| Sioux Falls Pheasants | |
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| Founded in 1993 Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
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| Owner(s)/Operated By: Gary Weckwerth | |
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| Manager: Steve Shirley | |
| Media: KWSN 1230 AM, Sioux Falls Argus Leader | |
| Website: sfpheasants.com/ | |
The Sioux Falls Pheasants are a professional baseball team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. The Pheasants are a member of the North Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 1993 season, the Pheasants have played their home games at Sioux Falls Stadium, commonly known as The Birdcage. Before the 2010 season, the team was called the Sioux Falls Canaries.
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Professional baseball in Sioux Falls dates back at least to 1902, when the original Canaries joined the Iowa-South Dakota League. That team and its league lasted just two seasons. Another team, known variously as the "Soos" as well as the Canaries, was a member of the Dakota League from 1920-1923, then moved to the short-lived Tri-State League in 1924.
The longest-lived Canaries prior to the current team were founded in 1933 as part of the Nebraska State League. They joined the Western League in 1939, then joined the original Northern League when the Western League folded after the 1941 season. The Canaries played in the Northern League in 1942 and again from 1946-1953.
The city was without a Northern League franchise until 1966. Then the Sioux Falls Packers began play, and spent six seasons in the circuit until the league ceased operations following the 1971 campaign.
A handful of independent baseball pioneers revived the Northern League in 1993. Sioux Falls competed in a six-team league, joining the St. Paul Saints, the Rochester Aces, the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks, the Sioux City Explorers and the Duluth-Superior Dukes.
On the field, the Canaries enjoyed their greatest successes in 1994 and 1996. Former major leaguer Pedro Guerrero batted .329 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs for the 1994 Canaries, as the team posted a 47-33 record. Sioux Falls was narrowly beat out by Sioux City in the first half of the season while the "Birds" finished four games out of first in the second half. Chris Powell batted a league-best .357, while Jamie Ybarra paced all league hurlers with 10 wins and 109 strikeouts.
In 1996, the Canaries overcame a 20-22 first half to the season and posted a 24-18 mark over the second half of the campaign. Even then, the team finished three games back of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
New ownership took over the club in 1998 and a steady diet of improvements have followed, including a new manager, new logo and identity system.
The Canaries posted an outstanding season in 2001, going 55-35 and gaining the team's first playoff berth since the league re-emerged in 1993. On July 11, 2001, the Canaries won the first-half title in the South Division in dramatic fashion on the final day of the half. Sioux Falls won 21-7 win over Duluth-Superior in the game that secured its first pennant and its first playoff appearance.
Team owners and city officials hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking in November 1999, kicking off a $5.6 million renovation to Sioux Falls Stadium. The new Birdcage drew national attention on June 2, 2001, as USA Today writer Mel Antonen wrote a feature story on the retrofit. The project drew praise for the integration of an existing facility with more modern elements. Sioux Falls Stadium now features nine luxury suites, a 3,000-square-foot (280 m2) home clubhouse, a group barbecue area and a video wall/scoreboard that features live and recorded video clips as well as animated pieces.
On September 29, 2005, the Canaries left the Northern League, along with the Lincoln Saltdogs, the Sioux City Explorers and the St. Paul Saints to form the American Association for the 2006 season.
Sioux Falls struggled early on in the new league, but everything came together for the Canaries in 2008. They posted their best regular-season record ever at 60-36, and won the first-half North Division championship with a 31-17 mark. The Canaries opened the 2008 playoffs by sweeping rival Sioux City in three games, then took on Grand Prairie for the American Association championship. Sioux Falls took the best-of-5 series three games to one, earning the clinching win in dramatic fashion on a walkoff single in the bottom of the 12th. The Canaries became the first team other than Fort Worth to earn an AAIPB championship.
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