Provincial Baseball League (1969-1970)
Eastern League (1971-1977)
Tombstone
Born:
Folded: Postseason 1977
First Game:
Last Game: September 6, 1977 (L 11-3 vs. West Haven Yankees)
Eastern League Championships: None
Stadium
Le Stade Municipal de Trois-Rivieres (5,200)11977 West Haven Yankees Program
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner:
Major League Affiliation: Cincinnati Reds
Attendance
Background
Les Aigles de Trois-Rivieres (or the Three Rivers Eagles, in translation) were part of the Eastern League’s expansion into the Province of Quebec in the summer of 1971. Les Aigles joined the Quebec Carnavals to boost the Eastern League’s membership from six to eight clubs.
Both the Aigles and the Quebec City club (previously known as the Indians) were existing organizations that previously played in the Quebec Provincial League, an independent baseball circuit with no formal connection to “organized” Minor League Baseball. The decision by the Aigles and the Indians to join the Eastern League in October 1970 marked the end of the Provincial League, which was left with just three clubs following the moves.
Fueling The Big Red Machine
Les Aigles played in the EL for six seasons, all as the double-A farm club of the Cincinnati Reds, feeding young talent into the famed Big Red Machine of the 1970’s. Rawly Eastwick and Ken Griffey played for Les Aigles during the club’s first summer in 1971. In future seasons players like Joaquin Andujar, Dan Driessen, Ray Knight, Will McEnaney, Ron Oester and Pat Zachry passed through Trois-Rivieres on their way to the Major Leagues.
The Aigles appeared in the Eastern League championship series four times but never claimed the hardware. They lost to the Elmira Royals in their debut season of 1971. And they lost three playoff finals to the West Haven Yankees in 1972, 1976 and 1977.
Demise & Modern Day Revival
Attendance started out strong in Trois-Rivieres with over 100,000 fans passing through the turnstiles at Le Stade Municipal de Trois-Rivieres. But crowds declined precipitously over the course of 1970’s, down to less than 1,000 spectators per game by 1975.
After the 1977 season the Eastern League contracted again, pulling out of both Trois-Rivieres and Quebec City.
In 2013 pro baseball returned to Trois-Rivieres with an expansion club in the independent Can-Am League, which also has a long-standing franchise in Quebec City, along with clubs in the northeastern U.S. In October 2012, the ball club announced that it was reviving the old Aigles identity and rolled out its new primary and secondary logos (below).
Les Aigles de Trois-Rivieres Shop
In Memoriam
Pitcher Joaquin Andujar (Aigles ’72-’73 and ’75) passed away from complications of diabetes on September 8, 2015 in his native Dominican Republic. Andujar was 62 years old. New York Times obituary.
Links
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One Response
This franchise didn’t fold, exactly. Maybe technically. It and the Quebec franchise were transferred to the Southern League, where they became – respectively – the Nashville Sounds and the Memphis Chicks. That’s according to Sounds founder Larry Schmittou.