Reno Silver Sox (1988-1992)

California League (1988-1992)

Background

From the 1950’s until the 1980’s, the non-profit Washoe Youth Foundation operated Reno, Nevada’s long-running franchise in the Class A California League. The team cycled through several Major League parent clubs over the decades but traditionally played under its local name – the Silver Sox – until 1981 when the team adopted the name and logo of its current parent club, the San Diego Padres.

The franchise went through a number of major changes during the late 1980’s. The San Diego Padres pulled out after 13 seasons at the end of the 1987 season. The following year, the Washoe Youth Foundation sold the team to private investors from California after 33 seasons of non-profit operation.

The Co-Op Years

When no Major League sponsor stepped forward to replace San Diego in 1988, Reno took back the traditional Silver Sox name and played the 1988 California League season as a so-called “co-op” club. This dreaded designation, which no longer exists today, was a rare and typically involuntary status of struggling teams with bad ballparks that lacked Major League sponsorship. Co-op clubs were forced to sign free agents off the street on their own dime or accept journeymen loaned out by Major League farm directors who couldn’t find a place in their own organizations for such lightly regarded players.

The 1988 Silver Sox were notably awful even by co-op standards. The team finished 39-103, by far the worst record in all of professional baseball that summer. The franchise changed hands at the end of the season, with the Youth Foundation stepping away.

The Foundation took back the historic Silver Sox identity for the 1988 season and managed to cobble together a truly wretched independent club that finished 39-103. At the end of the 1988 season, the Foundation sold the club to private owners after 34 years of non-profit operation.

The Silver Sox remained an independent (non-affiliated) club for the next three seasons, though the team’s performance improved considerably. The 1990 club even eked out a winning record (71-68) with a manager and a dozen players provided through a co-op deal with the Cleveland Indians.

Final Season & Aftermath

Heading into 1992, the Silver Sox finally acquired a full Major League player development contract for the first time since 1987. The Oakland A’s would become Reno’s parent club that summer.

Local fans responded with the second highest attendance (105,346) in Reno’s 37-year run in the California League. But it wasn’t enough to keep the team. On December 1st, 1992 the Silver Sox announced they would move to Riverside, California for the 1993 season.

In the late 1990’s and into the 2000’s, Reno hosted a succession of lower-profile independent pro teams, including the Chukars (1996-1998), the Blackjacks (1999) and a re-boot of the Silver Sox (2006-2008).

Baseball in Reno experience a massive revival in 2009 with the opening of the 9,000-seat, $50 million Aces Ballpark and the arrival of the Class AAA Reno Aces, top farm club of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Trivia

• On May 5th, 1991, Silver Sox first baseman Dodd Johnson collected three hits in a single inning during a 15-run outburst against the High Desert Mavericks. Johnson homered, doubled, singled, drove in 5 runs and scored twice during the game’s third inning.
• During the 1991 season, the Silver Sox set an undesirable record by using the most players in a single season in California League history. 60 different men suited up for the co-op Silver Sox in 1991. The club sold the contracts of seven of these players to Major League organizations during the season.²1992 Reno Silver Sox Program
• Silver Sox President and co-owner Jerry Leider (1989-1992) was a motion picture and television produced who oversaw 1970’s television series such as Kung Fu and Wonder Woman and produced the 1980 Neil Diamond film The Jazz Singer.

Reno Silver Sox Shop

Links

California League Media Guides

California League Programs

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