Midwest League Reference Pages

Half Seasons

Most Midwest League seasons have explicitly consisted of two half-seasons. This page looks at the best championship halves, and puts some of them into their full-season context.

It amazes me that five MWL teams have managed to play at a .700 rate for an entire season:

• Waterloo (1975, .727)
• Appleton (1978, .708)
• West Frankfort (1948, .708)
• Paris (1951, .700)
• West Michigan (1997, .700)

You can't do that without posting two excellent half-seasons--and halves at that level have been extremely rare.

Half Way

At Least 49 Wins

Appleton (1978-1)       51-17, .750
Waterloo (1978-2)       50-20, .714
Waterloo (1975-1)       49-13, .790
Springfield (1988-2)    49-21, .700
Fort Wayne (2009-2)     49-21, .700
Appleton (1969-2)       49-22, .690

A strange thing: By this measure, the two best teams played in the 1978 season. Appleton won 97 games overall, and took the championship playoff. Of these teams, only Springfield finished below 90 wins for the season.

Won/Lost Percentage at Least .700

Waterloo (1975-1)       49-13, .790
Paris (1951-2)          48-15, .762
Cedar Rapids (1966-2)   48-15, .762
Appleton (1978-1)       51-17, .750
West Michigan (1997-1)  46-17, .730
Appleton (1974-2)       47-18, .723
Waterloo (1978-2)       50-20, .714
Clinton (1957-1)        44-18, .710
Springfield (1988-2)    49-21, .700
Fort Wayne (2009-2)     49-21, .700

On this list, the 1975 Waterloo team stands out. This is the Willie Wilson team, and was likely the best in MWL history, winning 93 games in a 130-game season for a .727 overall record. The 1951 Paris team also played .700 ball for the season.

First Half, at least 45 wins

Appleton (1978)         51-17, .750
Waterloo (1975)         49-13, .790
Decatur (1957)          48-20, .683
Waterloo (1980)         48-23, .676
Kane County (2001)      47-21, .691
West Michigan (1997)    46-17, .730
Wisconsin (1996)        46-21, .687
Cedar Rapids (1988)     46-24, .657
Cedar Rapids (1990)     45-21, .682
Rockford (1999)         45-24, .652
Cedar Rapids (1977)     45-25, .643
Beloit (1995)           45-25, .643
Fort Wayne (2009)       45-25, .643

Both halves of the 1990 Cedar Rapids, 1997 West Michigan, and 2009 Fort Wayne seasons show on these lists....

Second Half, at least 45 wins

Waterloo (1978)         50-20, .714
Springfield (1988)      49-21, .700
Fort Wayne (2009)       49-21, .700
Appleton (1969)         49-22, .690
Paris (1951)            48-15, .762
Cedar Rapids (1966)     48-15, .762
Quad City (1992)        48-21, .696
Michigan (2000)         48-22, .686
West Michigan (2006)    48-22, .686
Appleton (1974)         47-18, .723
West Michigan (1997)    46-22, .676
Appleton (1978)         46-23, .667
Cedar Rapids (1994)     46-24, .657
Wisconsin Rapids (1975) 46-25, .648
Cedar Rapids (1990)     45-21, .682
Wisconsin Rapids (1980) 45-25, .643
Quad City (1990)        45-25, .643
Rockford (1994)         45-25, .643
West Michigan (2007)    45-25, .643

Sources

These lists were largely compiled from Sporting News Guides and Baseball America Almanacs. The following years were not included as the league did not play a split season; the half-season records for those years are not readily available: 1948-50, 1953-55, and 1982-87.

This page originated as the June 17, 2001, Midwest League Tidbit on the Midwest League Mailing List. It was in response to a question by David Malamut, who followed one of these teams.