Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
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The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in
Keizer, Oregon Keizer () is a city located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, along the 45th parallel. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 36,478. It lies in the Willamette Valley, and is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
, who are charter members of the
Mavericks Independent Baseball League The Mavericks Independent Baseball League is an adult amateur baseball league based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area, Oregon, United States, founded in January 2021 and set to begin its inaugural season that May. Each team in the Maveri ...
, a four-team league entirely based in the
Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area The Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area consisting of two counties in western Oregon, Marion and Polk. The principal city is Salem, the state capital, which h ...
and playing all their home games at Volcanoes Stadium. From 1997 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's
Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the 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 Major League Basebal ...
as 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 ...
affiliate of the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
. With the reorganization of baseball after the 2020 season, the Volcanoes were not offered a player development license with any
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
club, though the Volcanoes promised to continue play in 2021, a promise they kept in forming the Mavericks League.


History

The Volcanoes history begins in
Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...
where the franchise played for eighteen season as an affiliate of the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
. In 1994, Seattle shifted their affiliation to Everett, who had been a long time
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
farm club. Bellingham swapped parents with Everett and adopted their parent club's name to become the
Bellingham Giants The Bellingham Giants were a Minor League Baseball team in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, based in Bellingham, Washington, for two seasons (1995, 1996), and were an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. After years of struggling atte ...
. Bellingham had long struggled with attendance and its facility failed to meet league standards. Efforts to secure funding for facility improvements in Bellingham were unsuccessful. In 1996, Bellingham Giants co-owners Jerry Walker and William Tucker announced that they were moving the franchise to
Keizer, Oregon Keizer () is a city located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, along the 45th parallel. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 36,478. It lies in the Willamette Valley, and is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
, a city of 22,000 people located immediately north of Salem. Keizer had striven to assert itself as an independent, thriving city for 12 years since the former Salem suburb had become an incorporated municipality. City officials, led by Mayor Dennis Koho, and civic leaders worked toward getting a new baseball stadium located and built in Keizer. The area had lacked a suitable facility for pro baseball since the early 1960s, when the Salem Dodgers vacated historic Waters Field (which burned down in 1966). Area fans chose the nickname "Volcanoes" in a contest. The new franchise was designated as a "Salem-Keizer" team, despite its location, in order to incorporate both the history and the prestige of the larger city and state capital. The Volcanoes continued their player development contract with the San Francisco Giants, a relationship that continued through 2020. In their inaugural season of 1997, the Volcanoes posted a record of 40–36 and finished third in the south division standings. The 1998 season was a banner year for Salem-Keizer. The Volcanoes finished the year at 43–33, tied with the
Southern Oregon Timberjacks The Southern Oregon Timberjacks were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Medford, Oregon. The team played in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League and were an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 21 seaso ...
. In a one-game play-off the Volcanoes bested the Timberjacks to earn the south division title. Salem-Keizer defeated the
Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city surroun ...
in the best-of-three series en route to a Northwest League championship. In 2001, the Volcanoes won the south division title. The team went on to sweep the Boise Hawks in the championship series to claim their second Northwest League crown. The Volcanoes won the Freitas Award as the best short-season Class A baseball franchise. The Volcanoes celebrated their 10th season in Salem-Keizer by ending the regular season with a league record 55 victories, a league record. The team set franchise records of most consecutive games won with 12 and most runs in an inning (10), in the seventh inning of a 19–3 rout of the
Canadians Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
on August 30. In that game, catcher Adam Witter hitting the team's first ever cycle. The Volcanoes capped the 2006 season by defeating the Boise Hawks, three games to one, winning the league championship. Salem-Keizer broke their own record for wins in a season, finishing the season with a 57–19 mark, a .750 overall record; the best in baseball that year. They won their second consecutive championship in a row by defeating the
Tri-City Dust Devils The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home ga ...
, three games to one. The team was honored with the Best Short-Season and Best Overall Team in the 2007 Minor League Baseball Awards. The Volcanoes finished 2008 with third consecutive west division title. In an effort to three-peat as Northwest League champions, the team came up short a dropped the championship series to the
Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...
. Salem-Keizer posted a 49–27 record to win its fifth straight division title. Led by a pitching staff that recorded a 0.69 ERA over the four-game set, the Volcanoes defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils to with the league championship. In the first decade of the new millennium the Volcanoes made an unprecedented six postseason appearances, winning four Northwest League championships. In 2013, the Volcanoes won the south division title, but lost to Boise in the division series. After a five-year drought, Salem-Keizer returned to the postseason in 2019 by winning the first half south division. The Volcanoes were defeated in the division series by the eventual league champion
Hillsboro Hops The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League as an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. ...
. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the 2020 Minor League Baseball season was cancelled. Following the cancelled season,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
took direct control of Minor League Baseball. The Northwest League was elevated to the
High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...
classification and contracted to six teams. The Volcanoes were not extended an invitation to continue as a franchise affiliated with a major league organization. The team, however, has plans to continue in some other form, such as
collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
or independent baseball, in 2021. The team was one of 22 teams slated to join the MILB "Copa de Diversion" in 2020, playing under the identity "Campesinos de Salem-Keizer." On January 26, 2021, the team announced the formation of a new professional independent league called the Mavericks League. It is a four-team league consisting of the Volcanoes and Campesinos de Salem-Keiser (founding members), as well as two returning teams from the past, the Salem Senators (founded in the 1940s) and the Portland Mavericks (founded in the 1970s).


