Davenport River Rats Hoodie - Vintage Defunct Baseball Teams - Iowa henderson oilers Detroit Tigers affiliates in 1937

Detroit Tigers affiliates in 1937 and 1938

a ballpark built on the grounds of the Continental Oil and Transportation Company and named after it

then the Uttmen in 1949

and severed ties with the new Orioles organization

The team played during the early 1900s when small-town baseball leagues flourished across Kentucky and the surrounding region

Davenport River Rats Hoodie - Vintage Defunct Baseball Teams - Iowa henderson oilers Detroit Tigers affiliates in 1937The Davenport River Rats, based in Davenport, Iowa, were charter members of the Illinois Indiana Iowa League in 1901, one of eight founding clubs in a circuit that would become one of the longest running minor leagues in the country. The nickname fit the geography: Davenport sits on the west bank of the Mississippi River directly across from Rock Island, Illinois, and the city's amateur teams had carried river themed names for years before organized