitting .364. He also scored 172 runs to lead the league and had 15 home runs and 93 RBIs. Omaha was led to their championship by their manager, Baseball Hall of fame member Frank Selee and pitcher Kid Nichols who won 39 games and struck out 369 batters while pitching 438 innings in 49 games. Nichols started 47 games and completed all 47, compiling a 1.74 ERA on the season.
On August 23, 1889, Omaha and Sioux City played a memorable game on Ladies Day in a game at Omaha, as Kid Nichols led Omaha to a 3–2 victory in front of a large crowd in Omana.
A colorful, journeyman minor league pitcher, Bob Black joined Sioux City in the middle of the 1889 season. Black would continue to play for Sioux City teams though his age 40 season in 1903 and he remained a resident of the city for the remainer of his life. Later, in 1902, Black became manager of the nearby Le Mars Blackbirds of the Iowa-South Dakota League, where the team nickname derived from Black and his son Bob Black Jr, who played for the team. As a retired major league player, Black was recruited to become the manager after being spotted watching a game from the stands early in the season. In 1903, while returning as the Le Mars president, Black signed future Baseball Hall of Fame member Branch Rickey, to a contract after Rickey graduated from high school. Rickey is best known for signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers while serving as Brooklyn's General Manager.
His pitching arm damaged, George Bradley pitched briefly and played third base for Sioux City in 1889, his final professional season at age 36. In his major league career, Bradley compiled a record of 172–151 with a 2.43 career ERA while pitching for the Philadelphia Quakers (), Baltimore Orioles (–), Brooklyn Grays (–) and Pittsburgh Alleghenys ().
Sioux City continued Western Association membership in the 1890 season The Corn Huskers ended the season in fifth place in the eight-team league. Sioux city had a record of 55–64 in Jim Powell's final season with the team as the Corn Huskers finished 24.0 games behind the Kansas City Blues, who rejoined the league. Ending the season with a record of 78–39, Kansas City finished first in the standings of the eight-team league.
Pitcher Hardie Henderson played for Sioux City in 1890, his final professional season at age 27. Henderson compiled a 81-121 record with a 3.51 ERA in his major league career with the Philadelphia Quakers (1883), Baltimore Orioles (1883–1886), Brooklyn Grays (1886–1887) and Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1888). Henderson died at the age of 40 in 1903, when he was fatally struck by a train trolley in Philadelphia.
1891: Western Association championship
The Sioux City Corn Huskers captured the 1891 Western Association championship, led by manager Al Buckenberger. The league continued play as an eight-team league, but after a tumultuous season, it ended the season playing with four teams. On June 8, 1891, the St. Paul Apostles moved to become the Duluth Whalebacks. Then, On August 18, 1891, the first place Milwaukee Brewers (1886–1892) left the league and joined the major league American Association. This was followed immediately by the Duluth, Minneapolis Millers and Lincoln Rustlers teams folding August 20, 1891. The remaining Sioux City Cornhuskers, Kansas City Blues, Omaha Lambs and Denver Mountaineers teams did not fold, and the Western Association finished the season playing as a four-team league.
In the final standings with the four remaining teams, Sioux City won the title while finishing just 1.0 game ahead of the second place Kansas City Blues in a close pennant race. The Cornhuskers finished with a final record of 66-57 (.537) and Kansas City finished with a record of 66-59 (.528). No playoff was held following the season.
Frank Genins played for Sioux City from 1889 to 1891, primarily in centerfield. He would return to play for Sioux City in 1894. Genins also played shortstop and third base for Sioux City in 1891, committing 46 total errors while batting .231 with 23 stolen bases at age 24. Genins made his major league debut in 1892, playing with both the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Browns during the season.
Cornhuskers pitcher Bill Hart had a league leading 25-win season. Hard compiled his 25 wins while throwing 397 innings for Sioux City in 1891, with a 1.74 ERA at age 25. Hart would return to Sioux City for the 1894 season. Hart had pitched for the St. Louis Browns in the 1890 season, compiling a 12–8 record in his only major league season. Hart had one home run as a hitter for St. Louis.
Shortstop Frank Scheibeck played for Sioux City in 1891 at age 26, batting .250 in 122 games with the Corn Huskers. Scheibeck had a lengthy major league career. He had played with the Cleveland Blues (1887), Detroit Wolverines (1888) and Toledo Maumees (1890) prior to his season with the Corn Huskers. The then returned to the majors following his Sioux City season, playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1894), Washington Senators (1894–1895, 1899), Cleveland Blues (1901) and Detroit Tigers (1906).
At age 32, outfielder Ed Swartwood played for Sioux City in 1891, batting .286 with 5 home runs in 111 games. Swartwood joined Sioux City in 1891 after having been released by the Toledo Maumees, where he had been teammates with Frank Scheibeck. Swartwood was a career .300 career hitter in the major leagues. Prior to joining Sioux City, Swartwood played for the Buffalo Bisons (1881), Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1882–84), Brooklyn Grays (1885–87) and Toledo Maumees (1890) and won the batting championship of American Association in 1883, hitting .357. Following his 1891 season with Sioux City, Swartwood played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1892, where he played again for manager Al Buckenberger. After his playing career ended, Swartwood became an umpire. He first umpired in the major leagues in 1894 and then again from 1898 through 1900, working a total of 429 games. Swartwood ejected Cincinnati Reds manager Charles Comiskey from a game on June 5, 1894. Large in stature, Swartwood became the deputy sheriff of Allegheny County, working in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With his law enforcement position, he also assisted in legal executions in the region in the era.
1891: Post season series against Chicago & St. Louis
Immediately following the completion of their 1891 Western Association championship season, Sioux City hosted two exhibition series against major league teams. The Corn Huskers won both of the series. The first was against the Chicago Orphans (Today's Chicago Cubs), as Sioux City won four of six games against Chicago and player manager Cap Anson. On Monday October 5, 1891, Sioux City defeated Chicago 8–1. On October 6, 1891, Chicago defeated Sioux City 7–4. On Wednesday October 7, 1891, Chicago won their second game of the series in defeating Sioux City 9–6. Sioux City then won the next three games beginning with a 4–3 win over Chicago on Thursday October 8, 1891. On Friday October 9, 1891, Sioux City shut out Chicago 3–0. Sioux City won the series on Saturday October 10, 1891, with a 6–4 victory over the Chicago Orphans.