Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks are a minor league baseball team, located in Boise, Idaho. The team is currently a farm team for the Chicago Cubs and play in the Short-Season Class A Northwest League.

History

The team was originally the Tri-Cities Triplets, who played in Richland, Washington for four seasons after moving over from Walla Walla in 1983.^[1] An affiliate of the Texas Rangers for two seasons, they operated as an independent for two more. The Triplets were sold in the fall of 1986 to Diamond Sports and became the Boise Hawks in 1987. Diamond Sports was headed by the Triplets' general manager Mal Fichman.^[2][3] The Hawks continued as an independent for their first three seasons, and joined the California Angels organization in 1990; the Angels were previously affiliated with the Bend Bucks for two seasons. After eleven seasons with the Angels, the Hawks moved their affiliation in 2001 to the Cubs, who were previously affiliated with the Eugene Emeralds for two seasons.

Ballparks

The Hawks play their home games at Memorial Stadium in Garden City. The facility on the banks of the Boise River has a seating capacity of 3,500; it opened in 1989 for the Hawks' third season. The stadium was privately built by an investor group led by Bill Pereira and son Cord Pereira. For their first two seasons (1987–88), the Hawks played their home games at Bill Wigle Field on the campus of Borah High School.

Previous teams

Pioneer League

Starting in 1939, Boise was a longtime member of the Pioneer League. The teams were originally known as the Pilots, and later as the Yankees (1952-53) and Braves (1955-63).^[4] They played in a ballpark about a half mile (0.8 km) east of Bronco Stadium, in Municipal Park in east Boise, now the site of the headquarters of the state's fish & game department. (photo - 1950s) The present-day campus of Boise State University was the site of the original Boise airport until 1940. ^[5] Noted broadcaster Bob Uecker played catcher for the league champion Boise Braves in 1956 and 1958.^[6] The last season of the Pioneer League in Boise was 1963 and the city went 11 summers without minor league baseball.

Northwest League

Boise's original team in the Northwest League was the Boise A's, who debuted in 1975. The new franchise was awarded in 1974 to begin play in 1975, but in the meantime, two NWL teams folded after the 1974 season, New Westminster, B.C., and Lewiston, Idaho.^[7][8] The Lewiston Broncs were an affiliate of the Oakland A's, who shifted their players to Boise for 1975. The Boise A's played their home games at Borah Field and the manager was Tom Trebelhorn, a Bronc player the previous year.^[9][10] The home opener on June 18th drew 1,814 fans for the first pro game in Boise since 1963. ^[11] Fresh from high school, future hall of famer Rickey Henderson played in 46 games for Boise in 1976 and hit .336 as a 17 year-old. ^[12] Even with the exciting Henderson, attendance had fallen dramatically from an average of 800 per home game in 1975 to just 250 in 1976.^[13] After just two seasons, the team left for Medicine Hat in eastern Alberta for the 1977 season, where they joined the Pioneer League as the Medicine Hat A's.^[14] There was no A's affiliate in the NWL in 1977; in 1978 it was the Bend Timber Hawks, in 1979 the Medford A's.

After a summer without pro ball, the independent Boise Buckskins debuted in the Northwest League in 1978 at Borah Field,^[13] but quickly folded after a 23-49 season, poor financial performance, low attendance, inability to meet payroll, ^[15] and the failure to garner an affiliation with a major league club. The Philadelphia Phillies chose to put their NWL team in Bend in 1979, rather than Boise or Salem.^[16] Boise went without minor league baseball for eight summers until the Hawks arrived in 1987.

Ownership and media

The Boise Hawks are owned by Boise Baseball LLC, chairman/CEO is Neil Leibman, a businessman from Houston, Texas. Radio broadcasts of Hawk games are carried on 1350 KTIK-AM.

Year-by-year record

Notable players

• Garret Anderson - (1990)
• Troy Percival - (1990-1991)
• Jarrod Washburn - (1995)
• John Lackey - (1999)
• Francisco Rodríguez - (1999)

Roster

Team affiliations

References

1. ^ Tri-City Herald - Tri-City Americans can learn lesson or two from Fichman - 1988-07-24 - p.D1
2. ^ Tri-City Herald - Trips sale final to Diamond Sports - 1986-11-10 - p. C3
3. ^ Tri-City Herald] - It's official: Triplets now Boise Hawks - 1986-11-21 - p.D2
4. ^ baseball-reference.com - minor league franchises - Boise, Idaho - accessed 2011-10-10
5. ^ hmdb.org - Airmail Service - ID # 72 - accessed 2011-12-05
6. ^ baseball-reference.com - Bob Uecker - minor league statistics - accessed 2011-10-16
7. ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Directors’ vote kills Bronc baseball – 1975-01-10 - p.B1
8. ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Broncs’ demise no sudden thing – 1975-01-11 - p.B1
9. ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Pro ball returns to Boise after absence of 11 years – 1975-06-18 - p.B1
10. ^ baseball-reference - Tom Trebelhorn - minor league statistics - accessed 2011-10-16
11. ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Boise drops opener before 1,814 fans - 2011-06-19 - p.B1
12. ^ baseball reference.com - 1976 Boise A's - team statistics - accessed 2011-10-16
13. ^ ^{a b} Lewiston Morning Tribune - Boise board tables 'Buckskins' - 1977-09-14 p.B3
14. ^ Spokane Daily Chronicle – Teams added for Pioneer – 1976-10-14 - p.34
15. ^ Spokesman-Review - Buckskins continue sans pay - 1978-08-22 - p.15
16. ^ Lewiston Morning Tribune - Boise baseball team pulls out - 1979-02-10 - p.B2

External links

• Boise Hawks.com - official site
• baseball-reference.com - teams history - Boise, Idaho