The Helena Brewers were a Minor League Baseball team in the Pioneer League located in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

, from 1978 to 2018. The team played their home games at Kindrick Legion Field, which was built in 1939. They were affiliated with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1985–2000, 2003–2018) and

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 ...

(1978–1983). Among the best-known players to play in Helena are

Hall of Famer 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 fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

, who started his career with the Phillies in Helena,

Gary Sheffield Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. He is a sports agent. For most of his career, Sheffield played right ...

, who started his career with the Helena Gold Sox in 1986,

Jeff Cirillo Jeffrey Howard Cirillo (born September 23, 1969) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. In a 14-season career, Cirillo was a .296 hitter with 112 home runs and 727 RBI in 1617 games. He was named an All-Star in and . He ...

and

Mark Loretta Mark David Loretta (born August 14, 1971) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1995 and 2009 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, ...

who began their careers with the 1991 and 1993 Helena Brewers, respectively; and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and f ...

History

The Helena Phillies joined the Pioneer League in 1978, giving Helena a professional baseball team for the first time in 64 years. In 1984, the Helena Gold Sox won the Pioneer League Championship, a rarity for an independent club. The team hooked on with the

in 1985 and changed its name to the Helena Brewers in 1987. Helena won the league championship in back-to-back seasons in 1995 and 1996. The franchise moved to

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

, as the

Provo Angels Provo or Provos may refer to: In geography In the United States * Provo, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Provo, South Dakota, an unincorporated community * Provo Township, Fall River County, South Dakota * Provo, Utah, a city ** Provo P ...

after the 2000 season. In 2003, the

Medicine Hat Blue Jays The Medicine Hat Blue Jays were a Rookie League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, playing in the Pioneer League and located in the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. They played a total of 25 seasons; 1978 through 2002. Their home field wa ...

moved to Helena, and the team once again became a Brewers affiliate. The franchise left Helena for

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, after the 2018 season, where it would play as the

Rocky Mountain Vibes The Rocky Mountain Vibes are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, an MLB Partner League. They are located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and play their home games at UCHealth Park. As a result of a contraction of Minor League Ba ...

Season-by-season record

Major leaguers

The following is a list of Helena players by year that later played in

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), ...

: * 1978:

George Bell George Bell may refer to: Law and politics * George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), Scottish jurist and legal author * George Alexander Bell (1856–1927), Canadian pioneer and Saskatchewan politician * George Bell (Canadian politician) (1869–1940) ...

, Carmelo Castillo, Wil Culmer, Bob Dernier, Ed Hearn (baseball), Ed Hearn, Alejandro Sánchez (baseball), Alejandro Sánchez,

* 1979: Jay Baller, Roy Smith (1980s pitcher), Roy Smith * 1980: Rocky Childress, Darren Daulton, Marty Decker, Ken Dowell, Tony Ghelfi * 1981: Johnny Abrego, Charles Hudson (baseball), Charles Hudson, Jim Olander, Jose Segura (baseball), Jose Segura * 1982: Ken Jackson (baseball), Ken Jackson, Lance McCullers, Johnny Paredes, Wilfredo Tejada * 1983: Ricky Jordan, Tom Magrann, Tom Newell (baseball), Tom Newell * 1984: Jack Daugherty (baseball), Jack Daugherty, John Trautwein * 1985: John Jaha, Russ McGinnis, Randy Veres * 1986: George Canale, Brian Drahman, Darryl Hamilton,

, Greg Vaughn * 1987: Frank Bolick, Oreste Marrero, Ángel Miranda, Charlie Montoyo, Jaime Navarro, Dave Nilsson, Troy O'Leary, Steve Sparks (pitcher, born 1975), Steve Sparks, Bill Spiers * 1988: Bert Heffernan, Mike Ignasiak, Mark Kiefer * 1991:

, Mike Matheny, Marshall Boze * 1992: Bobby Hughes (baseball), Bobby Hughes, Danny Perez, Tim Unroe; Danan Hughes played minor league baseball for the 1992 and 1993 seasons in the Pioneer League for the Helena Brewers. He decided to make football his full-time profession when the Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the 7th round of the 1993 NFL Draft. Hughes played for the Chiefs from 1993 to 1998 as a wide receiver and special teams player. * 1993: Brian Banks (baseball), Brian Banks, Todd Dunn, Danny Klassen,

, Sean Maloney (baseball), Sean Maloney, Greg Martinez * 1994: Antone Williamson, Kelly Wunsch * 1995: Robinson Cancel, Geoff Jenkins, Mike Kinkade, Mickey Lopez, Greg Mullins (baseball), Greg Mullins * 1996: Allen Levrault, Mark Watson (baseball), Mark Watson * 1997: Jason Childers, Brian Mallette * 1998: Matt Childers, Bill Hall (utility player), Bill Hall, Luis Martínez (pitcher), Luis Martinez * 2003: Drew Anderson (outfielder), Drew Anderson, Carlos Corporán, Tim Dillard, Dana Eveland, Vinny Rottino, Mitch Stetter, Ty Taubenheim * 2004: Alcides Escobar * 2005: Michael Brantley,

, Lorenzo Cain, Darren Ford (baseball), Darren Ford, Matt Gamel, Ángel Salomé, Joe Thatcher * 2006: Zach Braddock, Cole Gillespie, Taylor Green, Mike McClendon (baseball), Mike McClendon * 2007: Dane De La Rosa, Eric Farris, Eric Fryer (baseball), Eric Fryer, Caleb Gindl, Donovan Hand, Matt LaPorta, Jonathan Lucroy, Zelous Wheeler * 2008: Erik Komatsu, Lucas Luetge, Wily Peralta, Logan Schafer, Rob Wooten * 2009: Chris Capuano, Khristopher Davis, Michael Fiers, Sean Halton, Jake Odorizzi, Josh Prince * 2010: Hiram Burgos, Jimmy Nelson (baseball), Jimmy Nelson, Caleb Thielbar, Tyler Thornburg * 2011: Tyler Cravy, David Goforth, Yadiel Rivera, Jason Rogers (baseball), Jason Rodgers * 2012: Michael Reed (baseball), Michael Reed, Tyler Wagner

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Helena Brewers website

Helena Brewers statistics at The Baseball Cube

Defunct Pioneer League (baseball) teams Baseball teams established in 1978 Sports clubs disestablished in 2000 Baseball teams established in 2003 Baseball teams disestablished in 2018 Helena, Montana Professional baseball teams in Montana Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates 1978 establishments in Montana 2000 disestablishments in Montana 2003 establishments in Montana 2018 disestablishments in Montana Defunct baseball teams in Montana