The Wenatchee Chiefs 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 the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States, based in

Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and largest city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019. Located in the north-central part ...

. Founded in 1937, the team was a part of the Class B

Western International League The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the Pacific Northwest United States and western Canada that operated in 1922, 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1954. In 1955, the Western International League ev ...

through 1954, although the team did not operate after 1941 and the entire league was suspended during World War II, for the seasons from 1943 to 1945. The Chiefs were one of the seven founding members of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

in 1955, where they remained until the team suspended operations after the 1965 season, the last before the NWL went to the

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 ...

format.

History

The Chiefs were founded in 1937 by Canadians Gerald McClay and Art Nevison, and played in the Class B Western International League (WIL). The team played a 144-game season, with its home field at Wenatchee's Recreation Park (). In its early years, the team drew as many as 3,000 per game, with ticket prices of 5 cents for the bleachers and 40 cents for grandstand seating for adults. With baseballs costing as much as $1.50 each, the team paid children 50 cents per game to retrieve balls that went into the stands as foul balls or home runs so that they could be reused. The team was taken over by Charles C. Garland in 1938, who began an affiliation agreement with the

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 ...

, and the team won its first league pennant in 1939. Future major league pitcher

Bill Bevens Floyd Clifford "Bill" Bevens (October 21, 1916 – October 26, 1991) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees from through . Bevens is notable fo ...

threw an 8-0

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

in 1939 against the Tacoma Tigers, with the only opponent reaching base on an error. The win on September 21 gave the Chiefs its first playoff win in a series in which it had lost the first three games to Tacoma. Bevens would later throw 8⅔ innings of no-hit ball in a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

game in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, known as

The Cookie Game The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees won the Series in seven games for their 11th World Series championship in team history. Yankees manager Bucky Harris won the Series for the first time ...

, in which Bevens and the New York Yankees lost by a score of 3-2 on a ninth inning, game-winning hit by

Cookie Lavagetto Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto (December 1, 1912 – August 10, 1990) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1934 to 1947. Lavagetto started his majo ...

Frank Dasso Frank Joseph Nicholas Dasso (August 31, 1917 – June 8, 2009) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds during the 1945 and 1946 seasons. Early life Dasso was born on August 31, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois. He w ...

was a one-time major league pitcher for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

who finished his lengthy minor league career in Wenatchee, and took on a management role after retiring from on-field play. As general manager of the Chiefs, Dasso organized a promotion in July 1953 called "Bust Down the Fences Night" in a game against the

Tri-City Braves Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

, in which attendees at the game were told that you could "pay what you like; no regular admission." Gate receipts from the 3,200 in attendance at the game was $1,251, an average of 40 cents per fan, earning the team more in profit from that one game than any three games they had played in that season to-date. After the 1965 season, the Northwest League lost two teams, Salem and Wenatchee, and changed to 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 ...

format in 1966 with just four teams (

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

, Yakima Braves,

Tri-City Atoms The Tri-City Atoms were a minor league baseball team located in Kennewick, Washington. The Atoms, unique in name, were one of many team names to represent Tri-City. The Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington, which include Kennewick, Richland, a ...

, and

Lewiston Broncs {{Infobox Minor League Baseball , name = Lewiston Broncs , firstseason =1921 , lastseason =1974 , allyears =1921, 1937, 1939, 1952–1974 , city =Lewiston, Idaho , logo = , caplogo = , past class level =Short-season ...

Championships

Wenatchee won the WIL titles in 1939 and 1946, then took its first NWL title in 1957, besting the

in seven games. The Chiefs' second and final Northwest League championship was in 1962, over Tri-City.

Affiliations

The team was a minor league affiliate of the

from 1938 to 1940, the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

during the 1957 and 1958 seasons, and the

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 ...

from 1961 until 1965. The team was affiliated with the Oakland Oaks 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 ...

in 1954 and the

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 19 ...

in 1955 and 1956.Wenatchee Chiefs

Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

. Accessed June 24, 2009.

Players

The Chiefs most notable players were starting pitchers

Claude Osteen Claude Wilson Osteen (born August 9, 1939), nicknamed "Gomer" because of his resemblance to television character Gomer Pyle, is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cinci ...

(1958) and

Ken Holtzman Kenneth Dale Holtzman (born November 3, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Chicago Cubs for whom he pitche ...

(1965). Holtzman started only eight games for Wenatchee and was called up to the Chicago Cubs in September; he became a starter for the big club in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Holtzman was a starter with the

Oakland A's The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

during their three consecutive

titles (

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Notable alumni

Glenn Beckert Glenn Alfred Beckert (October 12, 1940 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs for nine seasons from 1965 to 1973, before ending his ...

(1963) 4 x MLB All-Star *

(1965) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Ken Hubbs Kenneth Douglass Hubbs (December 23, 1941 – February 13, 1964) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs from to . Hubbs died at age 22 when the private plane he w ...

(1961) 1962 NL Rookie of the Year; Died at age 22. *

Fred Norman Fredie Hubert Norman (born August 20, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four div ...

(1965) *

(1958) 3 x MLB All-Star *

Earl Torgeson Clifford Earl Torgeson (January 1, 1924 – November 8, 1990) was an American Major League Baseball player from Snohomish, Washington. A first baseman, he played on five teams for 15 years, from 1947 through 1961. He was known by his middle name, ...

(1941)

References

External links

Baseball Reference
– Wenatchee teams
Wenatchee Valley Museum
– Wenatchee Chiefs
Wenatchee Valley Sports
– softball & baseball {{coord, 47.414, -120.321, type:event, display=title Defunct Northwest League teams Professional baseball teams in Washington (state) Baseball teams established in 1937 Wenatchee, Washington Baseball teams disestablished in 1965 1937 establishments in Washington (state) 1965 disestablishments in Washington (state) Defunct baseball teams in Washington (state)