Miles Field (Oregon)

Last updated
Miles Field
Miles Field (Oregon)
Former names Jackson County
Baseball Park
(1948–1969)
Location1801 S. Pacific Hwy, Medford, Oregon 97501
Coordinates 42°18′36″N122°51′25″W / 42.310°N 122.857°W / 42.310; -122.857 Coordinates: 42°18′36″N122°51′25″W / 42.310°N 122.857°W / 42.310; -122.857
Capacity 4,500 (1971); 3,300 (1988); 2,900 (1995)
Field sizeLeft Field: 334 ft (102 m)
Center Field: 384 ft (117 m)
Right Field: 344 ft (105 m)
SurfaceNatural grass
Construction
Opened1948
Demolished2004
Tenants
Medford Nuggets (FWL) (1948–1949)
Medford Rogues (FWL) (1950–1951)
Medford Giants (NWL) (1967–1968)
Rogue Valley Dodgers (NWL) (1969)
Medford Dodgers (NWL) (1970–1971)
Medford A's (NWL) (1979–1987)
Southern Oregon A's (NWL) (1988–1995)
So. Oregon Timberjacks (NWL) (1996–1999)
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Medford
class=notpageimage|
Location in the United States
USA Oregon relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Medford
class=notpageimage|
Location in Oregon

Miles Field was a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Medford, Oregon, It hosted high school, American Legion, and minor league teams from 1948 to 2004.

Contents

The professional teams that played at this facility included the Medford Nuggets/Rogues of the Far West League in 1948–1951 and three Northwest League teams, the Medford Giants in 1967 and 1968, the Rogue Valley/Medford Dodgers from 1969 to 1971, and the Medford/Southern Oregon A's – Southern Oregon Timberjacks franchise from 1979 through 1999.

History

In 1951, local auto dealer Claude "Shorty" Miles (1887–1968) [1] worked behind the scenes to help get a new baseball park built in Medford because of his unbridled passion for the sport. A suspicious fire destroyed the structure in early July, [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] but it was quickly rebuilt. Originally known as Jackson County Baseball Park, it was rededicated as "Miles Field" in June 1969, eight months after his death at age 81. [1] [7] [8]

It was known as "Jackson & Perkins Gardens at Miles Field" during the mid to late 1990s, because of the ballpark's relationship with Bear Creek Corporation, now the Harry & David Corporation.

At the south end of the city, Miles Field was a block north of Garfield Street, between Highway 99 and Interstate 5. The elevation of the natural grass playing field was approximately 1,400 feet (430 m) above sea level and aligned east-northeast (home plate to center field), the recommended orientation. [9]

Demise of the stadium

After 21 seasons at the venue, the Timberjacks left Medford in October 1999 for British Columbia and became the Vancouver Canadians, [10] leaving the city without a pro baseball franchise. The field continued with use by high school and American Legion teams, and despite efforts to both raise funds to remodel the stadium and to bring in a new team to play there. It was torn down in 2004 to make way for a controversial new Walmart Super Center that was delayed and eventually opened in 2012. [11]

In 2006, Harry & David Field was constructed just down the street from the old Miles Field site. Under an agreement between the venue and the city of Medford, that field was built to accommodate youth, high school, and American Legion baseball, but not a professional team. [12]

The Miles Field site remained empty and unoccupied due to the legal battle over the site which involved the Medford City Council, Walmart, and the Medford Citizens for Responsible Development. In 2009, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruled to block the project temporarily on June 4 until a traffic study was prepared. The city council appealed that ruling soon after. [13] [14]

However, despite the MCRD's best efforts to block construction, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in favor of Walmart in 2010 on November 18, and the new Supercenter got the go-ahead to be built. The court overturned a decision by the state's Land Use Board of Appeals to do a traffic study. [15] [16] Construction started on the new Walmart in early 2012 and was completed that summer. A plaque commemorating Miles and the field are in a small courtyard just outside the store entrance. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walmart</span> American multinational retail corporation

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by Sam Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest League</span> Minor League Baseball Class High-A league based in the Pacific Northwest

The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league operated as the High-A West in 2021, then resumed its original moniker in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashland, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medford, Oregon</span> City and County seat in Oregon, United States

Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Medford MSA the fourth largest metro area in Oregon. The city was named in 1883 by David Loring, civil engineer and right-of-way agent for the Oregon and California Railroad, after Medford, Massachusetts, which was near Loring's hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. Medford is near the middle ford of Bear Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walmart de México y Centroamérica</span> Division of Walmart

Walmart de México y Centroamérica, also known as Walmex, is the Mexican and Central American Walmart division. Walmart de México y Centroamérica is the Walmart's largest division outside the U.S. as of July 31, 2022, consists of 2,784 stores around the country, including 295 Walmart Supercenter stores and 166 Sam's Club stores. It has been traded in the Mexican Stock Exchange since 1977. Walmart de México y Centroamérica is the biggest retailer in Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Emeralds</span> Minor League Baseball team

The Eugene Emeralds are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their home games at PK Park.

