Dayton Wings (1939-1940)
April 20, 2014
The Dayton Wings were a Class C farm club of the Brooklyn Dodgers during the summers of 1939 and 1940. The Dayton franchise played in the Middle Atlantic League from 1933-1942 and was known as the “Dayton Ducks” for all of that time except for this two-year interlude. The Ducks took their name from the team’s owner and field manager, a cantankerous former catcher named Howard “Ducky” Holmes” who played for the St. Louis Cardinals for one week in 1906 and later became a Major League umpire. The Dayton club seems to have parted ways with Holmes in 1939 and felt the need to re-brand the team at the same time. In 1941, Holmes regained control of the team and changed the name back to the Ducks.
