History of Baseball in Springfield
Minor league baseball has a long history in Springfield, Illinois. Springfield fielded a team in the 1883 Northwestern League, which has traditionally been considered the first minor league. The city was also represented in the Central Interstate League in 1889, the Western Association in 1895, the Central League in 1900, and the Mississippi Valley League in 1933. Their longest minor league affiliation, however, was with the Three-I League, in which Springfield competed from 1903 to 1914, from 1925 to 1932, in 1935, from 1938 to 1942, and from 1946 to 1949.
In 1948, Springfield hosted a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the Springfield Sallies. They finished the season in last place with a 41–84 record.
Springfield experienced its highest level of minor league baseball during 1978–1981, when it hosted the Springfield Redbirds of the Class Triple-A American Association. The Redbirds, a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, won the playoff for the league championship in 1980. The Redbirds' move to Louisville in 1982 was the impetus for the Springfield Cardinals entering the Midwest League as an expansion franchise that season.
When the Cardinals moved to Madison in 1994, the Midwest League's Waterloo Diamonds moved to Springfield and became the Springfield Sultans. The Sultans were affiliated with the San Diego Padres in 1994 and with the Kansas City Royals in 1995. In 1995 the Sultans moved to Lansing, Michigan, where they became the Lansing Lugnuts.
After the departure of the Sultans, independent league baseball came to Springfield with the Springfield Capitals of the Frontier League, who played from 1996 to 2001. Since 2008, baseball is represented in Springfield by the amateur Springfield Sliders of the wood-bat Prospect League.
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