The Saskatchewan Silver Sox are an independent professional baseball team based in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. They play in the developmental

Arizona Winter League The Arizona Winter League was an independent instructional winter baseball league. Arizona Winter League games were all played at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, Arizona. The league was founded in 2007. It disbanded in 2013 due to parent league, th ...

, a short-season instructional winter league affiliated with the North American League and compete in the International Division, as well as the Calexico Outlaws,

San Diego Surf Dawgs The San Diego Surf Dawgs are an independent professional baseball team representing San Diego, California, that played for two seasons in the Golden Baseball League, based out of San Ramon, California, and then later in the short-season instructi ...

, San Luis Atleticos and Team Canada. They began playing their home games in 2009 at

Desert Sun Stadium Desert Sun Stadium is a converted soccer-specific stadium in Yuma, Arizona, originally built for baseball. It was the spring training home of the San Diego Padres from 1970 through 1993, the North American League's Yuma Scorpions minor league ...

in Yuma. (The

Blythe Heat The Blythe Heat were a professional baseball team based in Blythe, California. They played in the Arizona Winter League, a short-season instructional winter league affiliated with the North American League. They began play in 2007 and played th ...

El Centro Imperials The El Centro Imperials was an independent professional baseball team based out of El Centro, California. The team started play in 1947 in the Sunset League and was folded in 1952. Another team, the Imperial Valley Brahmas played in El Centro in ...

and San Luis Atleticos played home games on their own fields until 2011.) They are owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment.

Team name

The Silver Sox brand belonged to the since-defunct

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

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 ...

franchise and Reno's minor league team before them. The franchise began in the GBL as the

Mesa Miners The Mesa Miners were an independent professional baseball team based in Mesa, Arizona. They began as a member of the Arizona Division of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League in 2005. The original team became known as the Reno Silver Sox in 2 ...

in 2005 and played one season at HoHoKam Park before relocating to Reno and becoming the new Silver Sox one year later. They played their home games at

William Peccole Park William Peccole Park is a stadium in Reno, Nevada. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack baseball team. It opened in 1988. It holds 3,000 people. It played host to the Reno Silver Sox p ...

at the

University of Nevada at Reno A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and won the GBL Championship in their first season there in 2006, but suffered for their last two seasons in Western Nevada. Following the relocation of the AAA

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 ...

franchise the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

from

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, in 2009, the team was purchased by Tucson Baseball owner Jay Zucker, relocated to Tucson and renamed the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

. The Silver Sox team name (owned by the league) has since been given to the current Saskatchewan team in the AWL, which has no ties to the original Reno franchise, yet could adopt the team history.

Team name origin

Unlike its GBL predecessor and name sake, the Silver Sox team name is based on the importance of the precious metal in Saskatchewan where significant silver ore deposits lie in the Canadian Shield in the eastern part of the province near Flin Flon, Manitoba. It is also a not too subtle hint that the summer professional Golden Baseball League, which already has teams in Victoria, Calgary, and Edmonton; would be very open to a new ownership group that would like to add an expansion team in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

or Regina for the 2010 season.

Attendance and possible relocation

Supported by throngs of Saskatchewan residents wintering in Arizona, the Silver Sox roster is reflective of the diversity of the province with players from Canada, Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Latin America and is striving to bring a professional baseball championship back to Saskatchewan. The Silver Sox lead the average attendance in 2009 with approximately 1,200. Though nothing has been etched in stone, there has been talk between the GBL and a potential investor about bringing a franchise (possibly the Silver Sox) to play at

Cairns Field Cairns Field is a stadium in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is primarily used for baseball and most recently the home of the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets of the Western Major Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a c ...

in Saskatoon. The dedicated fan base did catch the attention of Golden Baseball League commissioner Kevin Outcalt. He said in an interview, "The Silver Sox are also a bit of a nod by the Golden League that we'd love to be up in Saskatchewan, too, in Saskatoon or in Regina or Moose Jaw, if we had the right ownership group and ballpark."Saskatchewan's Silver Sox wrap up season
Ron Petrie, ''The Regina Leader-Post'' @ Canada.com, March 2, 2009

Season-by-season records

Arizona Winter League:

Articles

Sunshine boys eye Saskatoon
Kevin Mitchell, ''The StarPhoenix'', October 27, 2007

Ron Petrie, ''The Regina Leader-Post'', March 2, 2009

Mike Summers, Southern Oregon Timberjacks GBL website, May 21, 2009

References

External links

Arizona Winter League's official website

Golden Baseball League

''Regina Leader-Post'' newspaper

''Saskatoon StarPhoenix'' newspaper

{{Professional Baseball Sport in Saskatoon Arizona Winter League teams Professional baseball teams in Arizona