Charleston, Illinois, minor league baseball history

Minor league baseball teams were based in Charleston, Illinois from 1906 to 1908, known under a different nickname each season.

The Mattoon–Charleston Canaries began play in the six–team Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League, when Mattoon, Illinois partnered with Charleston to field a team.

The team founding was headed by the Mattoon City Railway Company, who ran the local interurban rail line.

The Mattoon–Charleston Canary's management felt that the joint Mattoon-Charleston the team had not drawn well in 1906 due to the merger of the two towns.

The Centralia White Stockings, Mattoon Giants, Pana Coal Miners, Shelbyville Queen Citys and Taylorville Tailors joined Charleston in the league.

The Broom Corn Cutters finished the 1907 season with a 71–49 record to place second in the league standings, playing under manager Nig Langdon.

[6][2][7] On May 22, 1907, Tug Wilson and Dougal McDonald of Charleston pitched a combined no-hitter in a game against the Taylorville Tailors in a 1–0 loss.

The team's "Evangelists" moniker likely was in reference to an evangelical movement led by former major league player Billy Sunday that promoted a ballot item on April 7, 1908, that sought to abolish alcohol in the region.