Lincoln Links

The Lincoln Links were an American minor league baseball franchise that represented Lincoln, Nebraska, for 18 seasons over a 23-year period (1917–39) during the 20th century. They played in the Class A Western League (1917; 1924–27), the Class D Nebraska State League (1922–23; 1928–36; 1938) and the Class D Western League of 1939–41 (1939).

Lincoln was first represented in organized baseball in 1886 as the Tree Planters in the reorganized original Western League. Lincoln's 19th century teams played in various leagues between 1886 and 1895. In 1906, Lincoln joined the Class A Western League as the Ducklings (1906), Treeplanters (1907), Railsplitters (1908–13) and Tigers (1914–16). During this time, team nicknames were often unofficially assigned by sportswriters, and The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, published by Baseball America in 2007, lists other nicknames for the Lincoln franchise of the time, including Greenbackers and Antelopes.

Adopted in 1917, Links was the most widely used of the several nicknames associated with Lincoln teams during the 20th century. They played home games at Antelope Park (through 1917) and Landis Field (after 1922) and won Nebraska State League championships in 1923 (under manager O.A. Beltzer), and 1934 (under Cy Lingle and Pug Griffin). Upon the introduction of the farm system, the Links were linked with Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals (1933–34), Cincinnati Reds (1936, as the Red Links), and St. Louis Browns (1938–39).