Portland Beavers

Portland Beavers Founded in 1903 Portland, Oregon
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-Level
Triple-A Class B (1918)
Minor League affiliations
Pacific Coast League Pacific Conference - North Division Pacific Coast International League (1918)
Major League affiliations
San Diego Padres
Name
Portland Beavers (1906-Present)
Ballpark
PGE Park Vaughn Street Park
Minor League titles
League titles
Division titles	2004
Owner(s)/Operated by: Shortstop, LLC
Manager: Randy Ready
General Manager: Merritt Paulson

The Portland Beavers are a minor league baseball team that, along with the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Oaks, Sacramento Solons, San Francisco Seals, and Seattle Rainiers, was a charter member of the Pacific Coast League, which was founded in 1903. Along with Sacramento, Portland is one of the two cities among the original franchises that still has a team in the PCL, the others having been taken over by major league baseball franchises. The original Portland Beavers (now the Colorado Springs Sky Sox) began play in the PCL in 1903, being known variously as the Browns, Giants, Ducks, and Webfooters (Oregon is associated with ducks due to the state's significant annual rainfall)[1] before deciding on the name Beavers in 1906. (Oregon is the "Beaver State".) At the end of the 1917 season, the original franchise was relocated to Sacramento, California. In the 1940s and 1950s, the franchise was occasionally known as the "Lucky Beavers." The Beavers played at 12,000-seat Vaughn Street Park, also known as "Lucky Beaver Stadium", at NW Vaughn Street and NW 24th Avenue. They won their first PCL pennant in 1906, finishing 19½ games over runner-up Seattle. Portland also won pennants in 1910, 1911, 1913, and 1914. After the 1914 season, the team went into a tailspin that lasted over a decade. With America’s entry into World War I, restrictions were placed on travel, such that the Beavers even withdrew from the PCL for the 1918 season, playing instead in the Class B Pacific Coast International League, but re-entered the PCL a year later with the second version of the Beavers (now the Las Vegas 51s). It wasn’t until 1932, however, that the team won its next PCL flag, with an offense that led the league in hitting. The team won the pennant again in 1936, finishing but 1½ games over runner-up Oakland, then winning the postseason series to capture the crown.

"Boomer," mascot of the Portland Beavers

The 1936 title would be the last for the early PCL Beavers. For the following 36 seasons, the Beavers finished high enough to make the playoffs only six times. The team finished second once (1944) and third four times (1947, 1956, 1964, and 1967). Usually the team finished well into the second division. In 1956, the Beavers left the now-demolished Vaughn Street Park to move into 25,000-seat Multnomah Stadium, eventually renamed Civic Stadium. Throughout most of the 1960s, the Beavers were the AAA affiliate of the American League Cleveland Indians, nurturing such future stars as "Sudden" Sam McDowell, Lou "Mad Dog" Piniella, and Luis "El Gigante" Tiant. Later major league affiliations included Minnesota and Philadelphia. After 1972, in which the Beavers drew fewer than 92,000 fans for the entire season, the team left Portland for Spokane. The Class A Portland Mavericks filled the void left by the departure of the Beavers. The Mavericks played in the short-season Northwest League, with a schedule running from mid-June through August. A third version of the Beavers rejoined the PCL in 1978 and played in Civic Stadium through 1992. In 1983, the new Beavers won the PCL pennant, the first for Portland in 47 years. Though finishing fourth overall that year, the Beavers defeated the Edmonton Trappers to win the Northern Division title, then bested the Albuquerque Dukes in the finals to capture the flag. After the 1993 season, Beavers owner Joe Buzas moved the team to Salt Lake City, Utah, where they became the Salt Lake Buzz, and later the Stingers. Their current nickname is the Bees. Once again, the departure of the PCL brought the return of the short-season Northwest League. Following their inaugural season in 1993, the Class A Bend Rockies relocated to the now available market of Portland in 1994. The Portland Rockies played in the Rose City for the next seven seasons and served an important role for the city, whose demand for a major league team was growing. Portland's support for the Rockies paved the way for the return of AAA baseball in 2001. Following the 2000 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres swapped AAA teams. The Albuquerque Dukes (a charter franchise of the PCL under the name Los Angeles Angels) moved to Portland, and became the fourth PCL team to be know as the Beavers, as the San Diego Padres affiliate. As part of the relocation agreement, Civic Stadium was renovated in 2000 and renamed PGE Park. The Dodgers took control of the Padres' Las Vegas Stars, who would be renamed the 51's. The Portland Rockies would move up the Columbia River to Pasco and become the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2001. In 2007, owner Merritt Paulson announced that he is considering changing the name of the team^[1] - to prevent confusion with the Oregon State University Beavers, whose baseball team won the national championships in 2006 and 2007. However, due to negative fan reactions, he has announced the team will remain the Portland Beavers, but still might change their logo and/or color scheme.^[2]

Current Roster

References

• O'Neal, Bill. The Pacific Coast League 1903-1988. Eakin Press, Austin TX, 1990. ISBN 0-89015-776-6.
• Snelling, Dennis. The Pacific Coast League: A Statistical History, 1903-1957 McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC, 1995. ISBN 0-7864-0045-5.

External links

• Portland Beavers web site
• MadFriars.com
• Collection of historical Beavers photographs, showing "Lucky Beavers" nickname
• Portland Beavers Roster, Splits, and Situational Stats