Ballpark

The Volcanoes play at Volcanoes Stadium located in Keizer, Oregon. The facility was built in less than a year, in time for the debut of the Volcanoes, on a tract of land adjacent to
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
just northwest of the Keizer interchange. The stadium seats 4,252. In 1999, the American Institute of Architects honored the Volcanoes with a design award for the stadium. Volcanoes Stadium also hosts all five of Oregon's state high school baseball championship games. In 1998, the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...
played its spring Green-White game in the stadium in early May.


Baseball in the Salem Area

The Salem-Keizer area has been home to professional baseball since 1940, when the
Salem Senators The Salem Senators are the longest lasting name used by several minor league baseball teams based in Salem in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team name derived from Salem being the capital of Oregon. The team was founded in 1940. The current incar ...
(an homage to Salem's role as Oregon's capital) were formed as a member of the Western International League (WIL). When the WIL reformed into the current Northwest League (NWL) in 1955, the Senators were a charter member of the new circuit. The Salem franchise played as the Senators until 1960, when it became a Class A affiliate of the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
and adopted the parent club's nickname. The Salem Dodgers continued to play until the 1965 season, after which the franchise was dormant for 17 years. In 1977, former Stockton Ports owner/manager Carl Thompson purchased the Salem franchise and put it back on the field as an NWL member and Dodgers farm club. The revived Senators played until after the 1981 season, when the California Angels became the team's parent club. The 1982 Angels captured the first NWL championship by a Salem-area franchise, and became the first NWL champion with a losing regular-season record, a distinction which lasted until 2005. The Salem Angels shifted their major-league affiliation and nickname back to the Dodgers after the 1987 season. The Dodgers played in Salem for two seasons, with future major-league star
Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007. He currently serves as the manager of the Italian national baseball te ...
on the team's 1989 roster. In 1990, owners moved the Salem Dodgers to
Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninc ...
, mainly due to lack of adequate facilities. The Salem club had played its home games at the
Chemeketa Community College Chemeketa Community College is a public community college in Salem, Oregon, with a campus in McMinnville, and education centers in Dallas, Brooks, and Woodburn. In addition, the college has a Center for Business and Industry in downtown Salem ...
field, which lacked a grandstand, permanent concession stands and other amenities. It would be seven years before pro baseball returned to the Salem-Keizer metropolitan area.


