View source for Vancouver, Washington minor league baseball history

{{Infobox Minor League Baseball
| name =Vancouver, Washington<br /> minor league baseball teams
| firstseason =1904
| lastseason = 1918
| allyears =1904, 1918
| city =Vancouver, Washington
| logo =
| caplogo =
| class level = {{plainlist|
[[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] (1904)<br />[[Class B (baseball)|Class B]] (1918)
}}
| league ={{plainlist|
*[[Oregon State League]] (1904)
*[[Pacific Coast International League]] (1918)
}}
| majorleague = {{plainlist|
None
}}
| nickname ={{plainlist|
*Vancouver Soldiers (1910)
*Vancouver Beavers (1918)
}}
| ballpark =Unknown (1904, 1918)
| classnum = 0
| classchamps =
| leaguenum = 0
| leaguechamps = None
| divisionchamps =
}}
[[Vancouver, Washington]] hosted [[minor league baseball]] teams in the 1904 and 1918 seasons. Vancouver teams played as members of the 1904 [[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] level [[Oregon State League]] and the 1918 Class B level [[Pacific Coast International League]].
[[Baseball Hall of Fame]] member [[Joe McGinnity]] played for the 1918 Vancouver Beavers.
==History==
===1904 Oregon State League===
Minor league baseball began in Vancouver, Washington with the 1904 '''Vancouver Soldiers''', who began play as charter members of the four–team [[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] level [[Oregon State League]], before the franchise was forced to relocate during the season. The Oregon State League began play, with Vancouver joining the teams from [[Eugene, Oregon]] ([[Eugene Blues]]), [[Roseburg, Oregon]] ([[Roseburg Shamrocks]]) and [[Salem, Oregon]] ([[Salem Raglans]]) in the four–team league. Some sources erroneously have the Vancouver Soldiers franchise based in [[Vancouver, Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=f0cb9f35|title=1904 Oregon State League|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1904 Vancouver Soldiers/Albany Rollers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-ORSL1/y-1904|title=1904 Oregon State League (OSL) on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://minorleaguesource.com/oregonstate04.htm|title=Oregon State League|website=minorleaguesource.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1904 - SABR Encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia.sabr.org/wiki/1904 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129221853/https://encyclopedia.sabr.org/wiki/1904 |archive-date=29 January 2022 |access-date=24 November 2024 |website=encyclopedia.sabr.org}}</ref>
On May 18, 1904, the Vancouver Soldiers, with a 3–8 record, moved from Vancouver, Washington to [[Albany, Oregon]]. The team then continued play as the [[Albany Rollers]]. The move was necessary because the Oregon State League was not admitted to the [[Minor league baseball|National Association]] governing body until the league vacated the Vancouver, Washington franchise. The National Association determined that the Vancouver franchise was infringing on another minor league team, as Vancouver was deemed to be in the regional territory of the [[Portland Browns]] of the [[Pacific Coast League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-vr15131/y-1904|title=1904 Vancouver Soldiers/Albany Rollers Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor1-first=Lloyd |editor1-last=Johnson |editor2-first=Miles |editor2-last=Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=[[Baseball America]] |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inlander.com/spokane/baseball-lore-nw-style/Content?oid=2178175|title=Baseball Lore, NW Style|first=Howie|last=Stalwick|website=Inlander}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>
After the Vancouver franchise relocated to Albany, the Oregon State League permanently folded on July 6, 1904. The league folded after both the Eugene and Roseburg franchises folded on July 6. After compiling a 14–16 record while based in Albany, the Vancouver/Albany team finished the season in 3rd place with a 17–24 overall record. Playing under managers Fred Gregory and E.P. Preble, the Vancouver/Albany team finished 9.5 games behind the first place Salem Raglans in the final Oregon State League Standings.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="encyc"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-vr15131/y-1904|title=1904 Vancouver Soldiers/Albany Rollers minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref>
===1918 Pacific Coast International League===
Minor league baseball returned to Vancouver, Washington in 1918. The 1918 '''Vancouver Beavers''' joined as charter members of the [[Pacific Coast International League]], during the season. The Pacific International League had formed as a six–team [[Class B (baseball)|Class B]] level league, evolving from the 1917 [[Northwestern League (1905–1917)|Northwestern League]]. After the season had begun, the Vancouver, British Columbia franchise relocated to Vancouver, Washington. On June 25, 1918, the Vancouver, British Columbia based [[Vancouver Beavers]] moved to Vancouver, Washington with a 26–28 record, keeping the team "Beavers" moniker. Previously, the [[Tacoma Tigers]] and [[Spokane Indians]] franchises had folded on May 26, 1918, leaving the league with four teams.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="encyc"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1918 Vancouver Beavers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-vb15123/y-1918|title=1918 Vancouver Beavers minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref>
