Salem Senators
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Salem Senators 1940–1989 (1940–1942, 1946–1965; 1977–1989) Salem, Oregon |
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| Minor league affiliations | |
| League | Northwest League (1955–1965, 1977–1989) |
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Previous leagues
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Western International League (1940–1942, 1946–1954) |
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| Minor league titles | |
| League titles | 1 (1982) |
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Previous names
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Previous parks
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The Salem Senators was the longest lasting name used by several minor league baseball teams based in Salem in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team name derived from Salem being the capital of Oregon. The team was founded in 1940. A later incarnation started in 1977 remains in the Northwest League as the current Hillsboro Hops.
On May 1, 1940, the first Senators' game was played at the new 5,000 seat Waters Field, which was also the first professional baseball game in the city. George E. Waters had bought the Class B Bellingham Chinooks franchise from the Western International League and relocated them from Bellingham, Washington, and then built the ballpark for $60,000. It was on the east side of 25th Street SE, about a block's length north of Turner Road (later Mission St NE).
A crowd of 4,865 showed up for the first game against the Yakima Pippins, which at the time was the largest sports crowd for an event in Salem. Waters died after the season, and in 1942 his widow sold the team to the Portland Beavers, who used it as a farm team. At the time, the Beavers were in the Pacific Coast League, a near-major league level league. During the 1942 season, player and business manager Al Lightner attempted to sign a convicted murderer serving time at the Oregon State Penitentiary to pitch a game, but Minor League Baseball threatened to ban Lightner if the convict played in the game.
The team went on hiatus from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. After the war, attorney Don Young helped raise $50,000 to buy the team and stadium from the Beavers in 1951.
In 1961, the team was renamed the Dodgers after becoming a farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Players on the Dodgers' teams included future managers Bobby Cox and Jim Lefebvre.
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