Decatur Commodores

• Location: Decatur, IL

• League: Central League 1900; Three-I League 1901-1909; Northern Association 1910; Three-I League 1912-1915, 1922-1932, 1935, 1937-1942, 1946-1948, 1950; Mississippi-Ohio Valley League 1952-1955; Midwest League 1956-1974

• Affiliation: Detroit Tigers 1932; St. Louis Cardinals 1937-1942, 1946-1947; Chicago Cubs 1948, 1950; Paris Indians 1953; Tyler Tigers 1954; St. Louis Cardinals 1955-1957; Detroit Tigers 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959; Detroit Tigers 1960-1961; San Francisco Giants 1962-1974

• Ballpark: Fans Field 1927-1974

Team History

The Decatur Commodores, named after Commodore Stephen Decatur, were sometimes called the Decatur Commies (before that name had any association with communism). On May 30, 1909, they beat the Bloomington Bloomers, 2-1, in 26 innings. It was the longest professional game played at the time, a record that held until 1960.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Notes
1900	46-51	3rd	Pop Weikart	none
1901	40-72	8th	Tom Kierenan / Frank Badger	none
1902	55-69	7th	Fred Pfeffer	none
1903	67-51	2nd	Monte McFarland	none
1904	59-62	5th	Monte McFarland	none
1905	63-58	4th	Monte McFarland	none
1906	48-67	5th	Harry Lewee	none
1907	80-47	2nd	George Reed	none
1908	77-59	2nd	George Reed	none
1909	63-73	7th	Doc Childs / Fred Moore / John Barkwell	none
1910	30-32	5th	Del Williams / Charles O'Day		on League disbanded July 19
1912	69-67	3rd	Chick Fraser	none
1913	67-68	5th	George Reed	none
1914	72-64	4th	George Reed	none
1915	37-57	--	Elmer Duggan		Team disbanded on August 10
1922	78-58	2nd	Daniel O'Leary	none
1923	81-54	1st	Chuck Miller	none League Champs
1924	58-78	6th	Hal Irelan / Guy Rigsby / Ernie Calbert / Jack Coffey	none
1925	62-73	5th	Daniel O'Leary	none
1926	69-67	6th	Hal Irelan	none
1927	62-70	5th	Hal Irelan	none
1928	81-49	1st	Rube Dessau	League Champs
1929	81-57	2nd	Rube Dessau	none
1930	77-59	3rd	Rube Dessau
1931	64-57	4th	Rube Dessau
1932	24-43	6th	Bob Coleman		League disbanded on July 15
1935	59-56	3rd	Johnny Butler (14-8) / Cliff Knox (45-48)
1937	53-64	3rd	George Payne
1938	68-58	2nd	Tony Kaufmann	League Champs
1939	68-51	3rd	Tony Kaufmann	Lost League Finals
1940	73-52	2nd	Tony Kaufmann (24-22) / Joe Mathes (2-1) / Boyce Morrow (2-7) / Lou Scoffic (45-22)	Lost League Finals
1941	67-56	3rd	Dibrell Williams	Lost League Finals
1942	45-75	6th	Adel White (8-19) / Tony Kaufmann (37-56)
1946	43-72	7th	Harrison Wickel
1947	31-93	8th	Gene Corbett
1948	50-75	7th	Red Lucas (16-45) / Nelson Burbrink (34-30)
1950	52-74	7th	Morrie Arnovich
1952	73-52	3rd	Julian Acosta	League Champs
1953	68-50	1st	Ray Taylor	League Champs
1954	74-52	1st	Johnny Lucadello	Lost in 1st round
1955	62-64	6th	Al Unser
1956	62-64	5th	Al Unser
1957	76-51	2nd	Al Unser	League Champs
1958	59-66	7th	Frank Carswell
1959	63-61	3rd	Stubby Overmire	none
1960	51-71	8th	Al Federoff	none
1961	57-65	6th	Johnny Groth
1962	42-78	8th	Richard Klaus
1963	62-61	4th	Richard Klaus	none
1964	61-63	6th	Richard Klaus
1965	60-60	5th	Richard Klaus	none
1966	49-76	6th	Richard Klaus
1967	62-58	4th	Denny Sommers
1968	69-48	1st	Denny Sommers	Lost League Finals
1969	53-66	5th	Frank Funk	none
1970	63-56	3rd	Frank Funk
1971	54-70	8th	Frank Funk
1972	48-79	10th	Jim McKnight
1973	63-62	5th (t)	John Van Ornum	Lost in 1st round
1974	55-69	8th	Bob Hartsfield

Further Reading

• William Dowell: "The Marathon Game: Endless Baseball, its Prelude, and its Aftermath in the 1909 Three-I League", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 40, Number 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 94-102.