Minneapolis Millers
Year-by-Year Finishes

Compiled by Stew Thornley
Author of On to Nicollet: The Glory and Fame of the Minneapolis Millers

Note: The won-lost totals for the Millers sometimes differ from other sources, including the annual record book issued by the American Association. The records listed for the Millers are based on their game-by-game results and the final standings printed in the newspaper. The totals have been checked with other newspapers.

The links for the years below go to pages with individual statistics for the Millers. For game-by-game results, go to:
1884-1890      1891-1900      1901-1910     
Northwestern League
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1884 31 42   Ben Tuthill
1884 8 5   Ben Tuthill
    In 1884, the Northwestern League season was suspended in mid-August after nine of the teams (Muskegon, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Bay City, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute, Peoria, Quincy, and Stillwater) disbanded or were kicked out for non-payment of league dues.
    A new schedule was drawn up for the remaining three teams—Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Milwaukee—as well as for a new team, Winona, Minnesota. In early September, Minneapolis and Winona disbanded, leaving only Milwaukee and St. Paul. Both of the surviving teams finished their 1884 seasons in the Union Association, a major league in its only season of existence. Thus, St. Paul became the first major league team in Minnesota. It played all of its games on the road, winning 2, losing 6, and tying 1. Click here for more information on the 1884 St. Paul Unions and the 1884 Northwestern League season.
    There was no professional baseball in Minnesota in 1885, but Minneapolis had a team in a new Northwestern League in 1886.
1886 35 42 6th Eddie Whitcomb
1887 54 65 5th Robert O. Foster
         
Western Association
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1888 27 54 8th W. E. Gooding
    In 1888, the Minneapolis franchise transferred to Davenport in August. The Millers’ record was 28-52 when the team moved. The combined record of the Minneapolis-Davenport team in 1888 was 31-74.
1889 66 56 3rd Sam Morton (home) and Moxie Hengle (road)
1890 78 45 2nd Sam Morton, Tim Hurst
1891 52 45   Charles Harrington, Sam Morton
    In 1891, Minneapolis was in first place when the team disbanded on August 21. Note: The Minneapolis Tribune showed the Millers’ final record as 58-45. However, the newspaper inexplicably changed the record from 52-44 to 58-44 after August 13. Even though the standings in the paper showed Minneapolis with a 58-44 record, it had its winning percentage as .542, which would be the winning percentage for a record of 52-44. When Milwaukee was dropped from the league on August 17 (Milwaukee left to take the place of Cincinnati in the American Association), the newspaper showed Minneapolis with the next-best record of 58-44 (still indicating a winning percentage of .542) and Omaha with a record of 46-40. Even with the correct record of 52-44 for Minneapolis, the Millers were still ahead of Omaha and in first place after the departure of Milwaukee. The Millers played one more game, losing to Sioux City, on August 19, making their record 52-45 (shown as 58-45 by the Tribune, with a winning percentage of .563, which would correspond with the incorrect record of 58-45). By this time, Sioux City, with a record of 52-46, had passed Omaha, which had dropped to 46-42. Regardless of which record was used for Minneapolis at this time, 58-45 by the newspaper or the correct record of 52-45, the Millers held first place at the time they disbanded.
         
Western League
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1892 19 22   Charles Morton
1892 3 1   Charles Morton
    In 1892, the Western League disbanded in July. As had been the case in 1884, a new schedule was drawn up among the remaining six teams after teams in Fort Wayne and Milwaukee had disbanded.
    There was no professional baseball in Minnesota in 1893, but Minneapolis had a team in a new Western League—one that was formed by sportswriter Ban Johnson with the intent to eventually turn it into a major league—in 1894.
1894 63 62 4th John Barnes
1895 64 59 4th John Barnes
1896 89 47 1st Walter Wilmot
1897 43 95 6th Walter Wilmot, George “Doggie” Miller
1898 48 92 7th Gus Schmelz, Charles Reilly, Walter Wilmot
1899 76 50 2nd Walter Wilmot
         
American League
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1900 53 86 8th Walter Wilmot
    In 1900, the Western League’s name changed to the American League. The following year, the American League became a major league, without Minneapolis (as well as without several other cities that had teams in the league in 1900).
         
