Des Moines Demons

The Des Moines Demons are a former professional baseball team.

In 1925 the Des Moines Boosters of the Western League became the Des Moines Demons. The club from Des Moines, Iowa broke in in fine form, winning the pennant with a 98-70 record, one game ahead of the Denver Bears. The Demons had six representatives on the All-Star team: First baseman Charles Stuvengen collected 229 hits, 18 of which were triples, to complement a .349, which was fifth in the Western League. Outfielder Sam Langford hit .339 with a league leading 160 runs. Outfielder Pug Griffin hit .320 with 23 home runs, catcher Homer Haworth hit .295, pitcher Herm Holshouser posted a record of 19-8 and pitcher Claude Thomas went 19-6. Leo Moon went 22-13 with 127 strikeouts on the season and tied for third in the league in wins and strikeouts. Left off of the All-Star team was the most productive hitter in the Triple Crown categories, Dutch Wetzel, who batted .353 and was second in the league with 32 homers.

The Demons repeated as champions in 1926, winning another close race. Their 99-64 record gave them fewer wins than the Oklahoma City Indians, though they finished with two fewer losses and a half-game margin of victory overall. Oklahoma City claimed that other clubs (the Wichita Izzies, Lincoln Links and Tulsa Oilers) threw games to Des Moines but Western League president Mike Sexton cleared all involved parties. Des Moines lost a Mid-Western Championship to the Three-I League champion Springfield Senators team by a three games to one margin. The Demons had been led by Moon (an All-Star with a 24-8 record) and Pat Malone (28-13, second in the league in wins and first with 190 strikeouts) on the mound and Wetzel (.352 batting average, 18 home runs, sixth in average and tied for third with 394 total bases) and Griffin (an All-Star again with a .345 average and 18 homers). 40-year-old player-manager Shano Collins batted .315 with 14 home runs.

...
Wikipedia