Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, has been home to many
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 ...
teams, dating back to the 19th century. Despite this, Portland has never fielded a
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), ...
team.
Early Portland baseball: 1866–1883
The first organized baseball team on record in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
was founded in Portland, when on May 28, 1866, the
Pioneer Baseball Club of East Portland was created. Known as a gentleman's group at the time, it composed merchants, doctors, lawyers and farmers from rural Portland.
[Portland Baseball](_blank)
pdxhistory.com. Retrieved May 4, 2008. Professional players were not allowed to be part of the club. In fact, members had to pay dues in order to be a part of the club. Over the next year many clubs were created throughout the Portland area.
The Pioneers of East Portland invited clubs from throughout the region to a meeting in February 1868 to form what became The Oregon, Washington and Idaho Territories Association of Base Ball Players. The association consisted of five founding clubs—they were the Pioneers, the Portland Spartans, the Highland Baseball Club, the Clackamas Club of
Oregon City and the Occidentals of
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...
. The teams adopted rules that were slightly modified from those approved by the
National Association of Base Ball Players
The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.)
The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...
in 1863.
Professional baseball in Portland: 1883–1901
In 1884 Joe Buchtel, a player-manager for the Pioneers who is regarded as being largely responsible for making baseball popular in Oregon during the 20th century,
started a new team in Portland, the Willamettes of East Portland. In 1890 this team became the
Portland Webfeet
The Portland Webfeet were a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Northwest League. They were located in Portland, Oregon and played at Columbia Park (Portland), Columbia Park. They were active from to .
In the Webfeet won the league cham ...
. It helped organize the first professional league in the region, the
Pacific Northwest League
The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region.
History
Founding
The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. I ...
. This league consisted of teams from Portland,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Tacoma and
Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
, and began attracting players from around the nation.
In 1891 the Webfeet won the league championship, playing teams from as far as the California League, which included
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, San Francisco, and
San Jose. This version of the Pacific Northwest League folded in the second half of the 1892 season due to the onset of a nationwide economic depression known as the
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
.
An attempt was made in 1896 to restart the Pacific Northwest League, which was alternately known as the New Pacific League. Portland fielded a team in again in the league, this time going by the name of the
Portland Gladiators
The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region.
History
Founding
The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. I ...
. The season only lasted through June, but the Gladiators did end up winning the league championship with a 19–9 record.
Another new team gained notoriety in Portland in 1886, the
Portland Monograms. Consisting largely of neighborhood kids from Central and North Central High Schools, this team was very successful. After defeating teams from Oregon, they went on to win against the Washington State Championship team from Tacoma, earning them the right to go to San Francisco to play the California Champions in a game called the Pacific Tournament. The Monograms played two games against the California Champions, tying the first 12–12 and losing the second 16–14.
A new era in Portland baseball: 1901–1902
![Joe Tinker NYWTS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Joe_Tinker_NYWTS.jpg)
In the spring of 1901 a new baseball park was constructed at NW Vaughn Street and NW 24th Avenue that would become known as
Vaughn Street Park
Vaughn Street Park was a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Portland, Oregon. Opened in 1901, it lasted for over a half century and was torn down in 1956. Its primary tenant was the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast ...
. This year also saw the second resurrection of the Pacific Northwest League. A group of area businessmen, spearheaded by William H. Lucas, also created the Portland Baseball Club and put together a team to play in the Pacific Northwest League, calling them the Webfooters. This team included
Joe Tinker
Joseph Bert Tinker (July 27, 1880 – July 27, 1948) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played from 1902 through 1916 for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Chicago Whales of the ...
and won the League Championship in their first season.
Following the creation of the
National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues in 1901 (renamed Minor League Baseball in 1999), the PNL, and thus the
Portland Webfoots
The Portland Webfoots were a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Northwest League. They were based in Portland, Oregon and were active for only two years, and . They played at Vaughn Street Ballpark.
When the Pacific Northwest League a ...
, became a
Class B league beginning in the 1902 season. In 1902 the team finished fourth in the league.
On December 10, 1902, Henry Harris, the owner of the California League's San Francisco team announced that the Pacific Northwest League team from Portland and a new team from Seattle were joining with the California League to create 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 ...
.
Pacific Coast League: 1903–1917
The Portland Baseball Club began play in the PCL in 1903, being known as the Portland Browns. Portland finished fifth in the league at the end of the 1903 season. In 1904 the Portland team, finished the season with a 74–136 record, setting a PCL record for the most losses in a season.