Season-by-season record


Notable alumni

*
Joe Biagini Joseph Carlo Biagini (born May 29, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs. The San Francisco Giants se ...
, MLB Relief Pitcher * Hunter Bishop, Minors Outfielder, first round draft pick *
Emmanuel Burriss Emmanuel Allen Burriss (born January 17, 1985) is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies. He is a switch-h ...
, MLB/Minors Second Baseman * Kervin Castro (born 1999), pitcher *
Brandon Crawford Brandon Michael Crawford (born January 21, 1987) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford played college baseball for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). H ...
, MLB Shortstop *
Steven Duggar Steven Michael Duggar (born November 4, 1993), nicknamed Duggy, is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Texas ...
(born 1993), MLB outfielder *
Kevin Frandsen Kevin Vincent Frandsen (born May 24, 1982) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional baseball utility player. Frandsen played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Philadelph ...
, MLB Second Baseman *
Conor Gillaspie Conor Michael Gillaspie (born July 18, 1987) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim between 2008 and 2017. Early life Gillaspie ...
, MLB/Minors Third Baseman *
Brian Horwitz Brian Jeffery Horwitz, nicknamed "The Rabbi", (born November 7, 1982) is an American former baseball outfielder who played for the San Francisco Giants in 2008, and won two minor league batting titles. Baseball career High school A native of San ...
, MLB/Minors Outfielder *
Joe Nathan Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cu ...
, MLB Relief Pitcher *
Travis Ishikawa Travis Takashi Ishikawa (born September 24, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates. Ishikawa has also ...
, MLB First Baseman *
Noah Lowry Noah Ryan Lowry (born October 10, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2007. College and the MLB Draft Lowry was first drafted out of Nordhof ...
, MLB Starting Pitcher *
Tim Lincecum Timothy Leroy Lincecum ( ; born June 15, 1984), nicknamed "The Freak", "The Franchise", "The Freaky Franchise" and "Big Time Timmy Jim", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San ...
, MLB Starting Pitcher *
Joe Panik Joseph Matthew Panik (born October 30, 1990) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and Miami Marlins. Panik was an A ...
, MLB Second Baseman *
Buster Posey Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey III (born March 27, 1987) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Posey spent his entire twelve-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the San Francisco Giants, from 2009 until his retirement at ...
, MLB Catcher *
Ryan Vogelsong Ryan Andrew Vogelsong (born July 22, 1977), nicknamed "Vogey", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates and in Nippon Professional Baseball (N ...
, MLB Starting Pitcher *
Pablo Sandoval Pablo Emilio Sandoval Reyes (born August 11, 1986) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball third baseman for the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, ...
, MLB Third Baseman *
Kurt Ainsworth Kurt Harold Ainsworth (born September 9, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB) and went to Louisiana State University. Ainsworth als ...
, MLB/Minors Starting Pitcher *
Jesse Foppert Jesse William Foppert (; born July 10, 1980) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. High school and collegiate career Foppert attended San Rafael High School where he was a two-time all-MCAL player as a shortstop. He then went to th ...
, MLB/Minors Starting Pitcher * Sergio Romo, MLB Relief Pitcher * Dan Runzler, MLB Relief Pitcher *
Jonathan Sánchez Jonathan Omar Sánchez (born November 19, 1982), nicknamed "The Kid" and "The Comeback Kid", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He is one of only three Puerto Rican players to throw a no-hitter game in MLB, the others bein ...
, MLB Starting Pitcher *
Nate Schierholtz Nathan John "Nate" Schierholtz (born February 15, 1984) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2007–2012), Philadelphia Phillies (2012), Chicago Cubs ...
, MLB Outfielder *
Lance Niekro Lance William Niekro ( ; born January 29, 1979) is a baseball coach and former first baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the Florida Southern Moccasins. He played college baseball at Florida Southern for coach Chuck Anderson from 1 ...
, MLB First Baseman Since 1997, 84 former Volcanoes have played in the major leagues. Two former Volcanoes also played in the inaugural
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
:
Joe Nathan Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cu ...
(U.S.) and
Jonathan Sánchez Jonathan Omar Sánchez (born November 19, 1982), nicknamed "The Kid" and "The Comeback Kid", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He is one of only three Puerto Rican players to throw a no-hitter game in MLB, the others bein ...
(Puerto Rico).


References


External links


Salem-Keizer Volcanoes official websiteMavericks League official website
{{Authority control Baseball teams established in 1997 Keizer, Oregon San Francisco Giants minor league affiliates
Volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
1997 establishments in Oregon Northwest League teams Professional baseball teams in Oregon