Portland Beavers

From BR Bullpen

Location: Portland, OR
League: Pacific Coast League 1906-1917, 1919-1972, 1978-1993, 2001-present
Affiliation: Philadelphia A's 1932; Detroit Tigers 1935; Brooklyn Dodgers 1956; Chicago Cubs 1957-1958; Kansas City A's 1959; St. Louis Cardinals 1961; Kansas City A's 1962-1963; Cleveland Indians 1964-1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970; Minnesota Twins 1971; Cleveland Indians 1972, 1978; Pittsburgh Pirates 1979-1982; Philadelphia Phillies 1983-1986; Minnesota Twins 1987-1993; San Diego Padres 2001-present
Ballpark: Vaughn Street Park 1906-1917, 1919-1955; PGE Park (formerly Multnomah Field, Multnomah Stadium, and Civic Stadium) 1956-present

Portland was a charter member of the Pacific Coast League and has competed in that league for more seasons than any other city. After the Portland Browns (1903-1904) and Portland Giants (1905), there was the Portland Beavers. The

Beavers won PCL pennants in 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1932, 1936, and 1983. The first five of those pennants were under longtime manager Walter McCredie who managed Portland from 1905-1917, and 1919-1921. Ad Liska pitched for the Beavers from 1936-1949, winning over 10 games 10 times including 20 3 times, leading the league in wins in 1937 (24) and had a 198-194 record in Portland. Roy Helser pitched in Portland for 11 years (1942-1952), winning 20 3 times and 10 4 other times, going 122-105 overall. Eddie Basinski manned 2B for 12 years (1947-1957) and Gus Fisher was the catcher for 9 years (1909-1910, 1912-1917, 1921). Buddy Ryan (1908-1911) led the league in HR, H, and Avg in 1911, before managing the Sacramento Senators for 9 years (1924-1932). Jim Poole (1921-1924) led in HR in 1924, while Elmer Smith (1926-1928) led in HR in 1926 and 1927. Moose Clabaugh (1934-1937, 1940) led in 2B in 1935, and Ted Norbert led in HR both years on the team (1941-1942) and AVG the second year. The majors first 30/30 man Ken Williams spent two stints in Portland (1916-1917, 1930-1931) and led the league in HR in 1917. Jim Thorpe spent part of 1922 in Portland Mickey Cochrane in 1924, Luis Tiant in 1964, and Lou Piniella in 1966-1968, were in Portland on their way to major league careers.

[edit] Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1906	115-60	1st	Walt McCredie	none League Champs
1907	72-114	4th	Walt McCredie	none
1908	95-90	2nd	Walt McCredie	none
1909	112-87	2nd	Walt McCredie	none
1910	114-87	1st	Walt McCredie	none League Champs
1911	113-79	1st	Walt McCredie	none League Champs
1912	85-100	4th	Walt McCredie	none
1913	109-86	1st	Walt McCredie	none League Champs
1914	113-84	1st	Walt McCredie	none League Champs
1915	78-116	6th	Walt McCredie	none
1916	93-98	5th	Walt McCredie	none
1917	98-102	4th	Walt McCredie	none

