Midwest League 1991

Summary

• Midwest League Champion: Clinton Giants (Giants)
• Team with Best Won/Lost Record: Clinton Giants (Giants) 81-58, .583
• Most Valuable Player: Salomon Torres (Clinton/Giants)
• Prospect of the Year: Salomon Torres (Clinton/Giants)
• Manager of the Year: Gary Jones (Madison/Athletics)

• League Attendance: 1,816,898
  • 14 teams in two divisions played a 140 game, split-season schedule.
  • The MWL had teams in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Overview

Composite Record for Each Team

                Nickname        Affiliate    Won Lost  Pct (Rank)
Appleton        Foxes           Royals       58  81   .417 (14)
Beloit          Brewers         Brewers      70  67   .511  (6)
Burlington      Astros          Astros       67  70   .489  (9)
Cedar Rapids    Reds            Reds         66  74   .471 (10)
Clinton         Giants          Giants       81  58   .583  (1)
Kenosha         Twins           Twins        63  74   .460 (11)
Kane County     Cougars         Orioles      68  67   .504  (7)
Madison         Muskies         Athletics    77  61   .558  (2)
Peoria          Chiefs          Cubs         62  76   .449 (12)
Quad City       Angels          Angels       74  63   .540  (5)
Rockford        Expos           Expos        76  61   .555  (3)
South Bend      White Sox       White Sox    69  70   .496  (8)
Springfield     Cardinals       Cardinals    58  79   .423 (13)
Waterloo        Diamonds        Padres       75  63   .543  (4)

First Half

Northern Division            Southern Division
Madison     39 29 .574  ---  Burlington   41 26 .612  ---
Rockford    37 31 .544  2.0  Quad City    39 28 .582  2.0
Beloit      34 35 .493  5.5  Clinton      38 31 .551  4.0
Appleton    33 36 .478  6.5  Cedar Rapids 37 33 .529  5.5
Kenosha     32 37 .464  7.5  Waterloo     34 34 .500  7.5
South Bend  31 39 .443  9.0  Peoria       29 40 .420 13.0
Kane County 26 40 .394 12.0  Springfield  28 39 .418 13.0

Second Half

Northern Division            Southern Division
Kane County 42 27 .609  ---  Clinton      43 27 .614  ---
Rockford    39 30 .565  3.0  Waterloo     41 29 .586  2.0
South Bend  38 31 .551  4.0  Quad City    35 35 .500  8.0
Madison     38 32 .543  4.5  Peoria       33 36 .478  9.5
Beloit      36 32 .529  5.5  Springfield  30 40 .429 13.0
Kenosha     31 37 .456 10.5  Cedar Rapids 29 41 .414 14.0
Appleton    25 45 .357 17.5  Burlington   26 44 .371 17.0

1991 Post Season

Round 1:
Madison d. Kane County, 2-0
Clinton d. Burlington, 2-0

Championship:
Clinton d. Madison, 3-0

1991 All-Star Game at Cedar Rapids

date not known
North 6, South 6 (tie, stopped after 10 innings)

1991 Individual Achievements

Batting

Runs            Lee Simmons, Madison     104
Hits            Darius Cash, Waterloo    154
Home Runs       Paul Russo, Kenosha       20
Runs Batted In  Paul Russo, Kenosha      100
Stolen Bases    Mateo Ozuna, Springfield  78
Batting Avg     Midre Cummings, Kenosha .322

Pitching

Games           Ben Gonzales, Burlington  60
Complete Games  Salomon Torres, Clinton    8
Shutouts        Lance Painter, Waterloo    4
Innings Pitched Salomon Torres, Clinton  211
Strikeouts      Salomon Torres, Clinton  214
Saves           Rod Huffman, Clinton      35
Won             Salomon Torres, Clinton   16
                Dan Carlson, Clinton      16
Earned Run Avg  Salomon Torres, Clinton 1.41

1991 Post Season All-Stars

Catcher                 Eric Christopherson, Clinton
First Base              Roberto Arredondo, Waterloo
Second Base             Fletcher Thompson, Burlington
Third Base              Paul Russo, Kenosha
Shortstop               Brandon Wilson, South Bend
Outfield                Darius Gash, Waterloo
                        Phil Dauphin, Peoria
                        Chris Hatcher, Burlington
Designated Hitter       Jeff Kiplia, Quad City
Left Handed Pitcher     Lance Painter, Waterloo
Right Handed Pitcher    Salomon Torres, Clinton
Left Handed Reliever    Wally Trice, Burlington
Right Handed Reliever   Rod Huffman, Clinton

