The Bend Phillies 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 Phillies 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 1979 to 1986. Prior to 1981 the team was named the Central Oregon Phillies.

History

Professional baseball returned to Bend with the expansion of the Northwest League in 1978. The franchise was named the Timber Hawks and affiliated with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. Timber Hawks owner Doug Emmans relocated the Timber Hawks south to Medford following the 1978. Upon relocating the club became the

Medford Athletics The Southern Oregon Timberjacks were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Medford, Oregon. The team played in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League and were an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 21 seasons. ...

as they continued their relationship with

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. Bend would not be without baseball long as Gene Davis obtained the rights for a new franchise. The club signed a player development contract with 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 ...

and adopted their parent club's nickname paired with a regional moniker to be known as the Central Oregon Phillies. The Phillies had a banner year in their inaugural season. The team posted a league best record 43-28 en route to a south division title. Central Oregon defeated north division winner

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

in the league championship series 2-1 to claim the Northwest League crown. After the 1980 season Gene Davis sold the franchise to Portland businessman Jack Cain. In addition the sale, the club changed its name from Central Oregon to Bend. Jack Cain eventually became the president of the Northwest League and in an effort to avoid a conflict of interest he transferred ownership to his wife, Mary. In 1985 owner Jack Cain had contemplated changing the nickname to "Beavers", but ultimately decided against the switch. The Phillies were unable to match the success of their first campaign of 1979. Following the 1986 season the Philadelphia Phillies ended their affiliation with the club. The decision was largely a result of Philadelphia's desire to move its minor league teams closer to the East Coast. Like Bend, the Phillies severed ties with their Triple-A affiliate

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. Professional baseball remained in Bend with the

Bend Bucks The Bend Bucks were a minor league baseball team located in Bend, Oregon. The Bucks were members of the Class A Short Season Northwest League from 1987 to 1991. History Following the 1986 season the Philadelphia Phillies ended their affiliation ...

beginning play as an independent team 1987 before securing 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 ...

Ballpark

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

Season-by-season record

Former players

Central Oregon Phillies players Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

(1979–1980)

Bend Phillies 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 ...

(1981–1986)

References

External links

Stats Crew
Central Oregon Phillies {{coord, 46.077, -118.336, type:event, display=title Defunct Northwest League teams Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Oregon Professional baseball teams in Oregon Sports in Bend, Oregon 1979 establishments in Oregon 1986 disestablishments in Oregon Baseball teams disestablished in 1986 Baseball teams established in 1979