The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL.
Franchise history Many baseball teams have been known as the Portland Beavers; the most recent club, which began operating in 2001, recognized the history of all previous incarnations as its own, stating it was established in 1903, the same year the Pacific Coast League was established. The "Beavers" originated in 1906 following a newspaper contest to rename the existing Portland team that had been created in 1901 when a group of Portland businessmen founded the Portland Baseball Club.
Along with the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Oaks, Sacramento Solons, San Francisco Seals, and Seattle Rainiers, a Portland Beavers club was a charter member of the Pacific Coast League in 1903. Portland and Sacramento were the only two charter cities that had a team in the PCL as of 2010, the other cities having been taken over by Major League Baseball franchises.
Following the 2010 season, the Beavers were placed for sale and relocation because of the lack of a suitable stadium in Portland, as PGE Park was being remodeled into a soccer-only configuration for Major League Soccer's 2011 expansion Portland Timbers. In 2010, the Beavers were sold to Jeff Moorad, owner of the San Diego Padres. The team temporarily moved to southern Arizona and became the Tucson Padres while awaiting a new purpose-built stadium in their planned future home of Escondido, California. After the 2013 season, the Padres instead moved them to El Paso, Texas, and became the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Establishment of a Portland team: 1903–1918 On December 10, 1902, Henry Harris, the owner of the California League's San Francisco team announced that the Pacific Northwest League team from Portland, the Portland Webfoots, and a new team from Seattle were joining with the California League to create the Pacific Coast League (PCL). Before the Portland franchise joined the PCL, the president of the Pacific Northwest League, Henry Lucas, was adamant in keeping the Portland franchise in his league. A team in the Pacific Northwest League was formed called the Portland Green Gages, which folded early in its first season. When the Portland PCL team first started playing, they were known as the Portland Browns. In their first season, classified as an independent league, the PCL featured six teams including the Browns. The Browns finished their first season fifth in the PCL. During the 1904 season, the Browns finished with a record of 79–136. The 136 losses still stands as a record in the PCL for most losses by a team in a single season. Other records for that season include the most errors in a season (669), and the lowest single-season team fielding percentage (.929).
Before the 1905 season, professional baseball player Walter McCredie and former Republican U.S. House member from Washington Judge William Wallace McCredie purchased the Portland franchise. The team was then renamed the Portland Giants and Walter McCredie was named the player-manager of the team. During the 1905 season, the PCL was re-classified as a Class-A league in minor league baseball. In 1906, the team was renamed the Portland Beavers after a newspaper contest was started to decide the new name of the team. That season, the Portland team won its first pennant in the PCL. Beavers player Mike Mitchell led the PCL in home runs with six, the fewest ever to lead the PCL. Mitchell also led the league in batting average. The 1906 Beavers were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.
The Beavers finished last in 1907, and second in 1908 and 1909. In 1910, Portland won another pennant behind the pitching of Vean Gregg and Gene Krapp. Gregg finished the season with a 32–18 record and 14 shutouts while Krapp had a 29–16 record for the season. Portland repeated as PCL champs in 1911 fielding four 20-game-winning pitchers. In 1912, Judge McCredie helped get a new 12,000-seat grandstand built at Vaughn Street Park. His obituary later read that the ballpark was "the sensation of baseball, because it inaugurated a minor league precedent of providing individual grandstand seats, which fellow magnates called an extravagance and a dangerous innovation." The NAPBL made a change to league classifications in 1912, making Double-A the top tier. The PCL, and the Portland Beavers, moved into this new classification from the previous top tier Class A league.
During the 1910s, the Beavers developed some working relationships with other teams. From 1911 to 1914 the Portland Beavers had their own farm team which played in the Northwest League (renamed the Pacific Coast International League in 1918). The Class B team shared the use of Vaughn Street Park and was known as the Portland Pippins in 1911, but changed their name to the Portland Colts in 1912. During the 1914 season, the Colts moved to the Seattle area and finished their last season as the Ballard Pippins before folding. Portland also had an informal relationship with the Cleveland Indians through much of the 1910s that saw many future major league stars come through Portland to fine-tune their skills.
Portland played well in 1913 and 1914, winning the pennant both seasons. Though the 1915 Beavers featured future Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski, the team did not fare too well, and started into a tailspin that would last for over a decade. The year also marked the end of their relationship with the Cleveland Indians. With America's entry into World War I, restrictions were placed on travel, such that the Beavers withdrew from the PCL for the 1918 season, playing instead in the Class B Pacific Coast International League. The team was known as the Portland Buckaroos and finished their shortened season (play was stopped on July 7 due to the war) in second place 1½ games back of Seattle. Ironically, the PCL ceased play just a week later as they too were unable to continue play due to restrictions on travel.
