Baseball in Rockford

A Rockford Farewell

In which we review Rockford's seasons in the Midwest League.

Seasons  W   L   Pct Attendance
  12    881 757 .538 1,141,704

It was a very good run. Now they've gone....

Year by Year

Rockford Expos

                                       General
Year  W   L  Pct  Manager              Manager      Attendance
1988 84  56 .600  Alan Bannister       Tom Shannon  158,674
1989 74  59 .556  Mike Quade           Bill Larsen  139,338
1990 56  80 .412  Mike Quade           Bill Larsen  140,864
1991 76  61 .555  Pat Kelly/Rob Leary  Patrick Daly  66,524
1992 66  70 .474  Rob Leary            Patrick Daly  50,900
    356 326 .522                                    566,300

Rockford Royals

                                       General
Year  W   L  Pct  Manager              Manager      Attendance
1993 78  54 .591  Mike Jirschele       Mike Holmes   68,206
1994 89  50 .640  John Mizerock        Mike Holmes   70,527
    167 104 .616                                    138,733

Rockford Cubbies

                                       General
Year  W   L  Pct  Manager              Manager      Attendance
1995 75  65 .536  Steve Roadcap        Mike Holmes  110,025
1996 70  65 .519  Steve Roadcap        Mike Holmes  102,479
1997 66  66 .500  Ruben Amaro          Mike Holmes   86,716
1998 71  68 .511  Ruben Amaro          Bruce Keiter  75,600
    282 264 .516                                    374,820

Rockford Reds

                                       General
Year  W   L  Pct  Manager              Manager      Attendance
1999 76  63 .547  Mike Rojas           Bruce Keiter  63,705

Ending

• The last scheduled game at Marinelli Field:
  • September 6: Kane County 4, Rockford 2 (905 attendance)
• The last actual (playoff) game at Marinelli:
  • September 7: Wisconsin 5, Rockford 2 (455 attendance)
• The last game for the Rockford team (at Appleton):
  • September 8: Wisconsin 7, Rockford 1 (684 attendance)

There's a more-detailed history of the Rockford franchise elsewhere on MWLguide.com.

Notes

This page originated as the September 27, 1999, Midwest League Tidbit on the Midwest League Mailing List.

This Tidbit generated a lot of discussion on the mailing list. Some of the discussion concerned the unusual attendance patterns shown here. The rest mourned the end of the franchise.