The Vernon Tigers were a
Minor League Baseball team that represented
Vernon, California
Vernon is a city five miles (8.0 km) south of downtown Los Angeles, California, the nearest separate city to downtown Los Angeles. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States Census, the least of any incorporated city in the state. I ...
in 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 ...
(PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the
Sacramento Solons
The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...
, joined the PCL as a new team in 1909 when the league expanded from six teams to eight. The Tigers effectively were a second team in Los Angeles, rivals of the existing
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 ...
.
Vernon, California, was and is relatively small community in
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
. Vernon fielded a PCL team because it was one of only two cities in Los Angeles County where the sale and consumption of alcohol was legal. Vernon used its "wet" distinction to its advantage. The largest enterprise in the town at the time was Doyle's bar, advertised as the "longest bar in the world" with 37 bartenders. Doyle was also a sports promoter, building an arena where world championship boxing matches were held. Tigers owner Pete Maier built Maier Park
[Maier Park Baseball Stadium, Vernon, CA]
at Pacific Coast Architecture Database]; retrieved October 26, 2017 next to Doyle's bar, which had its own entrance to the park.
In 1913 and 1914, the Tigers played in the oceanside community of
Venice, California, Venice, and were known as the Venice Tigers during those seasons. Not coincidentally, Venice was the only other "wet" city in Los Angeles County. On Sundays and special holidays in which alcohol sales were not permitted, the Tigers played their home games at
Washington Park, which was primarily the Angels' home field. The team did not draw well in Venice, and the Tigers moved back to Vernon in 1915. Player-manager
Happy Hogan, who had managed the team since 1909 (such that the newspapers sometimes called the team "Hogan's Tigers")
died during the 1915 season, of pneumonia.
Bob Meusel
Robert William Meusel (July 19, 1896 – November 28, 1977) was an American baseball left and right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eleven seasons from 1920 through 1930, all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was best ...
, later a
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
teammate of
Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
, played for Vernon in 1917 before serving in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the following year with the Navy. The Tigers finished the war-shortened 1918 season in first place; however, they were defeated by the Los Angeles Angels in a postseason series. This postseason series is often incorrectly identified as a "playoff." That postseason series, however, was unrelated to the PCL playoff system which was established some years later.
In early 1919, Maier sold a controlling interest in the Tigers to movie actor
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...
, a superstar in the silent film era. When the team became known as the
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 ...
,
Hollywood began taking a collective notice of the team as a result of Arbuckle's ownership. And, the season concluded with the Tigers defeating the rival Angels in the last series of the season, winning the pennant by games.
The 1919 season became infamous for the
"Black Sox" scandal. As with the tainted World Series of that year, there were rumors that opposing PCL players had been bribed to "throw" games against the Tigers. League President William McCarthy expelled Tiger first baseman
Babe Borton
William Baker "Babe" Borton (August 14, 1888 – July 29, 1954) was a Major League Baseball first baseman. Borton played for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Terriers, and St. Louis Browns from 1912 to 1916. He stood .
Biograph ...
and several other players under suspicion of involvement.
The Tigers seemed unfazed by the scandal, as they finished first for the third year in a row, winning the 1920 pennant by games over the Seattle Indians. However, that was the beginning of end of the team. The
Eighteenth Amendment had been ratified, criminalizing the production and sale of alcohol everywhere in the U.S., including Vernon. It took effect in 1920. The small population of Vernon became a liability, as fewer Angelenos were willing to travel the distance to watch a game in a "dry" town.
Moreover, principal owner Arbuckle found ownership of the team more work than he had bargained for, and sold his interest in the team later in 1920. As a result, the Hollywood crowd lost interest in the Tigers. As attendance waned, the caliber of play did also, and the team struggled in its final years. After the 1925 season, the team was sold to San Francisco interests and moved to that city to begin play in 1926 as the
Mission Reds
The Mission Reds were a minor league baseball team located in San Francisco, California, that played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1926 through 1937.
First Missions team
In early September of 1914, the failed Sacramento Solons team moved ...
.
After 12 unprofitable seasons in San Francisco, the team moved back to Los Angeles for the 1938 season. They were renamed the
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 ...
, and established a strong rivalry with the Angels that lasted until the arrival of the
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
in 1958. As before in Los Angeles for a time, and as in San Francisco, the Stars found themselves being tenants of the more dominant team in the city. However, the Stars would eventually build their own park and achieve a measure of success that the Tigers and the Missions had been unable to achieve.
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. .
{{refend
Defunct Pacific Coast League teams
Defunct baseball teams in California
Professional baseball teams in California
01
Vernon, California
History of Los Angeles County, California
Tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
Baseball teams established in 1909
Sports clubs disestablished in 1925
1909 establishments in California
1925 disestablishments in California
Baseball teams disestablished in 1925