The Pacific Northwest League attempted to compete against the new Pacific Coast League in their inaugural year. Replacing the team they lost in Portland, as well as placing teams in Los Angeles and San Francisco, they renamed themselves the Pacific National League. The new team in Portland that year, the Green Gages, only played until July 1 when they moved to
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, and changed their name to the Elders. Four other teams from the league stopped playing altogether before the end of the season, leaving only four teams in the league. By the end of the 1905, the old Pacific Northwest/National League was gone for good.
The PCL continued on though, as did the Portland Baseball Club. After the 1904 season, the PCL joined the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, thus making Portland a Class A league team (now called AAA Baseball). Also after the 1904 season, Portland outfielder
Walter McCredie and his uncle
Judge William McCredie purchased the team. The new owners changed the name of the team the Giants for the 1905 season, and Walter became the team's manager while continuing to play. As a result of a newspaper contest, the team was renamed the Beavers (
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
is the "Beaver State") in time for the 1906 season. The newly named Portland Beavers won their first PCL pennant in 1906, finishing 19½ games over runner-up
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. Also in 1906 Beavers player
Mike Mitchell led the league in home runs, setting a league record for the least home runs hit by a league leader, hitting it out only six times.
The Beavers finished last in 1907 and second in 1908 and 1909. In 1910 Portland won another pennant being led by the pitching of
Vean Gregg and
Gene Krapp
Eugene Hamlet Krapp (May 12, 1887 – April 13, 1923) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1915. He played for the Cleveland Naps and Buffalo Buffeds/Blues. In a four season career where he pitched in 118 games, Krapp had a win–lo ...
. Gregg finished the season with a 32–18 record and 14
shutout
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
s while Krapp had a 29–16 record for the season. Portland repeated at PCL champs in 1911 fielding four 20-game-winning pitchers. In 1912, Judge McCredie helped get a new 12,000-seat grandstand built at Vaughn Street Park. His obituary later read that the ballpark was "the sensation of baseball, because it inaugurated a minor league precedent of providing individual grandstand seats, which fellow magnates called an extravagance and a dangerous innovation." The year 1912 also saw a small change in the classification of leagues from the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, as they made the top-tier league AA, which the PCL and the Portland Beavers moved into from the previous top tier Class A league.
During the 1910s the Beavers developed some working relationships with other teams. From 1911 to 1914 the Portland Beavers had their own farm team who played in the Northwest League (renamed the Pacific Coast International League in 1918). The Class B team shared the use of Vaughn Street Park and was known as the
Portland Pippins in 1911, but changed their name to the
Portland Colts in 1912. During the 1914 season the Colts moved to the Seattle area and finished their last season as the Ballard Pippins before folding. Portland also had an informal relationship with the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
through much of the 1910s that saw many future
major league stars come through Portland to fine tune their skills.
In 1913 and 1914 Portland played well, winning the pennant in both seasons. Though the 1915 Beavers featured
Stan Coveleski
Stanley Anthony Coveleski (born Stanislaus Kowalewski, July 13, 1889 – March 20, 1984) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four American League (AL) teams between and , primarily the Cleveland Indians. ...
, the team didn't fare too well, and started into a tailspin that would last for over a decade. The year also marked the end of their relationship with the Cleveland Indians. With America's entry into World War I, restrictions were placed on travel, such that the Beavers withdrew from the PCL for the 1918 season, playing instead in the Class B Pacific Coast International League. The team was known as the Portland Buckaroos and finished their shortened season (play was stopped on July 7 due to the war) in second place 1½ games back of Seattle. Ironically, the PCL ceased play just a week later as they too were unable to continue play due to the travel restrictions.
Due to the Beaver's withdrawal from the PCL, the league offered
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
, a franchise to replace the Portland team, while the McCredie's continued to own the baseball club in Portland. The new team in Sacramento was known as the
Sacramento Senators, and could be considered a continuation of the original Portland Baseball Club.
Return to the Pacific Coast League: 1919–1972
![Elmer_Smith_-_Worlds_Champs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Elmer_Smith_-_Worlds_Champs.jpg)
With the McCredies still at the helm, Portland was offered the opportunity to become an expansion franchise and re-entered the PCL in 1919. The team finished in seventh place, only ahead of last place Seattle who was also an expansion team that year. Portland finished in last place in 1920 and again in 1921. After the 1921 season, the McCredies sold the team to
Walter Klepper who had been president of the Seattle team. Klepper brought in
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
who played with the Beavers for the 1922 season, paying him an unheard of minor league salary of $1000 per month. It wasn't long, though, before Klepper was in the middle of a dispute with Baseball Commissioner
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his h ...
