The Aberdeen Pheasants was the primary moniker minor league baseball teams located in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen ( Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre. The city population was 28,495 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populous ci ...

between 1920 and 1997. The Pheasants played in the Northern League from 1946 until the league folded in 1971. Aberdeen was the Class C affiliate of the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

until 1953, continuing with the franchise when the Browns moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1954, with the Pheasants remaining in the Oriole farm system. Abderdeen had a team in the Independent

Prairie League {{Unreferenced, date=April 2019 The Prairie League was an independent league of baseball which was based in the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The league was or ...

from 1995 to 1997, also called the Pheasants.

Origins

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

has always been a baseball town with organized teams playing semi-professional ball as far back as the 1890s. The Dakota League was organized after World War I and offered Aberdeen fans their first taste of professional baseball, as Baseball Hall of Fame inductee

Al Simmons Aloysius Harry Simmons (May 22, 1902 – May 26, 1956), born Alois Szymanski, was an American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he played for two decades in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and had his best year ...

played for Aberdeen in 1922. That league folded in 1922. After World War II another professional baseball team, the Aberdeen Pheasants, was organized in Aberdeen as part of the Northern League and had their inaugural season in 1947. Ben Siebrecht, owner of Siebrecht Florist and Greenhouse, was the president of a five-member board charged with the duties of organizing and operating that early Pheasants team. The board raised $25,000 by selling stock to local investors and were able to establish a working agreement with the

as a source for players. That agreement survived the Browns' move to

and became the longest working agreement between major and minor league teams in baseball history lasting 26 years. Many big name players wore the Aberdeen Pheasants uniform at some time in their careers. Pitcher Don Larsen, famous for pitching a perfect game in the 1956 World Series as a

New York Yankee The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, played for the Pheasants in 1947 and 1948.

Bob Turley Robert Lee Turley (September 19, 1930 – March 30, 2013), known as Bullet Bob, was an American professional baseball player and financial planner. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1951 through 1963. After his retir ...

was a 1949 Pheasant prior to winning the Cy Young Award in 1958 as a

Tito Francona John Patsy Francona (November 4, 1933 – February 13, 2018) was a Major League Baseball player. As a child, he was nicknamed "Tito" by his father. His son, Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, is also sometimes referred to as "Tito." Bal ...

played on the 1953 Pheasants prior to playing on 8 different major league teams. He even married an Aberdeen girl, Roberta Jackson, at home plate prior to a home game.

Earl Weaver Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball manager, author, and television broadcaster. After playing in minor league baseball, he retired without playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). He be ...

managed the club for the 1959 season.

Jim Palmer James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...

pitched for the Pheasants during the 1964 season. Earl Weaver and Jim Palmer are the only former Pheasants to be named to the baseball hall of fame.

Dave Leonhard David Paul Leonhard (born January 22, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through . He was a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won three consecutiv ...

pitched for the 1963 and 1964 Pheasants and pitched for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

from 1967–1972.

Mark Belanger Mark Henry Belanger (June 8, 1944 – October 6, 1998), nicknamed "The Blade," was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from through , most notably as a member of the Bal ...

was also on the 1964 Pheasants and was eventually named the American League all-star shortstop in 1976 as an Oriole.

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

played for the 1964 team prior to moving to the majors that same season.

Cal Ripken, Sr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Sr. (December 17, 1935 – March 25, 1999) was an American baseball player, scout, coach and manager. who spent 36 years in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He played in the Orioles' farm system beginning in 1957, and ...

was a manager of the Pheasants for the 1963–1966 season. The minor league Pheasants met their demise when the Northern League folded after the 1971 season. The remaining teams, who all folded, were the Aberdeen Pheasants, Sioux Falls Packers, St. Cloud Rox and

Watertown Expos The Watertown Expos were a professional minor league baseball team that existed from 1970 to 1971 in Watertown, South Dakota, playing two seasons in the Northern League at historic Watertown Stadium. The Watertown Expos were a minor league affi ...

Ballparks

Games were played at the municipal ball field located on the campus of

Northern State University Northern State University (NSU) is a public university in Aberdeen, South Dakota. NSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and offers 45 bachelor's degrees, 53 minors, six associate degrees, 16 pre-professional programs, 23 certif ...

