The Bend Bucks 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 Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team located in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...

. The Bucks were members of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

from 1987 to 1991.

History

Following the 1986 season the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

ended their affiliation with Bend after eight years. Despite losing their agreement, baseball returned to Bend for the 1987 season. The club held a name the team contest and of the roughly sixty entries the nickname Bucks was selected. The team played as a co-op composed of prospects from the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, and Rangers along with members of the

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...

including manager Mel Roberts. After playing their first year as a co-op team, Bend signed a player development contract with the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. The Bucks first season with the Angels would be their best as the team posted a record of 38-38. Two years into a three season agreement the Angels terminated their affiliation with Bend on the grounds of poor conditions at

Vince Genna Stadium Vince Genna Stadium is a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Bend, Oregon. Opened in 1964, it currently hosts college summer baseball league and area American Legion games. Originally known as "Municipal Ball Park", it was ...

. The Angels moved their short season affiliation to

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...

. Bend was again without a parent club. In 1990 the Bucks roster consisted of players from several organizations, including the Athletics, Phillies, and

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

. The following year was much of the same roster composition with nine organizations were represented on the 1991 team managed by

Bill Stein William Allen Stein (born January 21, 1947) is an American retired professional baseball player and manager. His playing career spanned 17 seasons, 14 of which were spent in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the St. Louis Cardinals (1972–1973) ...

. After playing two seasons as a co-op the franchise inked an agreement with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

and subsequently changed their name to the Bend Rockies.

Ballpark

The Bucks played at Vince Genna Stadium located in Bend, Oregon.

Identity

In changing their name to the Bucks, the club adopted new colors. The Bend Bulletin wrote that the team colors would be navy blue and red, with home uniforms and hats looking similar to those worn by the Boston Red Sox. Upon signing a working agreement with the Angels in 1988, gold was incorporated into the color scheme.

Season-by-season record

Former players

Bend Bucks players Bend may refer to: Materials * Bend, a curvature in a pipe, tube, or pipeline (see Bend radius) * Bend knot, a knot used to tie two ropes together; see List of bend knots *Bending, the deformation of an object due to an applied load Music Music ...

(1987–1991)

References

External links

Stats Crew
Bend Bucks {{s-end Defunct Northwest League teams Los Angeles Angels minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Oregon Professional baseball teams in Oregon Baseball teams disestablished in 1991 Baseball teams established in 1987