Friday, January 18, 2013

Former Professional Teams in Alberta

The other day I saw a Calgary Cannons card of Ryan Dempster, and that inspired me to write an article on my Red Sox blog about how many Red Sox players used to play in our Province.  In researching that I learned about a lot of teams that used to play here that I was unaware of.   I'm sure most people fondly remember the Cannons or Trappers, or even the Med Hat Blue Jays of the Pioneer League, but there have been many more Minor League and other semi-professional teams that have played in Alberta.  No less than 12 MLB franchises have had minor league affiliates here.  And there have been hundreds of stars who have played here including Alex Rodriguez (left - pictured batting for Calgary) and Hall of Famer Andre Dawson who started his professional career in Lethbridge.

Here are all the teams I found, listed with the name and level of their league and affiliation. If you are aware of other professional teams that have played in our Province, please let me know.

League / Level
Year
Affiliation
Pacific Coast League - AAA
Calgary Cannons
1985-1994
Mariners
1995-1997
Pirates
1998
White Sox
1999-2002
Marlins
Edmonton Trappers
1981-1982
White Sox
1983-1992
Angels
1993-1994
Marlins
1995-1998
Athletics
1999-2000
Angels
2001-2002
Twins
2003-2004
Expos
Pioneer League - Rookie Ball
Lethbridge Expos
1975-1976
Expos
Medicine Hat A's
1977
Athletics
Calgary Cardinals
1977-1978
Cardinals
Lethbridge Dodgers
1977-1983
Dodgers
Medicine Hat Blue Jays
1978-2002
Blue Jays
Calgary Expos
1979-1984
Expos
Lethbridge Mounties
1992-1995
none
Lethbridge Black Diamonds
1996-1998
Diamondbacks
Western International League - Class A
Calgary Stampeders
1953-1954
Edmonton Eskimos
1953-1954
Western Canada League - Class B
Calgary Broncos
1907; 1910-1921
Edmonton Eskimos
1920-1921
Western Canada League - Class D
Edmonton Grays
1907
Lethbridge Miners
1907-1910
Medicine Hat Hatters
1907-1914
Calgary Cowboys
1909
Edmonton Eskimos
1909-1911; 1914
Bassano Boosters
1912
Red Deer Eskimos
1912
Edmonton Gray Birds
1912-1913
Independent Leagues
Canadian Baseball League
Calgary Outlaws
2003
Northern Baseball League
Calgary Vipers
2005-2007
Edmonton Cracker-Cats
2005-2007
Golden Baseball League
Calgary Vipers
2008-2010
Edmonton Cracker-Cats
2008-2010
North American Baseball League
Calgary Vipers
2011
Edmonton Capitals
2011


1 comment:

  1. Any chance independent baseball will ever return to Calgary?

    Rumour is Edmonton might join the American Association in 2014, with Fort McMurray following suit in 2015 once there new ballpark is compeleted.

    Jeff Gidney was a great owner of the Calgary Vipers but he didn't have the resources to reach out to the people in Calgary and get the Vipers name out. I think having a older ballpark (Foothills Stadium) was also a major factor for the Vipers not having success fanbase wise.

    ReplyDelete