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1921-1930

In 1921, new manager Charley Stis and Wilson White changed the team back to the Missouri Valley League. They finished second in the league and won the Class “D” series against the Independence Kansas team.

In 1922 the Midgets ended the season with a 68-69 records under the management of Wilson White.

In 1923 manager Clifton “Runt” Marr made an attempt to affiliate the team with the Kansas City Blues.  Even though farm clubs became legal in 1921, the sale did not go through. After the attempt to affiliate with the Blues failed, an attempt was made to sale the team to the Cincinnati Reds, this also failed.  The Springfield Baseball and Athletic Association also named a new president, Albert Eckert, who remained until 1942.

In 1924 the control of the Western Association was transferred to Springfield, when J. Warren Seabaugh became president.

After White City Park was only 4 years old the grandstands were destroyed by fire and the Midgets got a new field and grandstands. The field was transformed back to it’s old location. This helped to keep home runs off of Campbell Street.  The grandstands had more space, 60 new boxes, a new ticket office, and a new clubhouse.  The Springfield Republican said that the grandstand was the, “largest of most elaborate in the Western Association.”

            The team also started it’s own farm system, with semi-pro and Class “D” leagues. To encourage fan support, they did promotions and played exhibitions games. Local businesses closed early to allow employees to attend the home opener. Game prices were $0.25 for children, $0.50 ($5.39) for bleacher seats, $0.75 ($8.09) for grandstand seating, and $1.25 ($13.48) for box seats. The box seats were only sold at Al Eckert’s cigar shop but other tickets were sold all over town.

            With the city having a population of around 39,000, almost 5,000 people saw the Midgets beat the Topeka team on opening day. The Midgets ended their season with 47 wins and 112 loses.

            Marty Purtell became team manager for the  1925 season, and led the team to a disappointing 67-82 record.

            In 1926, the Midgets won the Western Association Championship, after placing second in the first half of the season, and winning the second half. The attendance for the Midgets at White City Park was 76,000, which set a league record.  This is the first time since the reforming of the Western Association League, that  the Midgets showed a profit.  The Spalding Guide called the 1926 season, “the most exciting race in the history of the organization.”

             In 1927 the Western Association changed to Class “B” baseball, it also switched from the split season format to the continuous season format. Manager B. Chuck Funk led the team to a third place finish.

            More major improvements were made to White City Park in 1928.  The outfield was enhanced by removing concrete and rocks, as well as leveling the field. There was a consideration to change the dirt infield to grass, but it was decided just to improve the existing dirt infield. This season a lot of money was lost by the team, many of the teams best players had to be sold off and many of the members of the board resigned.

            In 1929 the one remaining board member, Carl McAvoy, joined with Al Eckert to speak with the St. Louis Brown’s organization about taking over financial responsibilities for the Midgets. And the Brown’s accepted the offer. There were 3 farm clubs in the Western Association when Joe Mathus became manager of the Midgets.  The team from Shawnee, KS was the St. Louis Cardinals farm team and the team from Ft. Smith, Arkansas was the Detroit Tiger Affiliate. The Midgets finished third this season and the Brown’s lost $12,000 ($128,817.95).

            In 1930 White City Park was sold to the Springfield Board of Education and the team had to lease the field from them. Only 23,000 fans paid to see the Midget this season and they finished with a 64-73 record. The Brown’s lost almost $18,000 ($198,057.60) and pulled out of Springfield in December. The population of Springfield had now risen to 57,527.