Portland, Or.  1/17/2009 – The Portland River Hawks

Every year in the Spring, there is a phenomenon in the modern world known as the lure of the baseball stadium. Beginning in the early 1800’s, Americans began informally playing baseball and they formed teams, following their own local rules. By the 1860s, the sport had become unrivaled in popularity and baseball was being described as America's "national pastime." 

You can’t talk about Baseball in Portland without mentioning some of the world class players who played here: There was Joe Tinker, Satchel Paige, Lou Pinella, Sam McDowell, Del Baker, George Freese, Eddie Basinski, Jim Thorpe, Luis Tiant, Scott Brosius, Kent Bottenfield … The list goes on and on. 

The first known organized baseball team in the Northwest was recorded on May 28, 1866. On this day the Pioneer Baseball Club of East Portland was created. The teams were comprised of merchants, doctors, lawyers and farmers from rural Portland. The club was considered a "gentlemen's" group.  

The new baseball park opened on May 22, 1901 and the face of baseball in Portland would take on its greatest change. This day marked the beginning of 55 seasons of great baseball in Portland. It was on a rainy Wednesday afternoon when that first game was played at Recreation Park (Vaughn Street Park or simply the Baseball Park). 

It was the place where the Red Sox discovered Ted Williams. It was where the great Joe Tinker first played; it survived a massive 3-alarm fire and numerous floods. It was the heart and soul of the city.  

In 1946, Vaughn Street Park also hosted the short-lived Portland Roses of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association. When the league was formed, Vice President of the league, Jesse Owens took ownership of the Portland Roses. The league was also made up of the Seattle Steelheads, the San Diego Tigers, the Los Angeles White Sox, the San Francisco Sea Lions and the Oakland Larks. Portland won their June 4th opener as 1,500 fans watched. Most of the teams soon found themselves in financial trouble and the Association folded in July 1946. Team members packed their bags and headed home. 

The Beavers didn’t make any major headlines until they moved to Multnomah Stadium (later Civic Stadium and now PGE Park) in 1956. Multnomah Stadium was built in 1926 with a capacity of 28,000 and it was used almost exclusively for football games until 1956. That was the end of the old Vaughn Street Stadium, it simply died of old age. It was razed in 1957. The Beavers transplanted the grass from the old Vaughn Street Stadium to Civic Stadium. However, the grass vanished in 1969 when Civic Stadium was the first outdoor facility to install Astroturf. 

Then Portland rejoined the PCL in 1978 as an expansion team and the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. In 1979, the Pittsburgh Pirates became the parent club of the Beavers. The Philadelphia Phillies become the Beavers’ parent club in 1983. In 1987, the Minnesota Twins became the Beavers’ parent club. Then in 1994, the Beavers moved to Salt Lake City. In 1995, the Bend Rockies of the Single A Northwest League moved to Portland. 

You can read the whole story here PdxHistory.com

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