Yakima Bears

Yakima Bears
1990–2012
Yakima, Washington
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Previous Short-Season A (1990-2012)
Minor league affiliations
League Northwest League (1990-2012)
Division Eastern Division
Major league affiliations
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles 1996, 2000
Division titles 1991, 1994, 1996, 2000
Team data
Previous names
 Yakima Bears (1990-2012)
Previous parks

The Yakima Bears were a minor league baseball team in Yakima, Washington. They were a Short-Season A classification team in the Northwest League and had been a farm team of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2001 until moving to Hillsboro, Oregon after the 2012 season and becoming the Hillsboro Hops. The Bears were previously affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers from the team's creation in 1990 when the Salem Dodgers were moved to Yakima. The Bears played their home games at Yakima County Stadium.

History

The history of baseball in Yakima stretches back to 1920 with the short-lived Yakima Indians in the Northwest League's original form as the Northwest International League. The Indians lasted only two seasons, closing in 1921 as the NIL became the Western International League.

Yakima re-entered the WIL in 1937 as the Yakima Pippins, reflecting Washington's apple-growing heritage, lasting until the 1941 season due to World War II. In 1946, as the WIL resumed play, Yakima again fielded a team, this time named the Stars. Renaming themselves the Packers for the 1948 season, the team finally settled on the Bears in 1949, lasting through the reformation of the WIL into the Northwest League, as the Bears became a charter member of the NWL in the 1955 season.

The Bears' time in the early years of the NWL were fruitful, as they won six NWL titles in nine years (1956, 1958-'60, 1963, and 1964). In 1965, the team renamed itself for the last time as the Yakima Braves due to an agreement with the Atlanta Braves, which they were affiliated with at the time, but the team was no longer in Yakima at the end of the 1966 season.

In 1990, Yakima again fielded a team in the Northwest League when the Dodgers moved from Salem after the 1989 season, bringing with them their affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2001, the Bears changed their affiliation to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Relocation to Hillsboro

The Yakima Bears had been frustrated by the lack of progress on a new stadium that would meet minor league standards, and a declining local economy.[1] On May 13, 2011, the city of Vancouver, Washington presented a proposal for a new ballpark to be built on the Clark College campus, ready to host the Yakima Bears franchise for the 2012 season.[2] After that deal fell through, the team received an offer sheet from Hillsboro, Oregon, in June 2012 with plans to start play there in 2013.[3]

On October 16, 2012, the new team was announced as the Hillsboro Hops.

Notable ex-Bears

References

  1. ↑ Courtney, Ross (May 27, 2011). "Bad news, Bears: Team takes one step closer to relocation". Yakima Herald-Republic. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  2. ↑ Fentress, Aaron (13 May 2011). "Single-A Yakima Bears baseball team could land in Vancouver by 2012". The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon).
  3. ↑ Theen, Andrew (June 6, 2012). "Hillsboro sets stage for baseball's return to the Portland metro area". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

External links