Vernon Tigers
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Vernon Tigers 1909–1925 Vernon, California |
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| Class-level | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Double-A (1909–1925) |
| Minor league affiliations | |
| League | Pacific Coast League (1909–1925) |
| Major league affiliations | |
| Previous | None |
| Minor league titles | |
| League titles | 1919, 1920 |
| Team data | |
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Previous names
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Previous parks
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Maier Park |
The Vernon Tigers were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Vernon, California in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the Sacramento Solons, joined the PCL as a new team in 1909 when the league expanded from four teams to six. The Tigers effectively were a second team in Los Angeles, rivals of the existing Los Angeles Angels.
Vernon, California, was and is relatively small community in Los Angeles County. Vernon fielded a PCL team because it was one of only two cities in Los Angeles County where the sale and consumption of alcohol was legal. Vernon used its "wet" distinction to its advantage. The largest enterprise in the town at the time was Doyle's bar, advertised as the "longest bar in the world" with 37 bartenders. Doyle was also a sports promoter, building an arena where world championship boxing matches were held. Tigers owner Edward Maier built Maier Park next to Doyle's bar, which had its own entrance to the park.
In 1913 and 1914, the Tigers played in the oceanside community of Venice, and were known as the Venice Tigers during those seasons. Not coincidentally, Venice was the only other "wet" city in Los Angeles County. On Sundays and special holidays in which alcohol sales were not permitted, the Tigers played their home games at Washington Park, which was primarily the Angels' home field. The team did not draw well in Venice, and the Tigers moved back to Vernon in 1915.
The Tigers finished the war-shortened 1918 season in first place: however they were defeated by the Los Angeles Angels in a postseason series. This postseason series is often incorrectly identified as a "playoff." That postseason series, however, was unrelated to the PCL playoff system which was established some years later.
In early 1919, Maier sold a controlling interest in the Tigers to movie actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a superstar in the silent film era. In perhaps a when the team became known as the Hollywood Stars, Hollywood began taking a collective notice of the team as a result of Arbuckle's ownership. And, the season concluded with the Tigers defeating the rival Angels in the last series of the season, winning the pennant by 1 1⁄2 games.
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