Midwest League 1995

Summary

• Midwest League Champion: Beloit Snappers (Brewers)
• Team with Best Won/Lost Record: Beloit Snappers (Brewers) 88-51, .633
• Most Valuable Player: Jesse Ibarra (Burlington/Giants)
• Prospect of the Year: Javier Valentin (Fort Wayne/Twins)
• Manager of the Year: DeMarlo Hale (Michigan/Red Sox)

• League Attendance: 2,764,329
  • 14 teams in three divisions played a 140 game, split-season schedule.
  • The MWL had teams in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Overview

Composite Record for Each Team

                Nickname        Affiliate    Won Lost  Pct (Rank)
Beloit          Snapppers       Brewers      88  51   .633  (1)
Burlington      Bees            Giants       54  81   .400 (13)
Cedar Rapids    Kernels         Angels       76  62   .551  (3)
Clinton         LumberKings     Padres       51  86   .372 (14)
Fort Wayne      Wizards         Twins        75  65   .536  (5T)
Kane County     Cougars         Marlins      69  69   .500  (7)
Michigan        Battle Cats     Red Sox      75  63   .543  (4)
Peoria          Chiefs          Cardinals    62  72   .463 (11)
Quad City       River Bandits   Astros       76  61   .555  (2)
Rockford        Cubbies         Cubs         75  65   .536  (5T)
South Bend      Silver Hawks    White Sox    66  69   .489  (9)
Springfield     Sultans         Royals       65  74   .468 (10)
West Michigan   Whitecaps       Athletics    67  69   .493  (8)
Wisconsin       Timber Rattlers Mariners     63  75   .457 (12)

First Half

Western Division             Central Division            Eastern Division
Quad City    40 27 .597  --- Beloit      45 25 .643  --- Michigan      36 32 .529  ---
Cedar Rapids 38 31 .551  3.0 Kane County 39 31 .557  6.0 West Michigan 35 33 .515  1.0
Springfield  38 31 .551  3.0 Rockford    34 36 .486 11.0 Fort Wayne    35 35 .500  2.0
Peoria       32 35 .478  8.0 Wisconsin   30 38 .441 14.0 South Bend    31 36 .463  4.5
Burlington   29 38 .433 11.0 
Clinton      17 51 .250 23.5 

Second Half

Western Division

Western Division             Central Division            Eastern Division
Cedar Rapids 38 31 .551  --- Beloit      43 26 .623  --- Fort Wayne    40 30 .571  ---
Quad City    36 34 .514  2.5 Rockford    41 29 .586  2.5 Michigan      39 31 .557  1.0
Clinton      34 35 .493  4.0 Wisconsin   33 37 .471 10.5 South Bend    35 33 .515  4.0
Peoria       30 37 .448  7.0 Kane County 30 38 .441 12.5 West Michigan 32 36 .471  7.0
Springfield  27 43 .386 11.5
Burlington   25 43 .368 12.5

1995 Post Season

Round 1:
Michigan d. Fort Wayne, 2-0
West Michigan d. Kane County, 2-1
Beloit d. Rockford, 2-0
Quad City d. Cedar Rapids, 2-1

Round 2:
Michigan d. West Michigan, 2-1
Beloit d. Quad City, 2-1
        
Championship:
Beloit d. Michigan, 3-0

1995 All-Star Game at Grand Rapids

June 20 at Old Kent Park.
Eastern Teams 7, Western Teams 5
Winning Pitcher: Dave Bigham (South Bend Silver Hawks)
Save: Steve Rain (Rockford Cubbies)
Most Valuable Player: Chris Allison (Michigan Battle Cats), 3-2-2-0

1995 Individual Achievements

Batting

Games           Nilson Robledo      South Bend       135
                Drew Williams       Beloit           135
At Bats         Nilson Robledo      South Bend       537
Runs            Donnie Sadler       Michigan         103
Hits            Nilson Robledo      South Bend       153
Home Runs       Jesse Ibarra        Burlington        34
Runs Batted In  Nilson Robledo      South Bend       108
Stolen Bases    Carlos Hernandez    Quad City         58
On Base Pct     Jesse Ibarra        Burlington      .434
Slugging Pct    Jesse Ibarra        Burlington      .636
Batting Avg     Demond Smith        Cedar Rapids/
                                    West Michigan   .338

Pitching

Games           Brian Reed          Peoria            63
Complete Games  Jason Dickson       Cedar Rapids       9
Shutouts        Four tied at                           2
Innings Pitched Alfredo Garcia      Rockford         177
Strikeouts      Charles Smith       South Bend       145    
Saves           Travis Welch        Peoria            31
Won             Tony Mounce         Quad City         16
Earned Run Avg  Cory Corrigan       Peoria          2.32

1995 Post Season All-Stars

Catcher                 Javier Valentin Fort Wayne
First Base              Jesse Ibarra    Burlington
Second Base             Luis Castillo   Kane County
Third Base              Sean McNally    Springfield
Shortstop               Donnie Sadler   Michigan
Outfield                Demond Smith    Cedar Rapids/West Michigan
                        Todd Dunwoody   Kane County
                        Ryan Jackson    Kane County
Designated Hitter       Derek Hacopian  Beloit
Left Handed Pitcher     Tony Mounce     Quad City
Right Handed Pitcher    Jeff D'Amico    Beloit
Left Handed Reliever    Jeff Keith      Burlington
Right Handed Reliever   Travis Welch    Peoria

