The Oak Ridge Bombers were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Class D Mountain States League in 1948. The Bombers were located in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...

, and were named for the city's association with the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

and the development of the first

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

. They played their home games at

Ridgeview Park Ridgeview may refer to: Places: *Ridgeview, Durban, residential area in central Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa *Ridgeview, Indiana, unincorporated community in Miami County, Indiana *Ridgeview, Ottawa, neighbourhood in Ottawa, Canada *Ridgevi ...

. Poor fan support caused the Bombers to operate at a loss from

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

. By the second week of June, the team had the league's lowest attendance despite having the league's best record. On June 10, in first place with a 24–11 (.686) record, owner Bob Broome relocated the team to

Hazard, Kentucky Hazard is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Kentucky, Perry County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,263 at the 2020 Census. History Local landowner Elijah Combs, Elijah Comb ...

, where they became the

Hazard Bombers The Hazard Bombers were a minor league baseball team that played in the Mountain States League between 1948 and 1952. History The team began in 1948 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as the Oak Ridge Bombers but quickly moved to Hazard, Kentucky, and to ...

. Across both Oak Ridge and Hazard, the Bombers accumulated a 65–43 (.602) record, placing second. They defeated the

Pennington Gap Miners The Pennington Gap Miners was the final moniker of minor league baseball teams representing Pennington Gap, Virginia. Between 1937 and 1951, Pennington Gap teams played as members of the Class D level Appalachian League from 1937 to 1940 and the ...

in the semifinals, three games to none, but lost the playoff championship finals to the Morristown Red Sox, three games to two.

References

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External links

Statistics from ''Baseball-Reference''
1948 establishments in Tennessee 1948 disestablishments in Tennessee Baseball teams established in 1948 Baseball teams disestablished in 1948 Defunct baseball teams in Tennessee Defunct Mountain States League (1948–1954) teams Professional baseball teams in Tennessee Oak Ridge, Tennessee