The Walla Walla Islanders were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team in Walla Walla, Washington for a single season in 1972. The Islanders were members of the

Class A short-season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League and were an affiliate of the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders 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 ...

History

Since its inception in 1969 the Walla Walla franchise had been affiliated with the

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 ...

. Following the 1972 season Philadelphia elected to move their short season affiliate closer to home, linking up with

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

of the New York–Penn League. Triple-A Hawaii Islanders of the

, whose parent club was the San Diego Padres, in a unique arrangement had their own minor league affiliate. The Islanders had operated the Bend Rainbows the past two seasons. With Walla Walla open the Islanders sought relocation to the golden hills of the Walla Walla Valley. Despite being hundreds of miles from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, the team would adopt their parent club's identity becoming the Walla Walla Islanders. Walla Walla had a great start to the season. After compiling their forth win in front of a record setting crowd, the team was the last undefeated in the league. The Islanders winning streak ended at ten games in a narrow 8-7 loss to Coos Bay-North Bend. Powered by the bats of third baseman Dean Joost and shortstop Jim Van Wyek, both name league all-stars, the team entered the finial week of the season on top of the division standings. With eight games left to play, Walla Walla trailed north division leading Lewiston by seven games. The Islanders dropped seven of the final eight games to finish with a record of 41-39. Despite the end of season skid, the Islanders won the south division title. In addition to their connection with Hawaii, the team had ties to Hollywood. Actor

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...

played second base for the Islanders. Russell appeared in twenty-nine games and posted a batting average of .325. Adding to the club's eclectic corps were two Japanese imports Jyoji Sekiguchi and Yuki Suzuki. Future

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 ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

manager Tom Treblehorn played catcher along with Mike Rupcich. In addition to claiming a division title, Walla Walla set a franchise record for attendance with more than thirty-seven thousand fans entering the gates at Borleske Stadium. General Manager Bobby Dyer was awarded Northwest League General Manager of the Year. The Hawaii Islanders struggled financially in operating a minor league team and were unable to adequately supply players. Furthermore, Hawaii sought to transition to a traditional AAA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, thus terminating their player development contract with Walla Walla. The San Diego elected to move their affiliation from Tri-City to Walla Walla. Adopting the moniker of their parent club, the Walla Walla Padres began play in 1973.

Ballpark

Walla Walla teams played at

Borleske Stadium Borleske Stadium is a multi-purpose outdoor athletic stadium in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, located in Walla Walla, Washington. The stadium is named for Vincent Borleske, Raymond Vincent Borleske (1887–1957), a ...

, located at 409 West Rees Avenue in Walla Walla, Washington. The stadium is still in use today.

Season-by-season record

References

External links

Stats Crew
Walla Walla Islanders 1972
Baseball Reference
Walla Walla Teams {{s-end Defunct Northwest League teams Sports in Walla Walla, Washington Baseball teams established in 1972 Professional baseball teams in Washington (state) Defunct baseball teams in Washington (state)