. Klepper had brought Seattle player-manager Bill Kenworthy down to manage the Beavers, but Seattle claimed Kenworthy was still under contract and that Klepper had tampered in the matter. Landis suspended Klepper until January 1, 1925, and declared Kenworthy ineligible to play or manage Portland until the 1924 season.
[Minor League Baseball History: Top 100 Teams](_blank)
/ref> According to the book "The Portland Beavers" by Kip Carlson and Paul Andresen, "The feisty Klepper went to court and had the decision overturned, supposedly the only time that Landis ever had a ruling reversed." Kenworthy did manage the Beavers in 1924, replacing popular player-manager Jim Middleton. However, he was fired mid-season, as he was not able to generate support from the players. The 1924 season was also noteworthy in that Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detro ...
played on the team.
After the 1924 season, the Beavers officially became a farm team for a major league team when Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
owners John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and Tom Shibe purchased the Beavers as well as Vaughn Street Park. Despite having Duffy Lewis
George Edward "Duffy" Lewis (April 18, 1888 – June 17, 1979) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Washington Senators from 1910 to ...
on the team in 1925 (winning the PCL batting title), Elmer Smith in 1926 and 1927 (leading the PCL in home runs in 1926 and all of minor league baseball in home runs in 1927) and Ike Boone
Isaac Morgan "Ike" Boone (February 17, 1897 – August 1, 1958) was an American professional baseball player. He played eight seasons as a right fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1922 and 1932 for the New York Giants, Boston Red Sox, ...
in 1928, the Beavers continued to finish in the bottom half of the league.
Longtime head groundskeeper Rocky Benevento started working for the Beavers in 1927. Benevento was so popular with the fans that they took up a collection for him in 1956 to send him to the World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. Benevento retired at the end of the 1966 season and was given a new car. When Benevento died in 1969, Portland newspaper ''The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' stated, "He adored kids...he loved baseball...and most of all he loved people." His funeral had an overflowing crowd that included Oregon Governor
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
Tom McCall
Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American statesman, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon. A Republican, he was the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A native of Massachusetts, McCall grew up th ...
. Benevento's stayed with the team 40 years, spanning 30 managerial changes and five ownership changes. While the former location of Vaughn Street Park is now a parking lot, there is a plaque honoring Benevento for his efforts in furthering baseball in Portland.
In 1929 the Beavers changed their name to the Portland Ducks, bearing a duck on their uniform, and were also occasionally known as the Portland Rosebuds. The name change didn't change the team's luck, as they finished with a 90–112 record. Long time radio broadcaster Rollie Truitt also joined the team's staff, and worked for the team for 35 years, spanning 28 managerial changes and five ownership changes. Truitt would later be known as the "Dean of Pacific Coast League broadcasters." In 1930 the team reverted to the Beavers name, but would occasionally be referred to as the Ducks for over decade. The highlight of the Beavers last-place 1930 season was William Rhiel's unassisted triple play, the last recorded in PCL history.
In 1931 team President Tom Turner bought the team from the Shibe brothers and the team took a turn for the positive. Ed Coleman led the PCL in hits and runs batted in, and the team finished in third winning 100 games. The team continued to improve in 1932, winning Portland its first pennant since 1914. The team finished second in 1933. Turner brought Walter McCredie back to manager the team in 1934, but he died early in the season and the team fell to the bottom half of the league.
Following the 1934 season, E. J. Shefter bought the team from Turner. The team improved in 1935 finishing one game over .500, and then won the pennant in 1936, finishing but 1½ games over runner-up 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 ...
, then winning the postseason series to capture the crown. In 1937 the Beavers finished in fourth place, but made it to the playoffs defeating San Francisco in the first round before losing to the San Diego team featuring a young Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
. The team finished sixth in 1938 before finishing in last place from 1939 to 1942. The 1940 team was so bad, finishing 56–122, that they were still 25 games behind the seventh place team (the league had eight teams at that time).
In 1943 William Klepper, with partner George Norgan buying a minority share, purchased the Beavers. The team came back that season with their first winning record since 1937. The management of the team began referring to the team as the "Lucky Beavers" and Vaugh Street Park was known as "Lucky Beaver Stadium." With the United States firmly involved in World War II, local radio station KXL sold over $300,000 in war bonds in 1943 to fund the building of a bomber for the war that would be dubbed "The Lucky Beaver". At the time, the available pool of baseball players in the nation was ravaged. Somehow though, the Beavers still moved up in the league, finishing second in 1944. In 1945 the Beavers brought another pennant to Portland being skippered by player-manager Marv Owen
Marvin James Owen (March 22, 1906 – June 22, 1991) was an American baseball player, manager, coach and scout.