Walmart Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Walmart which is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. It was founded on March 17, 1994, with the purchase of the Woolco Canada chain from the F. W. Woolworth Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Walmart</span> Walmart store Long Island NY

The history of Walmart, an American discount department store chain, began in 1950 when businessman Sam Walton purchased a store from Luther E. Harrison in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton's 5 & 10. The Walmart chain proper was founded in 1962 with a single store in Rogers, expanding outside Arkansas by 1968 and throughout the rest of the Southern United States by the 1980s, ultimately operating a store in every state of the United States, plus its first stores in Canada, by 1995. The expansion was largely fueled by new store construction, although the chains Mohr-Value and Kuhn's Big K were also acquired. The company introduced its warehouse club chain Sam's Club in 1983 and its first Supercenter stores in 1988. By the second decade of the 21st century, the chain had grown to over 11,000 stores in 27 countries.

William "Bill" "Earthquake" Donald Enyart was an American football player, a fullback for the Buffalo Bills (1969–1970) and linebacker for the Oakland Raiders in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 5 in Oregon</span> Interstate highway in Oregon

Interstate 5 (I-5) in the U.S. state of Oregon is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the state from north to south. It travels to the west of the Cascade Mountains, connecting Portland to Salem, Eugene, Medford, and other major cities in the Willamette Valley and across the northern Siskiyou Mountains. The highway runs 308 miles (496 km) from the California state line near Ashland to the Washington state line in northern Portland, forming the central part of Interstate 5's route between Mexico and Canada.

The Far West League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1948 to 1951. The Far West League was a Class D level league, with franchises based in California, Nevada and Oregon. The Santa Rosa Pirates (1948), Pittsburg Diamonds (1949), Redding Browns (1950) and Klamath Falls Gems (1951) won league championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roxy Ann Peak</span> Mountain near Medford, Oregon, United States

Roxy Ann Peak, also known as Roxy Ann Butte, is a 3,576-foot-tall (1,090 m) mountain in the Western Cascade Range at the eastern edge of Medford, Oregon. Composed of several geologic layers, the majority of the peak is of volcanic origin and dates to the early Oligocene epoch. It is primarily covered by oak savanna and open grassland on its lower slopes, and mixed coniferous forest on its upper slopes and summit, stopping short of the summit. Despite the peak's relatively small topographic prominence of 753 feet (230 m), it rises 2,200 feet (670 m) above Medford and is visible from most of the Rogue Valley. The mountain is Medford's most important viewshed, open space reserve, and recreational resource.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Oregon Timberjacks</span> Minor League Baseball team

The Southern Oregon Timberjacks were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Medford, Oregon. The team played in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League and were an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 21 seasons. They played their home games at Miles Field in south Medford.

The Medford Nuggets / Rogues were a Minor League Baseball team based in Medford, Oregon. They were members of the Class D Far West League from 1948 through 1951.

Harry & David Field is a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Medford, Oregon.

Lithia & Driveway Fields is an athletic facility in the western United States, located in Medford, Oregon. The Park is on South Pacific Highway, visible from Interstate 5 at around milepost 26. It features five baseball fields, four softball fields, two sports fields, and a professional-sized championship soccer field, which was the home venue of the Southern Oregon Fuego of the National Premier Soccer League.

Charlene Barbara Pryer [Mayer] was a female utility in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, playing mainly at second base and center field from 1946 through 1952. Listed at 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m), 105 lb., Pryer batted and threw right-handed. She was nicknamed Shorty amongst her friends and family members because of her slight build and minuscule stature.

Tyler Lewis Graham is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medford Rogues (collegiate wood bat baseball)</span>

The Medford Rogues are a collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Medford, Oregon. They are currently playing as an independent team. They begin play as an expansion team in the West Coast League in 2013, where they played from 2013 to 2015, and were founding members of the Great West League, where they played from 2016 to 2018, then were members of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League from 2019 to 2021. They play their home games at Harry & David Field and were named after the former Class-D Far West League affiliate of the New York Giants that played from 1950 to 1951. They were the 2017 GWL Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Seasons Mall</span> Shopping mall in Minnesota, US

Four Seasons Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Plymouth, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. Four Seasons Mall once comprised 117,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of retail space with approximately 26 storefronts. The mall opened in 1978 and the last tenant closed in the center on February 29, 2012. The site currently sits completely vacant and is considered a dead mall.

References

  1. 1 2 "Claude Reece "Shorty" Miles". Find a Grave. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Larks, Medford clubs assured of quiet Fourth". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 4, 1951. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "Medford ball park burns after game". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 4, 1951. p. 9.
  4. ↑ "Medford ball park destroyed by fire". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. United Press. July 4, 1951. p. 17.
  5. ↑ Love, Bill (July 5, 1951). "Larks back home; Friday big night". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 12.
  6. ↑ "Rogues readying new ballpark". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 7, 1951. p. 8.
  7. 1 2 "Miles Field". Medford, Oregon: Waymarking. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  8. ↑ Miller, Bill (July 15, 2007). "Snapshot: Miles Field". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Playing Field Orientation – Rule 1.04". Major League Baseball. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Timberjacks will make move to Vancouver, B.C." Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. October 27, 1999. p. 6F.
  11. ↑ Achen, Paris (July 19, 2008). "Medford site plan panel approves Wal-Mart store again". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Baseball Notes". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. July 4, 2004. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  13. ↑ Mann, Damian (June 4, 2009). "LUBA stalls south Medford WalMart". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  14. ↑ Kettler, Bill (June 5, 2009). "Medford delays challenge to WalMart ruling". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Supreme Court ruling favors Walmart in Medford". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. November 18, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Supreme Court ruling favors Walmart Supercenter]". Medford Mail Tribune. Oregon. November 19, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.