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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 incarnation competes in the Mavericks Independent Baseball League.
The Senators were preceded in Salem by the Salem Raglans, who played the 1904 season in the Class D Oregon State League, claiming the championship when the Oregon State League permanently folded during the season. Salem finished with a 27–13 record, 5.5 games ahead of the second place Eugene Blues in the four–team league. The Raglans played their games at the Capital Amateur Athletic Club (C.A.A.C.) Park, which was on the north side of Asylum Avenue (now Center Street NE) near the Asylum (now Oregon State Hospital).[Oregon City Directory, 1905]
On May 1, 1940, the first Senators' game was played at the new 5,000 seat Waters Field, which was also the first professional baseball game in the city. George E. Waters had bought the Class B Bellingham Chinooks franchise from the Western International League and relocated them from Bellingham, Washington, and then built the ballpark for $60,000. It was on the east side of 25th Street SE (bordering the third base line), about a block's length north of the angling Turner Road (later Mission St NE - roughly paralleling the first base line). (If Helms Street were extended east, it would have bordered the first base line.)[1]
A crowd of 4,865 showed up for the first game against the Yakima Pippins, which at the time was the largest sports crowd for an event in Salem. Waters died after the season, and in 1942 his widow sold the team to the Portland Beavers, who used it as a farm team. At the time, the Beavers were in the Pacific Coast League, a near-major league level league. During the 1942 season, player and business manager Al Lightner attempted to sign a convicted murderer serving time at the Oregon State Penitentiary to pitch a game, but Minor League Baseball threatened to ban Lightner if the convict played in the game.
The team went on hiatus from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. After the war, attorney Don Young helped raise $50,000 to buy the team and stadium from the Beavers in 1951.
In 1961, the team was renamed the Dodgers after becoming a farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Players on the Dodgers' teams included future managers Bobby Cox and Jim Lefebvre.
The Salem team ceased operations in 1966, at which time it was still a Class B team. On November 11, 1966, the already-condemned and mostly-wooden Waters Field burned down. A US Post Office and its parking lot stand on the site now.
In 1977, the Salem Senators returned as an independent team in the Class A Northwest League. They lost their first game on June 17 to the Portland Mavericks 9–8. Home games were at Holland Youth Park and then Chemeketa Community College. Founder and owner Carl Thompson was forced to sell the team in August 1978 to a group led by Ben Yates. After the 1981 season, team president Clint Holland signed a development agreement with the California Angels, and the Senators became the Salem Angels for the 1982 season.
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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 incarnation competes in the Mavericks Independent Baseball League.
The Senators were preceded in Salem by the Salem Raglans, who played the 1904 season in the Class D Oregon State League, claiming the championship when the Oregon State League permanently folded during the season. Salem finished with a 27–13 record, 5.5 games ahead of the second place Eugene Blues in the four–team league. The Raglans played their games at the Capital Amateur Athletic Club (C.A.A.C.) Park, which was on the north side of Asylum Avenue (now Center Street NE) near the Asylum (now Oregon State Hospital).[Oregon City Directory, 1905]
On May 1, 1940, the first Senators' game was played at the new 5,000 seat Waters Field, which was also the first professional baseball game in the city. George E. Waters had bought the Class B Bellingham Chinooks franchise from the Western International League and relocated them from Bellingham, Washington, and then built the ballpark for $60,000. It was on the east side of 25th Street SE (bordering the third base line), about a block's length north of the angling Turner Road (later Mission St NE - roughly paralleling the first base line). (If Helms Street were extended east, it would have bordered the first base line.)[1]
A crowd of 4,865 showed up for the first game against the Yakima Pippins, which at the time was the largest sports crowd for an event in Salem. Waters died after the season, and in 1942 his widow sold the team to the Portland Beavers, who used it as a farm team. At the time, the Beavers were in the Pacific Coast League, a near-major league level league. During the 1942 season, player and business manager Al Lightner attempted to sign a convicted murderer serving time at the Oregon State Penitentiary to pitch a game, but Minor League Baseball threatened to ban Lightner if the convict played in the game.
The team went on hiatus from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. After the war, attorney Don Young helped raise $50,000 to buy the team and stadium from the Beavers in 1951.
In 1961, the team was renamed the Dodgers after becoming a farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Players on the Dodgers' teams included future managers Bobby Cox and Jim Lefebvre.
The Salem team ceased operations in 1966, at which time it was still a Class B team. On November 11, 1966, the already-condemned and mostly-wooden Waters Field burned down. A US Post Office and its parking lot stand on the site now.
In 1977, the Salem Senators returned as an independent team in the Class A Northwest League. They lost their first game on June 17 to the Portland Mavericks 9–8. Home games were at Holland Youth Park and then Chemeketa Community College. Founder and owner Carl Thompson was forced to sell the team in August 1978 to a group led by Ben Yates. After the 1981 season, team president Clint Holland signed a development agreement with the California Angels, and the Senators became the Salem Angels for the 1982 season.