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| 1976 ILLOWA LEAGUE | W | L | PCT | GB | Manager | World Series | |
| 1 | Quad Cities Thunderchickens | 92 | 69 | .571 | 0 | Dennis Jennings | |
| 2 | Merrionette Park Rocket-Fire | 87 | 74 | .540 | 5 | Dale Smith | |
| 3 | Davenport Fire | 85 | 76 | .528 | 7 | Don Smith | |
| 4 | Chicago Champions | 85 | 76 | .528 | 7 | Tedd Mallasch | Illowa Champions |
| 5 | Dazzle | 78 | 83 | .484 | 14 | Ed Englehart | |
| 6 | Number 5 | 75 | 86 | .466 | 17 | Craig Smith | |
| 7 | Maquoketa Cardinals | 74 | 87 | .460 | 18 | Tom Reisdorph | |
| 8 | East Moline Bombers | 67 | 94 | .416 | 25 | Mike Bunch |
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MVP: Joe Morgan |
Cy Young: Andy Messersmith |
| In 1976, the IAL picked themselves up from their initial
abbreviated season and played a 161 game season. And what a season
it was! Dennis Jennings and his Thunderchickens captured first place
thanks to Manny Sanguillen (.383 tops by any IAL catcher) and Bobby Bonds
(35 HR). Dale Smith and his Rocket Fire garnered 2nd helped out by
Cy Young winner Andy Messersmith's 27 wins and MVP Joe Morgan.
Brother Don Smith and his Fire landed in 3rd with help from Reggie Jackson
(37 HR) and Johnny Bench (54 doubles). But it was rookie manager
Tedd Mallasch and his aptly named Chicago Champions who took the World
Series pennant that year. In the first of many productive years,
Mike Schmidt homered 34 times with 109 runs.
An interesting note: Joe Morgan was not among the top 5 in homers or doubles (or triples for that matter) and 4th in batting yet still led the league in slugging percentage. |
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1975 IAL Hitting Leaders |
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1975 IAL Pitching Leaders |
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