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History

DMSBL History

The Des Moines Semi-Pro Baseball League (DMSBL) will be starting its’ 40^th year as the city’s premier adult amateur baseball league in the summer of 2008. The DMSBL has had a long history of providing quality baseball for young men from all around the metro area and has had the support of many local businesses and other financial supporters. This is the 9^th year the DMSBL will be using wood bats, which has added a feeling of nostalgia and excitement for players who have grown up using aluminum bats. Wood bats in a way, has brought DMSBL back to its roots when it started 40 years ago.

It all started when Connie Mack baseball (which played all its games at Birdland Park in DM) for 16-18 year olds lost its pool of players to high school summer baseball in 1968. Supporters of that league created a new one for players who had graduated from high school. The new league took on the name of the great Stan Musial for a short number of years and then in 1976 changed again to the Des Moines Amateur Baseball League when it became affiliated with the Iowa Amateur Baseball Congress. In 1988 the league took its current name to better reflect the quality and prestige of a league that attracts many college players and players with past professional baseball experience who have now settled down in the Central Iowa area.

The league has had numerous players play in the league who have either gone on to play professional baseball or who have played professional baseball and then come back to the league to enjoy quality baseball in the Des Moines area as they start families. Several players in the league currently have played professional baseball including Nate Teut, Ryan Fitzgerald, Lincoln Mincks, and Alain Quijano. Past major league players in the league include Jim Feely, Steve Dryer, Scott Pose, Tom Owen, and Darrel Einertson. The league is not just for star athletes however since including this season, over 4000 players will have participated in the league.

Both players and fans of the DMSBL and its predecessors have considered Birdland Park, in Des Moines, home for nearly 39 years. Fans can count on being able to see quality baseball almost any day of the week in the summer. Weekend games start at Noon and go most of the day, and Weeknight games start at 7pm every night of the week. Admission is free!

In 1969, the leagues first season, six teams played 20 games in a split season. Over the years, the number of teams has varied from 5 to 8, with the current number being 7. Every year the Iowa Amateur Baseball Congress holds a semi-pro state tournament. The DMSBL has been privileged to send three or four teams per year to this tournament.

Since the flood of 1993, the league has worked with the City of Des Moines to make improvements to Birdland Field. In 2001, the league was able to raise enough money so that with the cooperation of the city, lights were added to Birdland enabling the league to once again play night baseball. In 2002, a new scoreboard, shade trees, permanent bleachers, and a storage shed were all added furthering the development of the park.

Of course running any league like this takes money, and without the financial support of our sponsors, advertisers, contributors and player fees over the past 36 years, the DMSBL would not have survived. These companies and individuals deserve a big thank you for all of their continued support. The league also owes a gigantic debt of gratitude to its’ former President Dan Wickett. Over the past two decades Dan Wickett was almost single handedly instrumental in keeping the league as the premier place for wood bat baseball in Iowa.