Tag: One-Year Wonders

1995 Long Beach Barracuda Baseball Scorecard from the Western Baseball League

Long Beach Barracuda

July 14, 2022

The Long Beach Barracuda were one of eight founding members of the independent Western Baseball League during the summer of 1995. The Barracuda, who played at Blair Field, were Long Beach’s first professional team since the Beachcombers of 1913. The club was strong on the field under the direction of former American League Most Valuable Player and a circus behind the scenes. By the end of the summer, the Barracuda had declared bankruptcy, fought off a takeover bid from actress Heather Locklear, changed their name and won the league championship.

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Rochester Athletics

July 4, 2022

The Rochester Athletics were a Minnesota-based minor league baseball team that played part of one season in the Class B Three-I League during the summer of 1958. The A’s served as a farm team for Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Athletics. Several Rochester A’s players eventually advanced to the Major Leagues. The best was 22-year old shortstop Dick Howser. With attendance lagging around 500 souls per game at midseason, the club moved 44 miles east to Winona and finished out the season as the Winona A’s.

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Stockton Mariners

May 19, 2022

The Stockton Mariners were a One-Year Wonder that played in Minor League Baseball’s Class A California League during the summer of 1978. During a postseason franchise and affiliation shuffle, the Stockton club changed hands and went back to the city’s traditional “Stockton Ports” identity prior to the 1979 California League season.

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Illustration of Jose Canseco on the cover of a 1989 Tacoma Tigers baseball program from the Pacific Coast League

Tacoma Tigers (1980-1994)

May 8, 2022

The Tigers were Tacoma, Washington’s Pacific Coast League entry for fifteen summers between 1980 and 1994. Contrary to what a modern day reader might deduce from the name, the Tacoma Tigers never served as a farm team of Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers. Rather, after cycling through four different identity changes during the 1970’s the team’s local owners decided in 1980 to turn back the clock and honor the Tacoma minor league clubs that traditionally played under the Tigers name in various leagues between 1901 and 1951.

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1972 Anderson Giants baseball program from the Western Carolinas League

Anderson Giants

April 20, 2022

The Anderson Giants were a South Carolina-based minor league baseball team that played one season in the Class A Western Carolinas League during the summer of 1972. Despite the club’s chosen name, the Anderson Giants were not a farm team of the San Francisco Giants, but rather a so-called “co-op” team made up of low-level prospects loaned out by various Major League organizations. Co-op teams were typically weak performers and the Anderson Giants were no exception, finishing their only season in last place.

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