Tombstone
Born: 1955 – Affiliation change from Boise Pilots
Folded: 1963
First Game: April 21, 1955 (L 6-4 @ Magic Valley Cowboys)
Last Game: September 2, 1963 (L 5-4 @ Magic Valley Cowboys)
Pioneer League Champions: 1956, 1958 & 1960
Stadium
Braves Field
Opened: 1939
Demolished: 1963
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners: Capital City Baseball Inc. (Sib Kleffner, et al.)
Major League Affiliation: Milwaukee Braves
Attendance
Tilting your mobile device may offer better viewing.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (1st ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 1993
Background
The Boise Braves were a Class C farm club of the Milwaukee Braves from 1955 until 1963. (The Idahoans were Class A for their final season following the 1963 re-organization of Minor League Baseball).
Notable players who came through Boise during this era included:
- Lee Maye (Boise ’55)
- Bob Uecker (Boise ’56 & ’58)
- Tony Cloninger (Boise ’59)
- Sandy Alomar Sr. (Boise ’62)
- Clay Carroll (Boise ’62)
In 1960, a 24-year old infielder named Bill Lucas hit .311 for Boise in 123 games. Lucas never made the Majors as a player. But in 1976 he became the first African-American general manager in Major League Baseball with the Atlanta Braves. Technically, Lucas’ title was Director of Player Personnel, as Braves owner Ted Turner retained the General Manager title, if not the duties, for himself. Tragically his time with the Braves was short. Lucas died of a massive heart attack on May 4th, 1979 at the young age of 43.
Demise
The team encountered financial problems by the early 1960’s. In August 1963 local shareholders known as Capital City Baseball Inc. notified the Pioneer League that the franchise planned to disband at the end of the 1963 season. A few months after the Braves final campaign ended, the Idaho Department of Fish & Game purchased the Braves’ former ballpark and demolished it. Boise went without professional baseball for more than a decade until the formation of the Pioneer League’s Boise A’s in 1975.
Boise Braves Shop
In Memoriam
Bill Lucas (Boise ’60) died of cardiac arrest and cerebral hemorrhage on May 4, 1979 at age 43. New York Times obituary.
Al Unser, who managed Boise in 1962, passed on July 7, 1995 at the age of 82.
Lee Maye (Boise ’57) passed away of pancreatic cancer at age 67 on July 17, 2002.
Links
##
One Response
bobby king recently died. a long time part of Braves baseball.. and i think of walt lowe who used to do radio broadcasts..never travelled for road games but called them from ticker tape.