Vancouver, B.C. owner [[Bob Brown (baseball, born 1876)|Robert Brown]] had disagreements over the travel costs of the league and had sought to change the league schedule, offering teams money to play their home games in Vancouver B.C. The Pacific Coast International League stripped the team from Brown and relocated the franchise, despite the team drawing well in Vancouver B.C.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2020/8/13/21365922/war-pandemic-and-seattle-baseball-in-1918-part-2|title=War, Pandemic, and Seattle Baseball in 1918: Part 2|first=Amanda|last=Lane|date=August 13, 2020|website=Lookout Landing}}</ref>
Shortly after the Vancouver, Washington franchise began play, the Pacific Coast International League folded. On July 7, 1918, the Vancouver franchise had an 0–11 record after the relocation at the time the league folded. The combined Vancouver teams finished the 1918 season with an overall record of 26–39 to finish in fourth place. Playing under managers [[Bob Brown (baseball, born 1876)|Robert Brown]] and James A. Hamilton in the two locations, the team finished 16.0 games behind the first place [[Seattle Giants]] in the final standings. The continuation of [[World War I]], the [[influenza pandemic|Spanish flu pandemic]], as well as local factory work times all contributed to the demise of the 1918 league. The league reformed in 1919 as the [[Northwest International League]] with a Vancouver B.C franchise, but without a Vancouver, Washington franchise.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-NWES4/y-1918|title=1918 Pacific Coast International League (PCIL) minor league baseball Standings on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2020/8/5/21194649/world-war-one-spanish-flu-pandemic-seattle-baseball-1918|title=War, Pandemic, and Seattle Baseball in 1918|first=Amanda|last=Lane|date=August 5, 2020|website=Lookout Landing}}</ref><ref name="encyc"/>
[[Baseball Hall of Fame]] member [[Joe McGinnity]] played for the 1918 Vancouver Beavers, compiling a 2–7 record with a 3.30 ERA at age 47.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mcginn001jos|title=Joe McGinnity Minor Leagues Statistics & History|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>
Vancouver, Washington has not hosted another minor league team.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/sports/places/m-4210687|title=Vancouver, Washington sports teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref>
In 2011, talks took place to relocate the [[Class A (baseball)|Class A]] level [[Yakima Bears]] franchise to Vancouver, Washington. The Yakima Bears franchise eventually relocated to [[Oregon]] and became the [[Hillsboro Hops]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2011/jul/14/plans-minor-league-baseball-vancouver-go-ahead/|title=Plans for minor league baseball in Vancouver show progress|website=The Columbian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/2012/06/hillsboro_sets_stage_for_baseb.html|title=Hillsboro sets stage for baseball's return to the Portland metro area|date=June 6, 2012|website=oregonlive}}</ref>
==The ballpark==
The name of the home ballpark for Vancouver minor league teams is unknown.<ref name="auto1"/>
==Timeline==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;"
! Year(s) !! # Yrs.  !! Team !! Level !! League
|-
|1904|| 1 || Vancouver Soldiers || |[[Class D (baseball)|Class D]]||[[Oregon State League]]
|-
|1918|| 1  || Vancouver Beavers||[[Class B (baseball)|Class B]] ||[[Pacific Coast International League]]
|-
|}
==Year-by-year records==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;"
! Year(s) !! Record  !! Place !! Managers !! Playoffs/Notes
|- align=center
| 1904 || 17–24 || 3rd || Fred Gregory / E.P. Preble|| Moved to Albany (3–8) May 18<br/>League folded July 8
|- align=center
|
|- align=center
| 1918 || 26–39 || 4th || [[Bob Brown (baseball, born 1876)|Robert Brown]] / James A. Hamilton  || Vancouver, B.C, (26–28) moved to Vancouver, WA June 25<br />League folded July 7
|- align=center
|}
==Notable alumni==
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
===Baseball Hall of Fame alumni===
[[Joe McGinnity]] (1918)
===Notable alumni===
*[[Ray French (baseball)|Ray French]] (1918)
*[[Lafayette Henion]] (1918)
*[[Cy Neighbors]] (1918)
*[[Kid Willson]] (1918)
{{Div col end}}
===See also===
[[:Category:Vancouver Beavers players|Vancouver Beavers players]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
*[http://www.attheplate.com/wcbl/1918_1g.html 1918 team photo]
[[Category:Vancouver, Washington]]