The Las Vegas Wranglers were a minor league baseball team that played in various leagues in the 1940s and 1950s. They were

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

's first professional team in any sport.

The first year

The Wranglers were one of the charter franchises of the Class C Sunset League in 1947. Despite Paul Zaby's league-leading .402

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and a historic offensive season from Calvin Felix, the Wranglers (a Boston Braves affiliate) finished just 73-67, third place, and were beaten in the semifinals by

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. Las Vegas was managed by ex-major leaguer

Newt Kimball Newell Whitney Kimball (March 27, 1915 – March 22, 2001) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born in Logan, Utah, Kimball was listed as tall and . After attending Santa Monica High School in Southern California, h ...

, who also won 14 games as a pitcher for the Wranglers that year. The 21-year-old Felix led the Sunset League in nearly every offensive category in 1947, including 52 home runs, the second-most ever hit in a pro league by such a young player (

Tony Lazzeri Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

, also then 21, hit 60 HR for

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 ...

in 1925, but his team played 200 games). Felix was sold to the Class AAA

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

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 ...

after the season, but never played for them; instead he wound up with the unaffiliated Denver Bears of the Western League in 1948, and with Santa Barbara (a

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 ...

affiliate) in 1949. By 1953, Felix was with the AAA

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 ...

, but was sent down to the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in '54; he never played in the majors

Actor Cameron Mitchell (actor), Cameron Mitchell pitched one game for the '47 Wranglers; Las Vegas, needing all the pitching help they could get in the offense-minded Sunset League, signed Mitchell after he shut out the

Los Angeles Angels (PCL) The Los Angeles Angels were a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles that played in the "near-major league" Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1903 through 1957. The Angels were formed in 1903 as charter members of the PCL. In 1958, they w ...

for four innings in an exhibition game. But the actor was shelled, allowing eleven runs in less than an inning to the

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

Orioles

Later years

Las Vegas continued to be one of the circuit's top teams the next three years. In 1948, the Wranglers moved up to second place and made to the championship series before losing to

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

. However, the team drew only around 600 fans per game (Las Vegas' population was only around 20,000 then) and faced a $15,000 deficit at season's end, partially because they were no longer affiliated with the Braves. In 1949, however, the Wranglers blew the league away with an 88-38 record and easily claimed the pennant, with attendance climbing to over 1,000 per contest. Due to budget cuts, there were no playoffs that year, and the '49 Wranglers had claimed Las Vegas' first pro sports championship (and last one for 37 years, until the Las Vegas Stars won the PCL crown in 1986). After a third-place finish in 1950, the top teams in the Sunset League merged with the

Arizona–Mexico League The Arizona–Mexico League was a Minor League Baseball league in the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, that operated as an affiliated Class C league that existed from 1955–58, and then again in 2003 as an independent baseball league ...

to form the new

Southwest International League The Southwest International League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1951 through 1952. The league was formed through the merger of the Sunset League and Arizona–Texas League in 1951. The league hosted franchises based in ...

in 1951. Declining attendance vexed minor-league ball throughout the country in the early 1950s, and Las Vegas was no exception: despite two more winning seasons in 1951–52, the Wranglers (along with the rest of the SWIL) died after the 1952 season. Baseball returned to Las Vegas in 1957, but the new team (also called the Wranglers) finished fourth in the Arizona–Mexico League, then folded. On May 26, 1958, however, the San Jose Pirates of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

shifted operations to Las Vegas, renaming themselves (once again) the Wranglers. But the team finished a poor seventh and disbanded after the season when the Cal League contracted from eight teams to six. Las Vegas would not have another professional baseball team for a quarter-century, until the Las Vegas Stars joined the

in 1983.

Notable alumni

Ron Brand Ronald George Brand (born January 13, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, and was an original member of the Montreal Expos. Career Pittsburgh Pirates Brand originally signed ...

(1958) * Tom Butters (1958) * Jim Campbell (1958) * Larry Foss (1958) * Bob Lee (1958) MLB AS * Elmo Plaskett (1958) *

Bob Veale Robert Andrew Veale (born October 28, 1935) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox. Veale was one of th ...

(1958) 2 x MLB AS; 1964 NL Strikeout Leader * Bill Koski (1957) * Frank Gabler (1951) * Ed Wheeler (1950) *

(1947, 1951 MGR) * Cameron Mitchell (actor), Cameron Mitchell (1947) Actor, pitched 1 game.

Year-by-year record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Las Vegas Wranglers (Baseball) Defunct minor league baseball teams Defunct California League teams Professional baseball teams in Nevada Sports teams in Las Vegas Baseball teams established in 1947 Baseball teams disestablished in 1958 1947 establishments in Nevada 1958 disestablishments in Nevada Boston Braves minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Nevada