A little Midwest League History

Cracked Bats is always a good feature at MILB.com. I just forget to include a link every once in a while. This story has been up for a few days. Fortunately, it was still on the front page. Personally, it must be the picture that has kept it up there.

The reason for the link today is a performance by a player on a team that is no longer in the MWL against a team that is no longer in the MWL. Confused? It's what I do.

Quincy's Ellis stole the show in 1965

There were times when Jim Ellis threw the ball very well during a professional career that lasted nearly a decade.

There were times when the California native hit the ball well, too.

But there was only one instance when his arm and his bat were in perfect harmony: a day in 1965 when Ellis carved out one of the most memorable days in the history of the Midwest League. The then-Cubs' farmhand pitched a one-hitter for Quincy on May 9 of that season, shutting down Dubuque with relative ease.

While one-hitters aren't all that uncommon, it's what Ellis did at the plate that made the day special. The California native had five hits in six at-bats, connecting for three home runs -- including a grand slam -- to drive in seven runs in a 25-0 victory. It should be noted that while The Sporting News and United Press International credited Ellis with seven RBIs, he says he remembers collecting 11 RBIs in the contest. In addition, The Sporting News reported that the Cubs hit eight homers while UPI said they had seven.

Couldn't they have just checked the box score online?

This is my favorite part of the story.

"Our manager [and third base coach, Walt Dixon] shook my hand the first two home runs but on the third one he turned his back on me," Ellis recalled. "It was becoming embarrassing. At times I hit the ball well but that was just an unusual game. The grand slam went over the center-field fence, which was some 400 feet. I saw it bounce up behind the wall; it landed in an intersection.

This is my second favorite part of the story.

The other oddity surrounding the game was the fact that it took place in neither Dubuque nor Quincy but rather was played in Dyersville, Iowa. Dubuque was supposed to be the home team but the Mississippi River had flooded badly that spring. Almost everything near its banks, including the ballpark, was under water, so the two teams set up shop some 20 miles away in Dyersville.

"Six or seven parks were under about six or seven feet of water," Ellis said. "I remember one photograph of a guy with a fishing line in one of the dugouts. When we flew in there, someone said the river had swollen to 15 miles wide."

Is this Heaven? No. It's Dyersville, Iowa.