Due to the Beavers' withdrawal from the PCL, the league offered Sacramento a franchise to replace the Portland team, while the McCredies continued to own the baseball club in Portland. The new team in Sacramento was known as the Sacramento Senators, and could be considered a continuation of the original Portland Baseball Club.
Return to the Pacific Coast League: 1919–1972 With the McCredies still at the helm, Portland was offered an expansion franchise and re-entered the PCL in 1919. The team finished in seventh place, only ahead of last-place Seattle who was also an expansion team that year. Portland finished in last place in 1920 and again in 1921. After the 1921 season, the McCredies sold the team to Walter Klepper who had been president of the Seattle team. Klepper brought in the 35-year old Jim Thorpe, who played outfield and first base with the Beavers in 1922,"Jim Thorpe is Purchased by Beavers," Oregon Daily Journal [Portland], vol. 20, no. 291 (Feb. 10, 1922), p. 14. paying him a then-unheard of minor league salary of US$1,000 per month.
It was not long before Klepper was in the middle of a dispute with Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Klepper had brought Seattle player-manager Bill Kenworthy down to manage the Beavers, only Seattle claimed Kenworthy was still under contract and that Klepper had tampered in the matter. Landis suspended Klepper until January 1, 1925, and declared Kenworthy ineligible to play or manage Portland until 1924.Weiss, Bill and Marshall Wright. "Historians Weiss, Wright Rank 100 Best Minor League Baseball Teams." Minor League Baseball. 2001. Retrieved September 27, 2008. According to The Portland Beavers, a book by Kip Carlson and Paul Andresen, "The feisty Klepper went to court and had the decision overturned, supposedly the only time that Landis ever had a ruling reversed." Kenworthy did manage the Beavers in 1924, replacing popular player-manager Jim Middleton. He was fired mid-season, though, as he was not able to generate support from the players. The 1924 season was also noteworthy in that future Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane played on the team.
After 1924, the Beavers officially became a farm team for a major league team for the first time when Philadelphia Athletics owners John and Tom Shibe purchased the Beavers as well as Vaughn Street Park. Despite having Duffy Lewis on the team in 1925 (winning the PCL batting title), Elmer Smith in 1926 and 1927 (leading the PCL in home runs in 1926 and all of minor league baseball in home runs in 1927), and Ike Boone in 1928, the Beavers continued to finish in the bottom half of the league.
Longtime head groundskeeper Rocky Benevento started working for the Beavers in 1927. Benevento was so popular with the fans that they took up a collection for him in 1956 to send him to the World Series. Benevento retired at the end of the 1966 season and was given a new car. When Benevento died in 1969, The Oregonian stated, "He adored kids...he loved baseball...and most of all he loved people." His funeral had an overflowing crowd that included Oregon Governor Tom McCall. Benevento stayed with the team 40 years, spanning 30 managerial changes and five ownership changes. While the former location of Vaughn Street Park is now a parking lot, there is a plaque honoring Benevento for his efforts in furthering baseball in Portland.
In 1929, the Beavers changed their name to the Portland Ducks, bearing a duck on their uniform, and were also occasionally known that year as the Portland Rosebuds. The name change did not change the team's luck as they finished with a 90–112 record. Long–time radio broadcaster Rollie Truitt also joined the Beavers staff in 1929, and worked for the team for 35 years, spanning 28 managerial changes and five ownership changes. Truitt would later be known as the "Dean of Pacific Coast League broadcasters". In 1930, the team reverted to the Beavers name, but would occasionally be referred to as the Ducks for over a decade. The highlight of the Beavers last place 1930 season was William Rhiel's unassisted triple play, the last recorded in PCL history.
In 1931, team President Tom Turner bought the franchise from the Shibe brothers and the team took a turn for the positive. Ed Coleman led the PCL in hits and runs batted in, and the team finished in third, winning 100 games. The team continued to improve in 1932, winning Portland its first pennant since 1914. The team finished second in 1933. Turner brought Walter McCredie back to manage the team in 1934, but he died early in the season, and the team fell to the bottom half of the league.
Following the 1934 season, E.J. Shefter bought the team from Turner. The team improved in 1935, finishing one game over .500, and then won the pennant in 1936, finishing 1½ games over runner-up Oakland, then winning the postseason series to capture the crown. In 1937, the Beavers finished in fourth place, but made it to the playoffs, defeating San Francisco in the first round before losing to the San Diego team featuring a young Ted Williams. The team finished sixth in 1938 before finishing in last place in 1939–1942. The 1940 team was so bad, finishing 56–122, that they were still 25 games behind the seventh-place team (the league had eight teams at that time).