1995 Awards

Most Valuable Player    Jesse Ibarra    Burlington
Prospect of the Year    Javier Valentin Fort Wayne
Manager of the Year     DeMarlo Hale    Michigan

1995 League Information

Officers

President  George Spelius   Beloit, WI

Umpires

#  Name                Hometown
 2  Mike Alvarado       Moses Lake, WA
 3  John Creek          Kalamazoo, MI
 3  Mike VanVleet       Battle Creek, MI
 4  Mark Carlson        Joliet, IL
 5  Jeff Spedoske       Okemos, MI
 6  David Aschwege      Lincoln, NE
 7  Chris Heimler       San Diego, CA
 8  Alfonso Marquez     Fullerton, CA
 9  Pat McGinnis        Joliet, IL
10  Brian McCraw        Port St. Lucie, FL
11  Robert Cook         Gahanna, OH
12  Jon Wolfe           Shawnee, KS
15  Michael Fichter     Lansing, IL
18  Albert Guarnieri    Spring, TX
35  Jason Gibbon        Quebec

1995 Team Information

Leadership

                Joined
                MWL    President               GM
Beloit          1982   Dennis Conerton         Jeff Nelson
Burlington      1962   Dave Walker             Ryan Richeal
Cedar Rapids    1962   Wally Krouse            Jack Roeder
Clinton         1956   Rich Phelen             Leasa Brown
Fort Wayne      1993                           Mike Tatoian
Kane County     1991   Al Gordon               Bill Larsen
Michigan        1995                           Tim Cullen
Peoria          1983   Pete Vonachen Jr        Pete Vonachen Jr
Quad City       1960   Rick Holtzman           Dan Kable
Rockford        1988   Mark McGuire            Mike Holmes
South Bend      1988   John Baxter             John Tull
Springfield     1982   Tom Dickson             Gillian Zucker
West Michigan   1994   Dennis Baxter           Scott Lane
Wisconsin       1962   John Wollner            Steve Malliet

Coaching Staff

                Manager         Coaches
Beloit          Dub Kilgo       Mike Caldwell*  Jon Pont
Burlington      Mike Hart       Keith Comstock* Mickey Brantley
Cedar Rapids    Tom Lawless     Steve Renko*    Kevin Davis
Clinton         Ed Romero       Saul Soltero*
Fort Wayne      Dan Rohn        Stu Cliburn*    Jose Baez
Kane County     Lynn Jones      Rod Allen       Brian Peterson*
Michigan        DeMarlo Hale    Bill Moloney*   Darrell Evans
Peoria          Roy Silver      Ray Searage*    Keith Smith
Quad City       Jim Pankovits   Jim Hickey*
Rockford        Steve Roadcap   Alan Dunn*      Steve Dillard
South Bend      Fred Kendall    Curt Hasler*    Mark Haley      Jim Reinebold
Springfield     Brian Poldberg  Mike Mason*     Rafael Santana
West Michigan   Jim Colborn     Bert Bradley*   Rich Juday
Wisconsin       Mike Goff       Delwyn Young

*pitching coaches

Ballparks

                             Stadium                  Capacity Attendance
Beloit                       Pohlman Field             3,100       60,816
Burlington                   Community Field           4,000       69,412
Cedar Rapids                 Veterans Memorial Stadium 6,000      135,840
Clinton                      Riverview Stadium         3,000       50,126
Fort Wayne                   Memorial Stadium          6,300      253,568
Kane County (Geneva, IL)     Philip B Elfstrom Stadium 4,800      477,550
Michigan (Battle Creek)      C.O. Brown Stadium        6,200      171,794
Peoria                       Pete Vonachen Stadium     6,200      195,056
Quad City (Davenport, IA)    John O'Donnell Stadium    5,500      257,501
Rockford                     Marinelli Field           4,300      110,052
South Bend                   Stanley Coveleski Stadium 5,000      225,999
Springfield                  Lanphier Park             5,000       39,467
West Michigan (Grand Rapids) Old Kent Park             6,901      507,989
Wisconsin (Appleton)         Fox Cities Stadium        3,200      209,159

MWL changes during the 1994-95 off-season

League changes

The League changed its divisional structure. The previous Northern and Southern Divisions (7 teams each) were replaced by Western (6 teams), Central (4), and Eastern (4) Divisions.

The league's playoff structure was modified, with 8 teams qualifying (two half-season champions per division, plus wildcards).

Franchise changes

• Beloit Snappers changed name (from Brewers).
• Burlington Bees changed affiliation (Expos to Giants).
• Michigan Battle Cats [Battle Creek] moved (from Madison), changed name (from Hatters), and changed affiliation (Cardinals to Red Sox). This team was temporarily known as the Battle Creek Golden Kazoos.
• Peoria Chiefs changed affiliation (Cubs to Cardinals).
• Rockford Cubbies changed name (from Royals) and affiliation (Royals to Cubs).
• Sultans of Springfield changed affiliation (Padres to Royals).
• Wisconsin Timber Rattlers [Appleton] changed name (from Appleton Foxes).

Other highlights

Wisconsin's Fox Cities Stadium was new.

Michigan's C.O. Brown Stadium, while constructed for amateur baseball in 1989, was extensively modified and new to the league.

Sources:

• 1995 Yearbooks for Battle Cats, Whitecaps, Silver Hawks
• 1995 Whitecaps Media Guide
• Joe Hulsebus' MWL Web Page [now sadly retired]
• USA Today Baseball Weekly
• Baseball America
• Baseball America's 1996 Almanac