Southern Oregon Timberjacks 1979–1999 Medford, Oregon |
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Class-level | |||||
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Previous | Class A-Short Season (1979–1999) | ||||
Minor league affiliations | |||||
League | Northwest League (1979–1999) | ||||
Division | Southern | ||||
Major league affiliations | |||||
Previous | Oakland Athletics (1979–1999) | ||||
Minor league titles | |||||
League titles | 1981, 1983 | ||||
Division titles | 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989 | ||||
Team data | |||||
Previous names
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Previous parks
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Miles Field (1979–1999) Vince Genna Stadium (Bend, 1978) |
The Southern Oregon Timberjacks were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Medford, Oregon. The team played in the short-season Class A Northwest League and were an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 21 seasons. They played their home games at Miles Field in south Medford from 1979 through 1999.
The Timberjacks came to Medford to fill the void left by the departed Medford Giants (1967–1968) and Rogue Valley/Medford Dodgers (1969–1971), both of the Northwest League. Originally known as the Bend Timber Hawks for a season in 1978, owner Doug Emmans relocated the team south and it became the Medford Athletics (or A's) in 1979.
A name change to Southern Oregon Athletics (or A's) came in 1988, and then a new nickname of Timberjacks in 1996 for their last four seasons. They were six-time southern division champions (1981–1984, 1988–1989) and won the league championship twice (1981 and 1983).
In 1982, former minor league pitcher Fred Herrmann was named the team's general manager and then became the team's majority owner in 1985.
As a minor league baseball franchise, the A's and Timberjacks had featured future major league players such as Greg Cadaret, José Canseco, Rod Beck, Scott Brosius, Jason Giambi, Tim Hudson, Terry Steinbach, Jason Windsor, Miguel Tejada, and Eric Byrnes.