Home : Time Off For Play : Baseball :Oklahoma City 89ers & RedHawksThere was no minor league baseball team in Oklahoma City from 1959 through 1961. However, civic leaders worked behind the scenes to prepare fans for the return of professional baseball. The Oklahoma City Amateur Baseball Association, led by Roy Deal, bought the lights and part of the bleachers of Holland Field and moved them to a spot at the State Fairgrounds for amateur games. The bleachers were set up on land that would ultimately become All Sports Stadium. In 1961, Houston won a major league baseball franchise and was looking for a Triple A affiliate. Jim Roederer, president of the Oklahoma City All Sports Association, and other civic leaders met with Houston officials and convinced them that Oklahoma City was the appropriate location for the Colt .45s top farm club. As part of the plan, the Oklahoma City city council approved expenditures in July of 1961 to improve and expand the Fairgrounds ballpark to standards set by the American Association. The plan came together quickly. Roederer was named the first president of the Oklahoma City team and the stadium was named All Sports Stadium, primarily because of the efforts of the All Sports Association. While the new $275,000 stadium was being built, team officials officed in the Municipal Auditorium. A contest was arranged to select a new name for the Oklahoma City team. Mrs. Velma Petree, a teacher at Columbus Grade School, was one of 38 people who suggested the team be called the "89ers," in honor of the Land Run of 1889 that opened up much of central Oklahoma to settlement. In her letter recommending the name, Mrs. Petree wrote, "The name 89ers portrays rugged individuals who will put their all into their jobs. It stands for pioneers starting from nothing to build a future. Our 89ers were fighters in a new land and have built our state into one of which we can be proud." Owen Martiniz, a career baseball executive, was named general manager, and Connie Ryan was hired as field manager of the 89ers, who formally opened in All Sports Stadium April 19, 1962 to a crowd of 10,102. The 89ers did not do well the first season, finishing fifth of six teams, 23 games out of first place. However, attendance of 184,808 was best in the American Association. In 1963, the American Association suspended play because several of its cities — Milwaukee, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Houston — had been given major league franchises. Oklahoma City was assigned to the Pacific Coast League and Grady Hatton was named manager. In the new league, the 89ers were contenders from the beginning. The 89ers won the division title on September 8, 1963, and beat Spokane in a seven-game series to win Oklahoma City's first professional baseball championship in 28 years. Fan interest was strong for the 89ers in the mid-1960s because of strong pitching by hurlers such as George Brunet, Dave Giusti, Chris Zachary, and Joe Hoerner. In 1965, the 89ers won another division title and their second PCL championship in three years with a playoff win over Portland. Attendance rose to a record 218,129. Grady Hatton took over the parent Astros as field manager in 1966 and was replaced in Oklahoma City by Mel McGaha, a veteran major league manager. General manager Owen Martinez was replaced by Joe Ryan. McGaha's initial campaign was tough because the best Oklahoma City players from the year before were promoted to Houston or sold. The 89ers finished last in the Eastern Division of the PCL and attendance dropped to 97,761, the lowest since Oklahoma City had entered Triple A baseball. Oklahoma City native Cot Deal became the 89ers manager in 1968. The next year, the 89ers became part of the reactivated American Association. Former Yankee superstar and Oklahoma Cityan Allie Reynolds was named president of the six-team Triple A circuit.
