The Boise Pilots were a minor league

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 t ...

team in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States, based in

Boise, Idaho 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 ar ...

. They played in the Pioneer League for a total of 11 seasons between 1939 and 1954. They were unaffiliated with any major league team, and played at the Class C level. Their home venue was originally named Airway Park in 1939, and in 1952 was renamed Joe Devine Airway Park.

History

Minor league baseball began in Boise in 1904 when the Boise Fruit Pickers played as members of the

Pacific National League The Pacific National League was a minor league baseball league that played from 1903 to 1905. The league evolved from its predecessor, the Pacific Northwest League and was a competitor of the newly formed Pacific Coast League. The league began ...

. In 1905, the Boise Infants continued play in the Pacific National League. Boise fielded two teams in 1909, as Boise played as members of the Montana State League, and the Boise Irrigators were members of the Inter-Mountain League. The Boise Irrigators later played in the Union Association (1911, 1914) and Western Tri-State League (1912–1913). The Boise Pilots immediately followed the Boise Senators of the 1928 Utah-Idaho League and were one of the six original teams of the Pioneer League when it was formed in 1939. The team competed through the 1951 season, except for three years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

when the league did not operate. Boise's team then became the

Yankees 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 ...

, who were affiliated with New York during 1952 and 1953. That affiliation did not continue, and the team operated independently again as the Pilots in 1954. Boise's team then became a

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

affiliate from 1955 through 1963, operating as the Braves. After the Braves' final season of 1963, the ballpark was demolished, and Boise was without a minor league team until the Boise A's of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the 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 Major League Basebal ...

debuted in 1975.

Season records

All-stars

Notable players

Lee Maye Arthur Lee Maye (December 11, 1934 – July 17, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played eleven seasons in the majors as an outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves (1959–1965), Houston Astros (1965–1966), Cleveland Indians ...

* Ford "Moon" Mullen * Marv Rickert *

Floyd Robinson Floyd Andrew Robinson (born May 9, 1936) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1960–1966), Cincinnati Reds (1967), and the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox (1968). He batted left-handed and threw right ...

Gerry Staley Gerald Lee Staley (August 21, 1920 – January 2, 2008) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1942 Minor League draft. He pitched regularly from 1947 on, then was traded to ...

References

External links