Western League
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1901 55 64 6th A. B. Beall
    Minneapolis played in a new Western League in 1901. The following season, it became a charter member—along with teams in Columbus, Toledo, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Kansas City—in a new minor league called the American Association.
         
Northern League
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1913 65 59 5th Bob Unglaub
    While the Minneapolis entry in the American Association was the city’s primary professional team during the first half of the 20th century, there were two Minneapolis teams in 1913. In addition to the Association Millers, Minneapolis had a team in the Northern League. It was known both as the Roughriders and the Little Millers and also played its games at Nicollet Park.
         
American Association
Year Won Lost Place Manager
1902 54 86 7th Walter Wilmot
1903 50 89 7th Walter Wilmot, George Yeager
1904 78 68 5th W. H. Watkins
1905 88 62 3rd W. H. Watkins
1906 80 71 3rd Mike Kelley
1907 79 73 3rd Mike Cantillon
1908 77 76 5th Mike Cantillon
1909 88 79 3rd Jimmy Collins
1910 107 61 1st Joe Cantillon
1911 99 66 1st Joe Cantillon
1912 105 60 1st Joe Cantillon
1913 97 70 2nd Joe Cantillon
1914 75 93 7th Joe Cantillon
1915 92 62 1st Joe Cantillon
1916 88 76 3rd Joe Cantillon
1917 68 86 6th Joe Cantillon
1918 34 42 7th Joe Cantillon
1919 72 82 5th Joe Cantillon
1920 85 79 4th Joe Cantillon
1921 92 73 2nd Joe Cantillon
1922 92 75 2nd Joe Cantillon
1923 74 92 6th Joe Cantillon
1924 77 89 6th Mike Kelley
1925 86 80 4th Mike Kelley
1926 72 94 7th Mike Kelley
1927 88 80 5th Mike Kelley
1928 97 71 2nd Mike Kelley
1929 89 78 3rd Mike Kelley
1930 77 76 4th Mike Kelley
1931 80 88 6th Mike Kelley
1932 100 68 1st Donie Bush
    In the 1932 Junior World Series, the Millers lost, 4 games to 2, to the Newark Bears of the International League.
    This was the series that featured the infamous Play of Six Decisions.
1933 86 67 2nd Dave “Beauty” Bancroft
1934 85 64 1st Donie Bush
1935 91 63 1st Donie Bush
1936 78 76 5th Donie Bush
1937 87 67 3rd Donie Bush
1938 78 74 6th Donie Bush
1939 99 55 2nd Tom Sheehan
1940 86 59 3rd Tom Sheehan
1941 83 70 4th Tom Sheehan
1942 76 78 6th (tie) Tom Sheehan
1943 67 84 6th Tom Sheehan
1944 54 97 7th Rosy Ryan
1945 72 81 5th Rosy Ryan
1946 76 75 4th Zeke Bonura, Rosy Ryan, Tom Sheehan
1947 77 77 4th Tom Sheehan
1948 77 77 5th Frank Shellenback, Chick Genovese, Billy Herman
1949 74 78 4th Tommy Heath
1950 90 64 1st Tommy Heath
1951 77 75 5th Tommy Heath
1952 79 75 4th Chick Genovese
1953 76 78 5th Chick Genovese, Fred Fitzsimmons
1954 78 73 3rd Bill Rigney
1955 92 62 1st Bill Rigney
    In the 1955 Junior World Series, the Millers beat the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, 4 games to 3. The final game of the series was also the last game played at Nicollet Park.
    The Millers got to the Junior Series by defeating the Denver Bears and Omaha Cardinals in the American Association playoffs. The series with Omaha featured a strange scene in which Bob Lennon of the Millers broke up a no-hitter—twice in the same game.
1956 78 74 4th Eddie Stanky
1957 85 69 3rd John “Red” Davis
1958 82 71 3rd Gene Mauch
    In the 1958 Junior World Series, the Millers beat the Montreal Royals of the International League, 4 games to 0.
1959 95 67 2nd Gene Mauch
    In the 1959 Junior World Series, the Millers lost to the Havana Sugar Kings of the International League, 4 games to 3.
    The Millers had another strange series against the Omaha Cardinals in the American Association playoffs and had a win wiped out after an Omaha protest—regarding the Millers use of an ineligible player—was upheld.
1960 82 72 5th Eddie Popowski

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