In 1971, the 89ers were purchased by Tulsa oil man Philip C. Dixon and Dick King became general manager. King had All Sports Stadium repainted, double-decked the outfield fence to increase advertising space, and introduced new player uniforms. Fans responded and turned out in huge numbers. The final attendance count of 329,513 was best in the American Association and a record for Oklahoma City. Late in 1973, Oklahoma City car dealer W.G. "Bus" Horton bought the 89ers franchise. He named former major leaguer Don Demeter team president. By 1975, unhappy with the players the parent Cleveland Indians were sending to the 89ers, Horton looked for a buyer. He found Harry Valentine, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman looking for a minor league franchise. The 89ers finished the season with less than 600 fans attending each game. Just before Thanksgiving, Horton completed the sale of the team to Valentine. Valentine secured a player development contract with the Phillies who sent Hall of Famer Jim Bunning to be the 89er manager in 1976. Locally, Valentine hired the Cox Advertising Agency, managed by Patricia Cox and Bing Hampton, to develop a new image for the team. It was the best thing that ever happened to 89er baseball. "Goodtime Baseball" was the theme of a strong media campaign. Fans were happy with the changes and came back to the ballpark. Ownership changed again in 1978. Cox and Hampton put together a group of local investors including Allie Reynolds to purchase the club from Valentine. Patty Cox, the new general manager, was named baseball's Woman Executive of the Year that year. Attendance soared. Hampton was in charge of sales that ranked near the top of all minor league operations. He also was the popular public address announcer at All Sports Stadium. In 1978, pitcher Jim Warthen won the Allie Reynolds Award, given to the top pitcher in the American Association each year. He followed 89er hurlers Jim Kern, John Montague, and Jim Wright who had won in three of the previous four years. In 1979, the 89ers won their first American Association division crown under manager Lee Elia but lost the pennant in a playoff against Evansville. The largest crowd in Oklahoma City baseball history, 18,543 (a record later broken), watched an exhibition game between the 89ers and the Phillies. The 89ers became the top farm club for the Texas Rangers in 1983. Fan interest was high because of the close proximity to the parent club in nearby Arlington, Texas. With an influx of quality players, Oklahoma City won another division crown in 1985. In 1989, Hampton was battling Lou Gehrig's disease. He and his wife, Patty Cox Hampton, sold the 89ers to a New York investment group headed by Jeffrey H. Loria, a wealthy art dealer. Oklahoma City native and Yankee star Bobby Murcer was one of the investors. Throughout the late 1980s, the 89ers finished at or near the bottom of their American Association division. However, in 1992, Oklahoma City again won the division title and swept Buffalo for the pennant. In 1993, a local investment group headed by the Oklahoma Publishing Company and furniture dealers Bill and Larry Mathis purchased the 89ers for $8 million, believed to be the highest price ever paid for a minor league franchises. Publisher Edward L. Gaylord was the moving force to keep minor league baseball in Oklahoma City. In 1996, the 89ers came from last place in June to win the American Association pennant. Talk of a major downtown redevelopment plan and the possible construction of a new minor league ballpark renewed interest in Oklahoma City's baseball franchise in 1996. Because of incredible local involvement, a new era in baseball would be launched and 1997 would be the last year Oklahoma City's entry into the little show would be called the 89ers. Oklahoma City had a new team with a new name and a new ballpark in 1998. As part of a major Oklahoma City downtown redevelopment program, the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark was completed in 1998. The previous year, General Manager David Vance announced that Oklahoma City's entry in Triple A would be known as the Oklahoma RedHawks, named after the fierce, proud Red-Tailed Hawk, indigenous to the state. It was the first time in history that "Oklahoma City" was not used in the team name. Vance cited research that showed Oklahoma City teams had become much more statewide teams, with tremendous support throughout Oklahoma. In 1998, Clay Bennett was president of the investment group that hired Tim O'Toole as general manager and launched the RedHawks' inaugural season as a member of the American Conference of the Pacific Coast League. O'Toole had vast experience running a sports organization. He was director of operations of the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City ran the national headquarters of the American Softball Association/USA Softball for six years. The RedHawks finished the 1998 season at 74-70, good enough for second place in the Eastern Division. Warren Newson had a 22-game hitting streak, second only in four decades of Triple A baseball in Oklahoma City to Orlando Gonzalez's 29-game streak in 1980. The all- time Oklahoma City record is Milt Nielsen's 32-game hitting streak in 1949. In the new stadium, average attendance was more than 7,000, twice the average in the previous season at All Sports Stadium. In the RedHawks' second season, manager Greg Biagini led the team to a first-place finish in the PCL's Eastern Division of the American Conference. Oklahoma won the first round of the playoffs against Omaha but fell to Vancouver in the PCL championship. In 1999, Oklahoma's pitching staff led the PCL in complete games with 16. DeMarlo Hale became field manager in 2000 and was at the helm as the RedHawks finished second in their division the next two seasons. In 2002, under manager Bobby Jones, the club topped the Eastern Division of the PCL but lost the American Conference championship to Salt Lake City. Fan support has been strong for Oklahoma. In the first six RedHawk seasons, attendance at opening, night games averaged nearly 9,000. In 2003, team owner, Gaylord Entertainment, was interested in selling the team. However, most observers agreed that the future of Triple A baseball in Oklahoma City is bright.
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