The Expos were Rockford's first entity in the Midwest League and Rockford teams were minor league affiliates of the Montreal Expos (1988–1992), Kansas City Royals (1993–1994), Chicago Cubs (1995–1998) and Cincinnati Reds (1999), hosting home games at Marinelli Field.
In the playoffs, the Expos lost to the South Bend White Sox, 2 games to none.
[2] The newly named Rockford Royals finished with a 78–54 overall record in 1993, playing under Manager Mike Jirschele.
The Royals finished the regular season 1.0 games behind the Clinton Giants for the top Midwest League record, with attendance of 68,206.
The Royals lost in the 1st round in the playoffs, two-games to zero to the South Bend White Sox.
The Rockford Royals won their opening playoff series, beating the West Michigan Whitecaps two–games to zero.
Rockford then lost 3 games to 1 to the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the 1994 Midwest League finals.
They defeated the Beloit Brewers two-games to one in the playoffs, but fell to the West Michigan WhiteCaps two–games to zero in the semifinals.
In the playoffs, the Rockford Cubbies beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (2–1) and the Fort Wayne Wizards (2–0) to advance to the Midwest League Finals.
The Rockford Reds played the franchises final games in losing in the first round of the postseason to two–games to zero the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
[17][18] Built in 1988, the Rockford Midwest League teams played at Marinelli Field.