1898 Western Association

Thomas J. Hickey was a good league president with poor league cities in the late 1890's, and year after year it seemed the league failed by the Fourth of July. Finally in 1901, Hickey corralled some Interstate League cities and the American Association was born.

But that dream was still three years away. In 1898 things got so bad Hickey gave up (temporarily) on the eight-team league model and went with six teams shortly after Memorial Day (then called Decoration Day) when high-flying Cedar Rapids and low-flying Burlington dropped out.

This uninspired fanned pennant race then creaked on for three more weeks before the northern towns of Dubuque and Rock Island bit the dust, prompting a smart league-wide euthanasia.

It's interesting how the spread of baseball across America mirrored the westward movement of the frontier in the late nineteenth century. The "Northwest League" as it opened in 1879 included Dubuque. By 1884 the Northwest league moved into Michigan and Minnesota cities, but by 1887 it still included Des Moines. As late as 1901, the clarifying title "Pacific Northwest" was used to name the league representing the real north-west of America. Finally, in 1905, the class B "Northwest League" actually represented cities in Washington and Oregon.