A native of northern California, Owen played both baseball and football at Santa Clara University. He made his Major League Baseb ...
. Despite winning the pennant, the team lost to San Francisco in the first round of the playoffs. To commemorate Portland's 1945 pennant win, Portland held a banquet at the Multnomah Hotel (now the downtown Portland Embassy Suites). Oregon Governor
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
Earl Snell
Earl Wilcox Snell (July 11, 1895 – October 28, 1947) was an American politician, businessman, and member of the Republican Party, serving in the Oregon House of Representatives, as the Oregon Secretary of State, and as the 23rd Governor of O ...
presented a commemorative watch and gold and diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
to each player at the banquet. The watches were given to the players because L.H. Gregory of ''The Oregonian'' requested that fans donate money to a fund for the purpose. Gregory did this because he felt it was not right that no memento was given to the players from the 1936 championship team. Following the 1945 season, Norgan purchased Klepper's share of the team, becoming the team's new owner.
In 1946 the Beavers fell to the bottom half of the league, finishing in seventh place, 41 games out of first. In 1947 Eddie Basinski
Edwin Frank Basinski (November 4, 1922 – January 8, 2022) was an American professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Early life
Basinski was born in Buffalo, New Yor ...
joined the Beavers, and they finished third, losing to the Los Angeles 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 ...
in the first round of the playoffs. The team drew a record of 421,000 fans that season. This record would stand for the Beavers until the 2001 season when AAA Baseball returned to Portland.
In 1948 the team finish fifth, followed by a sixth-place finish in 1949. The 1949 season began the integration
Integration may refer to:
Biology
*Multisensory integration
*Path integration
* Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome
*DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
of the Pacific Coast League as Frankie Austin and Luis Marques became Beavers. Beginning with the 1950 season the Beavers finished fourth for four straight years. Clay Hopper
Robert Clay Hopper (October 3, 1902 – April 17, 1976) was an American professional baseball player and manager in minor league baseball. Hopper played from 1926 through 1941 and continued managing through 1956.
Managing the Montreal Royals ...
, who had been Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
's manager when he played for the Montreal Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...
in 1946, was named the team's manager in 1952. This year also marked the first year the Pacific Coast League, and the Portland Beavers, were classified by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues as an "Open League." The open league was a step above AAA, and was an attempted by the Pacific Coast League to be considered the third major league.
Plans for a new ballpark were announced by the team in 1953. Originally the team planned to build a new stadium at 82nd & Holgate in Southeast Portland. Due to the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, among other issues, the stadium never came to fruition. In 1954 the team dropped again to the bottom of the league. After the 1954 season the team went up for sale via public stock, which resulted in 2,400 new owners for the 1955 season. With the change the Beavers rose to fifth place, only nine games back of first.
In 1956, the Beavers left Vaughn Street Park to move into 25,000-seat Multnomah Stadium, eventually renamed Civic Stadium. Throughout most of the 1960s, the Beavers were the AAA affiliate of the American League Cleveland Indians, nurturing such future stars as "Sudden" Sam McDowell, Lou "Mad Dog" Piniella, and Luis "El Gigante" Tiant. Later major league affiliations included Minnesota and Philadelphia.
Independent baseball in Portland: 1973–1977
After 1972, in which the Beavers drew fewer than 92,000 fans for the entire season, the team left Portland for Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
. The Class A Portland Mavericks
The Portland Mavericks are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league created in 2021. The entire league, including the Mavericks, will play their games at Vo ...
filled the void left by the departure of the Beavers. The Mavericks played in the short-season 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 ...
, with a schedule running from mid-June through August. They won four division titles in their five-year history (second place in 1974), but never won the league championship.
AAA returns to Portland: 1978–1993
The PCL expanded in 1978 and added a new team in Portland, calling themselves the Beavers. The new Beavers played in Civic Stadium through 1992. In 1983, the Beavers won the PCL pennant, the first for Portland in 47 years. Though finishing fourth overall that year, the Beavers defeated the Edmonton Trappers
The Edmonton Trappers were a minor league baseball team in Edmonton, Alberta. They were a part of the Triple-A level in the Pacific Coast League, ending with the 2004 season. Their home games were played at Telus Field in downtown Edmonton.
