Portland Beavers 1903–2010 (1903–1917, 1919–1972, 1978–1993, 2001–2010) Portland, Oregon |
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Pacific Coast League (1903–1917, 1919–1972, 1978–1993, 2001–2010) |
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Conference | Pacific Conference | ||||
Division | North Division | ||||
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League titles | 1901, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1936, 1945, 1983 | ||||
Division titles | 1965, 1983, 1993, 2004 | ||||
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Previous names
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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. The most recent form of the Beavers left after the 2010 season and are now in west Texas as the El Paso Chihuahuas.
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 actual team name, the Beavers, originated in 1906 following a newspaper contest to rename the existing Portland team that was created in 1901 when the Portland Baseball Club was started by a group of Portland businessmen.
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. Along with Sacramento, Portland was one of two charter cities that had a team in the PCL (as of the 2010 season), 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 the MLS'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 waiting for a new stadium to be built for them in their planned future home of Escondido, California, north of San Diego. In 2012, the PCL gave preliminary approval to MountainStar Sports Group on July 30 to buy the Tucson Padres with the intent to relocate the franchise to west Texas in El Paso for the 2014 season after financing in Escondido did not materialize.