The Edmonton Trappers were a minor league baseball team in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

. They were a part of the Triple-A level in 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 ...

, ending with the 2004 season. Their home games were played at

Telus Field RE/MAX Field (formerly Edmonton Ballpark, and Telus Field) is a baseball stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has served as home to several minor league baseball clubs; its last affiliated tenant was the Edmonton Trappers, a AAA Pacific Coas ...

in downtown

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The Trappers joined the PCL in 1981 when Edmonton businessman

Peter Pocklington Peter Hugh Pocklington (born November 18, 1941) is a Canadian entrepreneur and vocal advocate of free-market capitalism. Peter Pocklington was known among North American hockey fans as "Peter Puck", the maverick entrepreneur from oil-rich Albert ...

purchased the

Ogden A's The Ogden A's were a minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League, based in Ogden, Utah. They were the Triple-A farm club of the Oakland Athletics, and replaced the San Jose Missions as the tenth team in the PCL. The Ogden A's exi ...

franchise from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

trucker

Dennis Job The Ogden A's were a minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League, based in Ogden, Utah. They were the Triple-A farm club of the Oakland Athletics, and replaced the San Jose Missions as the tenth team in the PCL. The Ogden A's exi ...

."Edmonton to be without pro baseball for a second consecutive season after Capitals unable to land a home for 2013"
''Edmonton Journal''. Retrieved 2017-02-21. The team's games were originally played in Renfrew Park (later called

John Ducey Park John Ducey Park was a 6,500-seat baseball stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Originally built in 1933, it was torn down after sixty years of use in 1995 and replaced by Telus Field on the same site. Beginning in 1981, John Ducey Park was the h ...

). The Trappers were immediately popular with the community, often above the league average in attendance, attracting almost half a million fans every season."Telus Field"
DigitalBallparks.com. A total of 8 million fans came to see them play over the course of their 24-year existence. In 1984, the Trappers (then the Triple-A affiliate of 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 ...

) became the first Canadian franchise to win a championship. They were also the only team to win a PCL championship, and first to win any championship, under affiliation with the Angels. The manager was Moose Stubing. In 1995, John Ducey Park was torn down and replaced by Telus Field where the Trappers celebrated three PCL titles in their last decade, most recently in 2002 under the affiliation of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. In 2003, the team became the major affiliate of the

Montréal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. The Trappers were one of the most successful, longest running, and second-to-last affiliated team in Canada. In 2004, future

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

pitcher

Scott Downs Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

threw a no-hitter against Las Vegas on June 11. It was the first no hitter by a Trapper since August 8, 1996, when

Aaron Small Aaron James Small (born November 23, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Small played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. Regarded as a ...

threw one against the

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium. ...

. Edmonton qualified for playoffs for the last time in September 2003. They defeated the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

to make the post-season, but were eliminated immediately by the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

in a three-game sweep. In October 2003, the Trappers' fate in Edmonton was sealed when the team, then owned by the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, was sold to a group led by

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

and his son Reid. The sale shocked many fans in Edmonton. The Ryans moved the team after the 2004 season to

Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of the 2020 census. The city straddles the Bal ...

, a suburb north of

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, and it was renamed the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

. The last home game in Edmonton had a sizeable crowd against the Las Vegas 51s, but it was rained out after only one inning.

Notable former Trappers

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Blyleven recorded 3,701 ...

(player,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

induction)

References

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External links