The ...
to win the Northern Division title, then bested the Albuquerque Dukes
The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
History
The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fra ...
in the finals to capture the flag.
After the 1993 season, Beavers owner Joe Buzas moved the team to Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, where they became the Salt Lake Buzz, and later the Stingers. Their current nickname is the Bees
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...
.
Northwest League baseball: 1994–2000
For the first time since 1899, Portland was without a baseball team for the 1994 season. The departure of the PCL did eventually bring about the return of the short-season 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 ...
. Following their inaugural season in 1994, the Class A Bend Rockies relocated to the now available market of Portland in 1995. The Portland Rockies
The Portland Rockies were a minor league baseball team that played in Portland, Oregon. The Rockies were members of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League for six years, from 1995 through 2000. Prior to relocating to Portland, the franchise pl ...
played in the Rose City for the next six seasons and served an important role for the city, whose demand for a major league team was growing. Portland's support for the Rockies paved the way for the return of AAA baseball in 2001.
The Beavers return: 2000–2010
Following the 2000 season, the Los Angeles 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 ...
and San Diego 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 ...
swapped AAA teams. The Albuquerque Dukes (a charter franchise of the PCL under the name Los Angeles Angels) moved to Portland, becoming the Beavers, as the San Diego Padres affiliate. As part of the relocation agreement, Civic Stadium was renovated in 2000 and renamed PGE Park. The Dodgers took control of the Padres' Las Vegas Stars, who would be renamed the 51's. The Portland Rockies
The Portland Rockies were a minor league baseball team that played in Portland, Oregon. The Rockies were members of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League for six years, from 1995 through 2000. Prior to relocating to Portland, the franchise pl ...
would move up the Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
to Pasco and become the Tri-City Dust Devils
The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home gam ...
in 2001.
During this time, Dr. Lynn Lashbrook spearheaded the effort to bring MLB
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), ...
to Portland. In 2003, Dr. Lashbrook led the lobbying efforts that resulted in a $150 million construction bill for a new baseball stadium in Portland. Under his leadership, the group secured legislative action to subsidize a new stadium with ballplayers’ payroll taxes.
In 2007, owner Merritt Paulson
Henry Merritt Paulson III (born 1972/1973) is an American businessman who is the minority owner of Peregrine Sports, LLC, which owns the operating rights to the Portland Timbers, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team, and the Portland Thorns FC, a N ...
announced that he was considering changing the name of the team to prevent confusion with the Oregon State University Beavers, whose baseball team won the national championships in 2006 and 2007. Possible new names and logos were unveiled, and a vote was staged on the team website. "Portland Beavers" won the contest, and the team unveiled new logos and colors on January 29, 2008. The Beavers emphasized their connection to the three prior franchises with the notation "Est. 1903" on their primary logo. The team also brought back the name "Lucky Beavers" as part of a sleeve patch on their alternate jersey.
In 2009, the city of Portland was awarded a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise for 2011, to be named the Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...
. The Portland City Council approved a $31 million agreement to renovate PGE Park to a soccer- and football-only stadium, with the condition that a new ballpark be built in Portland for the Beavers by 2011.
Initial plans called for the new ballpark to be built at the site currently occupied by the Memorial Coliseum, which would have been torn down, but public outcry about demolishing a Portland landmark led Portland mayor Sam Adams
Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and ...
to propose a second site in the Rose Quarter
The Rose Quarter is a sports and entertainment district located in Portland's Lloyd District on the east bank of the Willamette River, just east of downtown. The Rose Quarter is bounded on the west by NE Interstate Avenue, on the north by NE Broa ...
area north of Memorial Coliseum. The site, however, proved to be too small. Another location in the Lents neighborhood in southeast Portland was also rejected due to objections from neighbors.
In June 2009, the Portland City Council voted to separate the soccer and baseball projects, allowing renovation of PGE Park to proceed without completed plans for a baseball stadium in place. Other locations in the Portland area were considered for the ballpark, including a vacant terminal at the Port of Portland, Delta Park
Delta Park is a public municipal park complex in north Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Delta Park is composed of two distinct sections referred to as East and West Delta Park. The Owens Sports Complex is a notable attraction of East Delta Pa ...
, the Portland Expo Center
The Portland Expo Center, officially the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, is a convention center located in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in the early 1920s as a livestock exhibition and auction facil ...
, Portland Meadows
Portland Meadows was an American horse racing venue in Portland, Oregon, owned by The Stronach Group since July 3, 2011 and previously owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., MI Developments Inc. (MID) 2001. Built by William P. Kyne, who also built ...