1919	78-96	7th	Walt McCredie	none
1920	81-103	8th	Walt McCredie	none
1921	51-134	8th	Walt McCredie	none
1922	87-112	7th	Bill Kenworthy / Tom Turner / Al Demaree / Jim Middleton	none
1923	107-89	3rd	Jim Middleton	none
1924	88-110	7th	Bill Kenworthy / Frank Brazill	none
1925	92-104	5th	Duffy Lewis / Truck Hannah	none
1926	100-101	4th	Ernie Johnson	none
1927	95-95	5th	Ernie Johnson	none
1928	79-112	7th	Ernie Johnson / Bill Rogers
1929	90-112	6th	Bill Rogers
1930	81-117	8th	Larry Woodall
1931	100-87	3rd	Spencer Abbott
1932	111-78	1st	Spencer Abbott	none League Champs
1933	105-77	2nd	Spencer Abbott	none
1934	66-117	8th	Walt McCredie / Tom Turner / George Burns
1935	87-86	4th	George Burns / Buddy Ryan / Bill Cissell
1936	96-79	1st	Max Bishop / Bill Sweeney	League Champs
1937	90-86	4th	Bill Sweeney	Lost League Finals
1938	79-96	6th	Bill Sweeney
1939	75-98	8th	Bill Sweeney
1940	56-122	8th	Johnny Frederick
1941	71-97	8th	Ossie Vitt
1942	67-110	8th	Frank Brazill
1943	79-76	4th	Merv Shea	Lost in 1st round
1944	87-82	2nd	Marv Owen	Lost in 1st round
1945	112-68	1st	Marv Owen	Lost in 1st round
1946	74-109	7th (t)	Marv Owen
1947	97-89	3rd	Jim Turner	Lost in 1st round
1948	89-99	5th	Jim Turner
1949	85-102	6th	Bill Sweeney
1950	101-99	4th	Bill Sweeney	none
1951	83-85	4th	Bill Sweeney	Lost in 1st round
1952	92-88	4th	Clay Hopper	none
1953	92-88	4th	Clay Hopper	none
1954	71-94	8th	Clay Hopper
1955	86-86	5th	Clay Hopper	none
1956	86-82	3rd	Tommy Holmes / Bill Sweeney	none
1957	60-108	8th	Bill Sweeney / Frank Carswell / Bill Posedel (58-93)	none
1958	78-76	4th	Tom Heath / Larry Jansen	none
1959	78-77	6th	Tom Heath	none
1960	64-90	8th	Tom Heath	none
1961	71-83	5th	Vern Benson (42-36) / Ray Katt (29-47)	none
1962	74-80	6th	Les Peden	none
1963	73-84	7th	Les Peden (28-28) / Dan Carnevale (45-56)
1964	90-68	3rd	John Lipon
1965	81-67	3rd	John Lipon	Lost League Finals
1966	69-79	9th	John Lipon
1967	79-69	3rd	John Lipon
1968	72-72	7th	Red Davis
1969	57-89	8th	Red Davis
1970	68-78	5th	Al Federoff
1971	71-71	4th (t)	Ralph Rowe
1972	61-87	7th	Ray Hathaway / Clay Bryant / Dan Carnevale

1978	76-62	3rd	Gene Dusan	Tied with Tacoma when series cancelled due to rain. Albuquerque and Tacoma declared co-champs
1979	73-74	6th	John Lipon
1980	69-76	7th	Jim Mahoney
1981	72-65	3rd (t)	Pete Ward
1982	65-79	8th	Tom Trebelhorn
1983	75-67	3rd (t)	John Felske	League Champs
1984	62-78	9th	Lee Elia
1985	68-74	5th	Bill Dancy
1986	68-73	6th (t)	Bill Dancy
1987	45-96	10th	Charlie Manuel
1988	76-66	3rd	Jim Mahoney / Jim Shellenback	Lost in 1st round
1989	72-72	6th	Phil Roof
1990	56-83	9th	Phil Roof
1991	70-68	6th	Russ Nixon	Lost in 1st round
1992	83-61	2nd	Scott Ullger	Lost in 1st round
1993	87-56	1st	Scott Ullger	Lost League Finals

2001	71-73	8th	Rick Sweet
2002	72-71	8th (t)	Rick Sweet
2003	69-75	12th	Rick Sweet
2004	84-60	1st	Craig Colbert	Lost in 1st round
2005	70-73	10th	Craig Colbert
2006	68-76	11th	Craig Colbert
2007	58-86	15th	Rick Renteria

[edit] Further Reading

Paul Andresen and Kip Carlson: "'Lucky Beavers' carve sole link to PCL's earliest days", in Mark Armour, ed.: Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, 2006, pp. 95-98.