PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 19, 2021
KEIZERTIMES.COM
The history of Salem-Keizer’s fi rst pro team
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Salem’s fi rst professional
baseball team, the Salem
Senators, will make their
return to the diamond this
summer as a part of the new
Mavericks
Independent
League, being hosted at
Volcanoes Stadium.
The
Senators
were
founded in 1940 after being
purchased by George E.
Waters — the Senators
played their home games
at Waters Field, which was
located on the east side of
25th Street SE.
A crowd of 4,865 showed
up for the Senators fi rst
game against the Yakima
Pippins — at the time, it was
the largest crowd ever for a
sporting event in Salem.
After Waters died in 1942,
his widow sold the team
to the Portland Beavers of
the Pacifi c Coast League.
The Beavers used the
organization as a farm league
team.
Due to World War II, the
Senators didn’t play from
1943 to 1945, but resumed
competition in 1946. They
played in the Western
International League (WIL)
from 1940 until 1954 —
they were an affi liate of the
Philadelphia Phillies in their
fi nal season in the WIL.
The WIL was formed
into the Northwest League
(NWL), where the Senators
played from 1955 to 1965.
In 1961, the Senators were
renamed the Salem Dodgers
after becoming a farm team
of the Los Angeles Dodgers
— Hall of Fame and manager
Bobby Cox played for the
Salem Dodgers in 1962. Cox
managed in the big leagues
for over three decades, was
a four-time Major League
Baseball (MLB) manager of
the year (1985, 1991, 2004,
2005) and won a World
Marion County Historical Society
Waters Field was the home of the Senators for nearly 25
seasons before burning down in 1966.
Series with the Atlanta
Braves in 1995.
The
Salem
Dodgers
disbanded after the ‘65
season, but rejoined the
NWL as an independent
Single-A
organization
in 1977 after California
businessman Carl Thompson
revamped the original team
— they lost their fi rst contest
to the Portland Mavericks by
a score of 9-8.
The Senators shared a
facility with Parrish Little
League and played their
home games at Holland
Youth Park. They also would
play games at Chemeketa
Community College.
After playing three seasons
of independent ball, the
Senators became an affi liate
of the California Angels
in 1981. Prior to the 1982
season, team President, Clint
Holland, signed a player
development
agreement
with the California Angels
and changed the team name
to the Salem Angels.
Despite fi nishing the
season with a losing record,
the Salem Angels were able
to win the NWL north
division and advance to the
championship series — the
Angels went on to win their
only league title in franchise
history. It was the fi rst time
a NWL team won the title
with a losing record in
league history, which was
a distinction that lasted for
more than 20 years.
The ‘82 Salem Angels
were managed by Joe
Maddon, who has since
gone onto manage in the
major leagues for nearly
two decades. He has been
named MLB Manager of
the Year three times (2008,
2011, 2015) and led the
Chicago Cubs to a World
Series title in 2016 — their
Submitted
Last week, the Mavericks Independent League released the Senators new jerseys for the 2021
season.
fi rst championship in 108
years. The team also featured
Mark McLemore, an 18-year
MLB vet who played four
seasons as an infi elder with
the Seattle Mariners, and
Kirk McCaskill, who played
in the MLB for 12 years and
struck out more than 1,000
batters.
In 1988, the organization
once again became an
affi liate of the Los Angeles
Dodgers and changed their
name back to the Salem
Dodgers.
Mike Piazza, the Salem
Dodgers most famous alum,
played for the team during
their fi nal season in 1989,
batting .268 with eight
homers and 25 RBIs. Piazza
played in the big leagues
from 1992 to 2007 and was
a 12-time All-Star as well
as a 10-time Silver Slugger
Award winner. He was
inducted into the Hall of
Fame in 2016.
Other notable Salem
Angels/Dodgers
players
include:
DANTE BICHETE:
Bichette played for Salem
in 1984 and was a four-time
All-Star with the Colorado
Rockies in the ‘90s. In 1995,
he led the National League
(NL) in homers and RBIs
and won a Silver Slugger
Award.
MIKE FINLEY:
Finley won 200 games
in the major leagues as a
starting pitcher and struck
out over 2,600 hitters. He
was selected to fi ve All-Star
Games and was inducted
into the Los Angeles Angels
Hall of Fame — Finley
played with Salem in the ‘85
season.
ROBERTO
HERNANDEZ:
Hernandez spent the
summer of 1986 in Salem
before going onto a 17-year
big league career, playing
with 11 different teams.
Hernandez pitched in more
than 1,000 games and was
also selected to a pair of All-
Star Games.
JIM LEFEBVRE:
Lefebvre was with the
Salem Dodgers in 1963. Two
years later, he broke into
the MLB as an infi elder and
won the NL Rookie of the
Year with the Los Angeles
Dodgers — he also helped
them to a World Series title
that same year. The following
season, Lefebvre was selected
to his lone All-Star Game.
HENRY RODRIGUEZ:
Rodriguez played for
six teams over his 10-year
stretch in the majors as a left
fi elder. He played for the
Salem Dodgers in 1988.
In 1990, team owners
moved the organization to
Yakima, Wash, where they
became the Yakima Bears.
The team stayed in Yakima
until 2012, which is when
the organization moved to
Hillsboro to become the
Hillsboro Hops.