1901 III League

A .500 team June 23, when Bloomington and Cedar Rapids seemed to be running away with it, Terre Haute, under the direction of ex-major league catcher Bill Krieg, put on a .723 finish to win the first "Three-Eye" league in a rumble.

Terre Haute's fortune's turned when they gave a starting pitchers slot to a young three-fingered pitcher named Brown. That week they passed Decatur, a team headed in the opposite direction. Note Decatur's 20-7 start and the 20-65 finish. Impressed with Brown, league president Thomas Hickey transferred the prodigy to the weak Western League team of Omaha for 1902, creating a national sensation.

Another team direction change that I cannot explain is Evansville's. A dead last place 21-48 (.304) start, a 26-9 run to the top of the second division, and an eight game end of year losing streak.