Tombstone
Born: 1969 – Affiliation change from Huron Phillies
Folded: Postseason 1970
First Game: June 22, 1969 (W 10-5 @ Aberdeen Pheasants)
Last Game: September 6, 1970 (W 11-3 @ Aberdeen Pheasants)
Northern League Championships: None
Stadium
Memorial Park Stadium
Opened:
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Greater Sports, Inc. (Dr. C.C. Lardinois, et al.)
Major League Affiliation: Chicago Cubs
Attendance
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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007. Pages 547 – 551.
Background
The small city of Huron, South Dakota (pop.14,299 in 1970) hosted professional baseball in the Short Season Class A Northern League from 1965 through 1970. From 1965 through 1968, the Huron Phillies were the first step on the development ladder for teenage prospects in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. When the Phillies pulled out after four seasons in 1968, the Chicago Cubs took over as Huron’s parent club for two final summers in 1969 and 1970.
During the Cubs era, Huron produced six future Major League players. The most accomplished was pitcher Rick Reuschel, who paced the Huron staff with 9 victories as a 21-year old rookie in 1970. “Big Daddy” would go to win 214 games in a 19-year Major League career and is a member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame. Reuschel was the last Northern League-era Huron ballplayer active in professional baseball when he made his final Major League appearance for the San Francisco Giants as a 42-year old in 1991.
Huron withdrew from the Northern League following the 1970 season. The circuit itself closed its doors after the 1971 campaign. Pro baseball would return to Huron only once more, with the short-lived Huron Heaters independent team that played during the summer of 1994.
Huron Cubs Shop
Links
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