Sioux City Packers

• Location: Sioux City, IA
• League: Western League 1905-1907, 1910-1913, 1920-1923
• Affiliation:
• Ballpark:

Team History

In 1905 the Sioux City Soos were renamed the Sioux City Packers. In their first season they finished fourth in the six-team Western League with an 80-69 record. The leading hitter was George Noblit, at .317. When the Iowa Senate forbid Sunday baseball the next year, the team's schedule was adjusted. The Packers again finished fourth but their record fell to 69-81. Noblitt led the league with 11 homers while someone named Campbell hit .350 and scored 132 runs. Sioux City fell to last (56-91) in 1907 and reverted to the Soos nickname in 1908, going worst to first.

Despite two successful years as the Soos, they brought back the Packers name in 1910. The team won the title that year with a 108-60 record. Marty O'Toole (19-5, 207 K) led the WL in winning percentage and was second in strikeouts behind teammate Freeman (248, with 141 walks). Another pitcher, Hammond, went 19-9. Art Fenlon led the loop with a .365 average and 48 doubles, Andreas scored 137 runs (the most) and Lee Quillen was among the leaders in homers (14, tied for third), hits (197, third), doubles (43, second) and runs (133, second).

An 85-80 record in 1911 placed the Packers in a tie for fourth place. Andreas tied for second with 123 runs and pitcher Barber went 19-14. They fell to 6th place (74-85) in 1912 but Elmer Brown (25-17) tied for the league lead in wins. In 1913 they tied for sixth at 73-92. A guy named Clark hit 50 doubles to tie for the league lead, while someone named Cooney stole 37 bases and scored 119 times.

In 1914 the Packers changed their name to the Sioux City Indians and again finished first with a new nickname. Some sources list them as the Packers in 1915, some as the Indians. Larry LeJeune had 236 total bases and 14 homers, tying for second in the latter category and finishing fifth in the former. All sources list them as the Indians from 1916-1919, at which point they again became the Packers.

The 1920 Packers finished 7th at 63-88. The bright spot was player-manager Frank Metz doubling a league-best 53 times. In '21 Sioux City went 81-83 and improveed to fourth place. Metz was among the leaders in average (.369, 4th), hits (229, 5th) and doubles (62, second). A pitcher by the name of Tesar (21-21) tied for fourth in wins, tied for second in losses, was third with 324 innings and led in both strikeouts (163) and walks (138) as a workhorse.

In 1922 Sioux City actually played their September home games in Lincoln, NE; they finished 5th at 86-79. Metz's 65 doubles were second in the loop abd gave him 180 in 3 years, an amazing run. He also led the league's first basemen in fielding percentage (.991). Eish led the league with 53 steals. Tesar was again used a lot - he was among the leaders in wins (21, tied for 4th), losses (24, the most), games (56, second-most), innings (356, second), walks (143, third) and strikeouts (200, second).

Sioux City stumbled throughout 1923 and was bailed out by the league and then taken over by the league. The Packers were also bad in the field - a 59-105 record led to a 7th-place finish, one game ahead of last. Eddie Palmer finished third in the league with a .365 average and 243 hits and was second with 62 doubles. In 1924 the club, after considering a move to Kansas City, KS moved to Lincoln for good and became the Lincoln Links.

Source: "The Western League" by W.C. Madden and Patrick Stewart

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1905	80-68	4th	John Carney	none
1906	69-81	4th	John Carney	none
1907	56-90	6th	James Hart	none
1910	108-60	1st	Babe Towne	none League Champs
1911	85-80	5th	Babe Towne	none
1912	74-85	6th	George "Red" Andreas / Ducky Holmes	none
1913	73-92	6th	Ducky Holmes / Josh Clarke	none
1920	63-88	7th	George "Red" Andreas / Frank Metz	none
1921	81-83	4th	Frank Metz / George "Red" Andreas	none
1922	86-79	5th	Wally Mattick	none
1923	59-105	7th	Frank Metz / Eddie Palmer / Wray Query	none

External Link

• 1910 Sioux City Packers