, the Westwood Corporation Heliport site, a building owned by Portland Public Schools near the Rose Quarter, and suburban locations in Beaverton, Clackamas, and Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...
. None of these sites progressed past initial discussions.
With no suitable Portland location available, in July 2010, Paulson announced that he was putting the team up for sale and relocation, and the Beavers played their last game in Portland on September 6, 2010, beating the Las Vegas 51s 6–5 before a sellout crowd. Padres owner Jeff Moorad
Jeffrey S. Moorad is an American businessman and investor. He began his career as a sports agent, before serving as General Partner and CEO of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, and Vice-Chairman and CEO of MLB's San Diego Padres.
Player representati ...
formed a group to buy the team and talked of moving its home games to the Lake Elsinore Diamond
Lake Elsinore Diamond, also referred to as Storm Stadium, is a baseball park in Lake Elsinore, California. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Lake Elsinore Storm minor league baseball team in the California League. Th ...
in Lake Elsinore, California
Lake Elsinore is a city in western Riverside County, California, United States. Established as a city in 1888, it is on the shore of Lake Elsinore, a natural freshwater lake about in size. The city has grown from a small resort town in the l ...
, until a new stadium in Escondido could be built. Eventually, the group decided to move the team temporarily to Tucson, rename them the Tucson Padres
The Tucson Padres were a minor league baseball team representing Tucson, Arizona in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). They were the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team moved to Tucson from Portland, Oregon for the 2011 season. I ...
, and then move again to Escondido when the new ballpark is built.
Attempts to bring baseball back to Portland: 2011–2012
On August 2, 2011, the Milwaukie city council unanimously encouraged city staff to continue its efforts to bring professional baseball back to the Portland-Metro area.[Learn more about Council's idea to bring baseball to Milwaukie](_blank)
. City of Milwaukie. Retrieved October 26, 2011. It had previously been reported in ''The Oregonian'' that the city's economic development director had been working with other individuals and groups to place a 4,000-seat ballpark on a state owned maintenance facility within the city near their border with Portland. A MAX Light Rail
The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections ...
line that is under construction will go by the proposed site, which would facilitate access to proposed ballpark, and the two projects are spurring interest in the area by developers. At the October 4, 2011, council meeting, the council directed city staff to engage the community in discussions about the project and authorized them to hire a consultant to further research the project.
The Northwest League returns: 2013–present
In 2012, it was announced that Portland suburb Hillsboro had reached a deal to relocate the Yakima Bears
The Yakima Bears were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Yakima, Washington. The Bears competed at the Class A Short Season level as members of the Northwest League from 1990 to 2012. Following the 2012 season, ...
. Construction of a new 4,500-seat stadium in Hillsboro began later that year and was completed in June 2013, as the home of the renamed Hillsboro Hops
The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League as an affiliate of the Ariz ...
. The Hops replaced the Beavers as Portland's minor league baseball team. The team's first game was a 3–2 road loss to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their home ...
; the team's home opener was notable for several firsts: the team's first sellout, drawing over 4,700 fans; the team's—and Hillsboro Ballpark
Ron Tonkin Field, originally Hillsboro Ballpark, is a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb west of Portland. The stadium has a capacity of 4,500 spectators (3,534 seats) and is the home for the ...
's—first home run; and the team's first win.
Summer Collegiate Woodbat League brings baseball to Portland 2016–present
In 2015, it was announced that the Portland Pickles
The Portland Pickles are a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the South Division of the West Coast League, a premier collegiate summer baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. The ...
would be the newest team added to the Great West League
The Great West League (GWL) was a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2014, comprising teams from California and Oregon. The league was designed to develop college talent, and only current college eligible players are allowed to parti ...
. In 2018 they moved to the West Coast League
The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...
, a premier collegiate summer baseball
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
league based in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. The Pickles play their home games at Walker Stadium in Portland's Lents Park
Lents Park is a public park in southeast Portland, Oregon's Lents neighborhood, in the United States. Acquired in 1914, the park features the Charles B. Walker Stadium (home of the West Coast League's Portland Pickles collegiate baseball team), ...
.
Notes
References
*O'Neal, Bill. ''The Pacific Coast League 1903–1988.'' Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, 1990. .
*Snelling, Dennis. ''The Pacific Coast League: A Statistical History, 1903–1957''. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 1995. .
*Carlson, Kip & Andersen, Paul. ''The Portland Beavers.'' Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2004. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Baseball In Portland, Oregon
Baseball in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
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 ...