The Bangor Blue Ox were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

baseball team based in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

. The team played in the Northeast League (now the

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...

). The Northeast League was an independent baseball league and as such none of its teams had an affiliation with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. The team existed from 1996 to 1997 and played its home games at

Larry Mahaney Diamond Larry Mahaney Diamond is a baseball park, baseball stadium in Orono, Maine, located on the campus of the University of Maine.University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

Orono, Maine Orono () is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by American colonists in 1774. They named it in honor of Chief Joseph Orono, a sachem of the indigenous Penobscot ...

History

The Northeast League played its first season in 1995 with all six teams located in the State of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

; however, only three of these clubs would return for a second season. The NEL wanted to expand into

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and it chose West Warwick, Rhode Island and Bangor—which had not seen a pro baseball team in over 80 years—as two new teams for the 1996 season (also, Elmira was added to round the roster out to six teams again). The Blue Ox and the Northeast League had hoped that moving a team to the city would induce the city of Bangor to build a new ballpark for the team; in the meantime, the Ox would play their home games at Mahaney Diamond on the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

campus in Orono. The Blue Ox would have a fairly successful season in their first year, finishing third with a 46-33 record. Bangor's starting rotation was led by former Major Leaguer Oil Can Boyd, who at age 36 was attempting a comeback. Boyd would finish the season at 10-0 with a 3.22 ERA, but ultimately would not return to the majors. They were more successful on the field than they were at the box office, though, drawing only 35,652 fans, barely 900 per game and next-to-last in the loop. In 1997, the Northeast League would take on the remnants of the failed

North Atlantic League The North Atlantic League was the name of two minor baseball leagues. The first was a Class D affiliated system that operated from 1946 until 1950, and the second was an independent minor league that played from 1995 until 1996. Three of that le ...

and expand to eight teams overall; the Blue Ox would finish the season at 40-43, sixth place. Attendance did not improve, with just 35,591 fans showing up, again next-to-last in the NEL. At the end of the 1997 season, it was clear that Bangor would not be building a new stadium anytime soon (as of 2021, the city still hasn't done so). Although Mahaney Diamond was a very suitable college baseball field, it was simply not designed to be a permanent minor-league park. The team was sold to new ownership and moved to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

for the 1998 season; the franchise still exists as the

Québec Capitales The Québec Capitales ( French: ''Les Capitales de Québec'') are a professional baseball team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Capitales have been members of the Frontier League since the 2020 season after a merger between the Can-Am Le ...

. Other players with Major League experience included pitcher Mike Smith in 1996, (five seasons with the Reds, Pirates, and Expos), and in 1997 Fernando Ramsey (one season with the Cubs), outfielder Bob Zupcic (four seasons with the Red Sox and White Sox), pitcher Joe Grahe (seven seasons with the Angels, Rockies, and Phillies), and pitcher George Tsamis (one season with the Twins). Each season featured a skipper who had played in the Major Leagues. In 1996, former infielder/outfielder Dick Phillips, who had already managed almost 1,500 minor league games in the Twins, Padres and Brewers systems before piloting Bangor, played four seasons in the early 1960s for the Giants and Senators. Managing the Blue Ox in their second and final season, former catcher/first baseman Roger LaFrancois had appeared in eight games in 1982 with the Red Sox.

Bangor franchises timeline

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;" ! Year(s) !! # Yrs. !! Team !! Level !! League , - , 1894–1896, , 3 , , rowspan=2, Bangor Millionaires , , Class B, , New England League , - , 1897, , 1 , , rowspan=2, Independent, , Maine State League , - , 1901, , 1, , Bangor, , New England League , - , 1907, , 1 , , Bangor Cubs, , rowspan=3, Class D, , rowspan=2, Maine State League , - , 1908, , 1 , , Bangor White Sox , - , 1913, , 1 , , Bangor Maroons, ,

New Brunswick-Maine League The New Brunswick–Maine League was a Class D level minor-league baseball league which had teams in New Brunswick, Canada and Maine, United States during the 1913 season. The league folded on August 23, 1913 and the Fredericton Pets were crowne ...

, - , 1994–1997, , 3 , , Bangor Blue Ox, , rowspan=2, Independent, , rowspan=2, Northeast League , - , 2003–2004, , 2, ,

Bangor Lumberjacks The Bangor Lumberjacks were an independent minor league baseball team in the Northeast League that was based in Bangor, Maine. Prior to 2003, the Lumberjacks played in Glens Falls, New York and were known as the Adirondack Lumberjacks. The team ...

References

Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010) teams Defunct baseball teams in Maine Baseball in Bangor, Maine University of Maine Defunct independent baseball league teams Professional baseball teams in Maine Sports clubs disestablished in 1997 Baseball teams established in 1996 1996 establishments in Maine 1997 disestablishments in Maine Orono, Maine Baseball teams disestablished in 1997