. The original stadium burned down in 1952 and was quickly replaced. Eventually the replacement stadium was torn down to make room for the Barnett Center. Early games during the first season started at 5:30pm because the field wasn't lighted but later during that season, lights were added thanks to contributions from the enthusiastic fans. The Pheasants built a steady fan base drawing crowds of over 3000 by their second season.

Mascot

Not to be forgotten is "Philbert" the cartoon pheasant drawn by Gordon Haug, the advertising artist for Aberdeen's Olwin-Angell department store. Philbert appeared on the front page of the Aberdeen American News the morning after each game with an appropriate comment about the game's outcome.

Significant Events

The biggest game in Pheasant history took place in 1964 when the parent team, the

, came to town to play their minor league cohorts. The Orioles posted a 6-3 win in front of a capacity crowd. The Pheasants' final season was 1971. In 1995, local baseball enthusiasts re-established the Aberdeen Pheasant team and gave

fans three seasons of baseball excitement prior to disbanding the organization at the end of the 1997 season. During the 1995 season, the Pheasants ran over their Prairie League competition, setting an all-time minor-league record for winning percentage by going 56-13 (.812) in the league's regular season. Historic information and photos provided by the Dacotah Prairie Museum In 2010, the former Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Canaries team was renamed the

Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...

, presumably to give new life to the Pheasants franchise. The move was not without controversy, as discussed in this editorial from the Aberdeen American Newshttp://www.aberdeennews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100223/OPINION03/2230306/-1/opinion

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame Alumni *

(1964) inducted, 1990 *

(1922) inducted, 1953 *

Norm Stewart Norman Eugene Stewart (born January 20, 1935) is a retired American college basketball coach. He coached at the University of Northern Iowa (then known as State College of Iowa) from 1961 to 1967, but is best known for his career with the Univers ...

(1957)

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...

, inducted 2007 *

(1959) inducted, 1996 Notable alumni *

Bob Bailor Robert Michael Bailor (born July 10, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball player best known for being the first player selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft. Early years Bailor was born in Connell ...

(1971) * Steve Barber (1958) 2x MLB All-Star *

(1964) MLB All-Star; 8x Gold Glove shortstop *

Bo Belinsky Robert "Bo" Belinsky (December 7, 1936 – November 23, 2001) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds of Major League ...

(1958-1959) *

Al Bumbry Alonza Benjamin Bumbry (born Alonza Benjamin Bumbrey; April 21, 1947) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played for the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres from 1972 through 1985. Bumbry was the 1973 American League Rookie o ...

(1971) MLB All-Star; 1973 AL Rookie of the Year *

Andy Etchebarren Andrew Auguste Etchebarren (June 20, 1943 – October 5, 2019) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball as a catcher in and then from through , most notably as a mem ...

(1961, 1963) 2x MLB All-Star *

(1953) MLB All-Star *

Roger Freed Roger Vernon Freed (June 2, 1946 – January 9, 1996), was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis C ...

(1967) *

Don Heffner Donald Henry Heffner (February 8, 1911 – August 1, 1989) was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Born in Rouzerville, Pennsylvania, he threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as tall and . Player an ...

(1947) *

Chuck Hinton Charles Edward Hinton Jr. (May 3, 1934 – January 27, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Hinton played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators (1961–64), Cleveland Indians (1965–67, 1969–71) an ...

(1959) MLB All-Star *

Darold Knowles Darold Duane Knowles (born December 9, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through , most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecu ...

(1963) MLB All-Star * Don Larsen (1947-1948) 1956 World Series Most Valuable Player *

(1964) MLB All-Star; 1969 AL Rookie of the Year; 3x MLB Manager of the Year *

Cal Ripken Sr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Sr. (December 17, 1935 – March 25, 1999) was an American baseball player, scout, coach and manager. who spent 36 years in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He played in the Orioles' farm system beginning in 1957, and ...

(1963-1964) * Wes Stock (1956) *

(1949) 3x MLB All-Star; 1958 AL Cy Young Award; 1958 World Series Most Valuable Player * Eddie Watt (1963-1964)

Year-by-year record

* Baukol Playoffs based on last 30 days of the season

References

{{reflist

External links

Baseball Reference
Aberdeen, South Dakota Baltimore Orioles minor league affiliates St. Louis Browns minor league affiliates Defunct minor league baseball teams Sports clubs disestablished in 1997 Northern League (1902-71) baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in South Dakota Baseball teams established in 1920 Sports teams in Aberdeen, South Dakota