Tombstone
Born: 1989
Moved: December 1991 (Lethbridge Mounties)1ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Pocatello move to Canada approved by Pioneer League”. The Montana Standard (Butte, MT). December 11, 1991
First Game: June 20, 1990 (L 11-8 @ Butte Copper Kings)
Last Game: August 29, 1991 (L 9-6 @ Salt Lake City Trappers)
Pioneer League Championships: None
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners: Dave White Sr., et al.
Major League Affiliation: Co-op
Attendance
Background
Following the 1989 Pioneer League season, the San Francisco Giants terminated their Player Development Contract with the league’s Pocatello, Idaho franchise. During this period of uncertainty, the ball club also changed hands from one set of out-of-state owners to another. Dave White Sr., the mayor of Riverbank, California, purchased the team from previous owners John Wendel and William McKee., a pair of Minor League Baseball industry veterans who had owned the Pocatello club for barely six months themselves.
Giants to Pioneers
Unable to secure a new Major League affiliation to replace San Francisco, White was compelled to change the name of the club from the Pocatello Giants to the Gate City Pioneers for the 1990 season. The Pioneers played the 1990 season as a so-called “co-op” team, forced to cobble together a roster from the table scraps offered by various Major League organizations. The Pioneers’ primary patron during the 1990 season was the Montreal Expos, who supplied manager Pat Creech and a handful of players.
Co-op teams are usually dreadful and the Pioneers dutifully honored this tradition. The Pios finished 15-55 on the season and their .214 winning percentage was the worst in all of Organized Baseball during the summer of 1990.
21-year old pitcher Kevin Foster (1-7, 4.58 ERA), a 29th round draft pick of the Expos in the 1987 draft, was the only player from the 1990 Gate City Pioneers to advance to the Major Leagues. Foster would play parts of 7 seasons with the Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers between 1993 and 2001. In his best year, he started 28 games and won 12 for the 1995 Chicago Cubs. Tragically, Foster died of cancer at age 39 in 2008.
Move To Canada & Aftermath
For the 1991 season, the club adjusted its name to the Pocatello Pioneers. The team again failed to secure a Player Development Contract with a Major League patron and once again finished in last place with a 21-46 record. In late 1991, owner Dave White moved the club to Lethbridge, Alberta in Canada ahead of the 1992 Pioneer League season.
The Pioneer League returned briefly to Pocatello in 1993 with the Pocatello Posse. The Posse lasted only one summer and pro baseball has never returned to the Idaho city since the Posse moved to Ogden, Utah following the 1993 season.
Pocatello Pioneers Shop
In Memoriam
Pitcher Kevin Foster (Pioneers ’90) passed away following a battle with renal cell carcinoma on October 11, 2008. The 7-year Major League veteran was just 39 years old. Chicago Tribune obituary.
Links
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One Response
I played there that year. Tyrone Horne was on that team, he later hit four home runs in a game (cycle HRs) only pro to ever do it.