Oregon State League Explained

The Oregon State League was a minor league baseball league that played briefly in the 1904 season. The Class D level Oregon State League featured four teams based in Oregon and Washington. The league permanently folded midway through its first season of play, with the Salem Raglans in first place.

History

The minor league Oregon State League was preceded by semi–pro leagues of the same name.^{[1] [2]}

The Oregon State League was formed for the 1904 season as a Class D level minor league.^[3] The Oregon State League began play as a four–team league, hosting franchises from Eugene, Oregon (Eugene Blues), ^[4] Roseburg, Oregon (Roseburg Shamrocks), Salem, Oregon (Salem Raglans) ^[5] and Vancouver, Washington (Vancouver Soldiers).^[6] . (Some sources erroneously have the Vancouver Soldiers being from Vancouver, Canada).^[7] <^{[8] [9]}

On May 18, 1904, the Vancouver Soldiers, with a 3–8 record, moved from Vancouver, Washington to Albany, Oregon to become the Albany Rollers.^[8] The Oregon State League was not admitted to the National Association until it vacated the Vancouver, Washington franchise, which was deemed to be in the territory of the Portland Browns franchise of the Pacific Coast League.^{[10] [8] [11] [7]}

The Oregon State League stopped play on Wednesday, July 6, 1904, when the Eugene and Roseburg franchises both folded.^[8] The Oregon State League never returned to minor league play.^[7]

Oregon State League teams

Team name	City represented	Ballpark	Year
Albany Rollers	Albany, Oregon	Base Ball Park[12]
Eugene Blues	Eugene, Oregon	Unknown[13]
Roseburg Shamrocks	Roseburg, Oregon	River Front Park[14]
Salem Raglans	Salem, Oregon	Unknown[15]
Vancouver Soldiers	Vancouver, Washington	Recreation Park[16]

1904 Oregon State League standings

Team standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Salem Raglans	27	13	.675	-	Jack Fay
Eugene Blues	22	19	.537	5.5	Terry McKune / Frank DuShane
	17	24	.415	9.5	Fred Gregory / E.P. Preble
Roseburg Shamrocks	15	25	.375	12.0	Turkey Morrow

^{[8] [17]}

Notable alumni

• Heinie Reitz, Eugene Blues^[4]
• Hunky Shaw, Roseburg Shamrocks^[18]

Notes and References

1. Web site: White Sox Orchards. Heritage. Center.
2. Web site: News, Western Canada Baseball. www.attheplate.com.
3. Web site: 1904 Oregon State League. Baseball-Reference.com.
4. Web site: 1904 Eugene Blues Statistics. Baseball-Reference.com.
5. Web site: 1904 Salem Raglands Statistics. Baseball-Reference.com.
6. Web site: 1904 Vancouver Soldiers/Albany Rollers Statistics. Baseball-Reference.com.
7. Web site: 1904 Oregon State League (OSL) on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
8. Book: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball . Lloyd . Johnson . Miles . Wolff . Third . . 2007 . 978-1932391176.
9. Web site: 1904 Oregon State League schedule. April 16, 1904. 5. newspapers.com.
10. Web site: 1904 Vancouver Soldiers/Albany Rollers Roster on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
11. Web site: Baseball Lore, NW Style. Howie. Stalwick. Inlander.
12. Web site: Base Ball Park in Albany, OR minor league baseball history and teams on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
13. Web site: Unknown in Eugene, OR minor league baseball history and teams on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
14. Web site: Unknown in Roseburg, OR minor league baseball history and teams on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
15. Web site: Unknown in Salem, OR minor league baseball history and teams on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
16. Web site: Recreation Park in Vancouver, BC minor league baseball history and teams on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
17. Web site: 1904 Oregon State League (OSL) Standings on StatsCrew.com. www.statscrew.com.
18. Web site: 1904 Roseburg Shamrocks Statistics. Baseball-Reference.com.