1991 Awards

Most Valuable Player    Salomon Torres, Clinton
Manager of the Year     Gary Jones, Madison

1991 League Information

Officers

President  George Spelius   Beloit, WI

Umpires

Name              Hometown
 Robert Ashley     Springfield, OR
 Steve Beaver      York, NE
 Tim Crow          Flint, MI
 Erik DeSonnaville Meadow Vista, CA
 Mark Erramousque  Rock Springs, WY
 Mike Everitt      Scottsdale, AZ
 Andrew Fletcher   Memphis TN
 Chris Jarboe      Lutherville, MD
 Dale Kalscheur    Cross Plains, WI
 Lawrence Martin   San Antonio, TX
 Jeff Nelson       Salt Lake City, UT
 Gerald Schmitt    Chicago, IL
 Michael Snader    Phoenix, AZ
 Brian York        Arcanum, OH

Note: These are the pre-season assignments, as published in the 1991 Baseball Blue Book. Better information, including pairings, would be appreciated.

1991 Team Information

Leadership

                Joined
                MWL    President           GM
Appleton        1962   Paul Vander Heyden  Jim Rodgers
Beloit          1982   Howard Erickson     Steve Kretz
Burlington      1962   Dave Walker         Paul Marshall
Cedar Rapids    1962   Wally Krouse        Howard James
Clinton         1956   Ed Kross            Kevin Temperly
Kane County     1991                       Bill Larsen
Kenosha         1985   Bob Lee             Bob Lee
Madison         1982   Chuck Barnhill      Jeff Jurgella
Peoria          1983   Clar Krusinski      Mike Nelson
Quad City       1960   Rick Holtzman       Mike Tatoian
Rockford        1988   William McKee       Patrick Daly
South Bend      1988                       John Baxter
Springfield     1982                       Lee Landers
Waterloo        1958   Dan Yates           David Simpson

Coaching Staff

                Manager          Coaches
Appleton        Joe Breeden      Mike Jirschele Mike Mason
Beloit          Rob Derksen      Dave Rajsich
Burlington      Tim Tolman       
Cedar Rapids    Frank Funk       Mark Berry
Clinton         Jack Mull        Steve Cline    Deron McCue
Kane County     Bob Miscik       Larry McCall   Oneri Fleita
Kenosha         Joel Lepel       Rick Anderson
Madison         Gary Jones       Scott Budner
Peoria          Bill Hayes       Lester Strode
Quad City       Mitch Seoane     Joe Georger    Matt Hyde
Rockford        Pat Kelly        Rich DuBee     Jose Castro
                Rob Leary   
                Rich Dubee     
South Bend      Tommy Thompson   Kirk Champion  Mark Haley   Jim Reinebold Mark Barnett
Springfield     Mike Ramsey      Roger Erickson
Waterloo        Bryan Little     Sonny Siebert  Jimmy Lester

Ballparks

                           Stadium                   Capacity Attendance
Appleton                   Goodland Field            4,300       72,601
Beloit                     Harry C Pohlman Field     3,200       77,487
Burlington                 Community Field           3,500       81,811
Cedar Rapids               Veterans Memorial Stadium 6,000      132,820
Clinton                    Riverview Stadium         3,000       83,943 
Kane County (Geneva, IL)   Kane County Events Center 3,800      240,290
Kenosha                    Simmons Field             3,000       59,331
Madison                    Warner Park               4,000       92,663
Peoria                     Meinen Field              5,750      212,159
Quad City (Davenport, IA)  John O'Donnell Stadium    5,200      242,322
Rockford                   Marinelli Field           4,300       66,524
South Bend                 Stanley Coveleski Stadium 5,000      221,071
Springfield                Lanphier Park             5,000      175,017
Waterloo                   Municipal Stadium         5,400       58,859

MWL changes during the 1990-91 off-season

Franchise changes

• Wausau Timbers moved to Geneva, Illinois and became the Kane County Cougars
• Burlington Astros changed name and affiliation (from Braves)

Sources:

• 1991 Yearbook for South Bend White Sox
• Baseball America's 1992 Almanac
• Johnson & Wolff, eds., Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball