In 1946, the League added two new locations  in Illinois. The city of Peoria fit Wrigley's agenda of working toward moving teams closer to metropolitan Chicago. Men's baseball had been very popular in Peoria started in the Western League from 1878 thru 1895. World wars I and II limited the number of men available to maintain leagues in the early 1900's and in Peoria the local leagues ceased to exist. Peoria had a rich baseball history in its past and the city was looking to bring baseball back to the city. The League had the backing of Wrigley through the first half of the league's history and Meyerhoff followed the advertising campaign he had established for the league for as long as he had control over the League's future.  The original teams were bringing in more and more fans and the League was financially stable.

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See the Netflix documentary - "A Secret Love" featuring Terry Donahue -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghv3-lpFOcc&feature=youtu.be

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Source: http://aagpbl.org/teams/peoria-redwings