The Orem Owlz were a Minor League Baseball team located in

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

, United States, from 2001 to 2020. The team competed in the Pioneer League as a Rookie League affiliate of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

. The Owlz played their home games at Home of the Owlz on the campus of Utah Valley University. They were previously known as the Provo Angels from 2001 to 2004. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Pioneer League, of which the Owlz had been members since 2001, was converted from an MLB-affiliated Rookie Advanced league to an independent baseball league and granted status as an MLB Partner League. Concurrent to this change, the Owlz relocated to Windsor, Colorado, and became the Northern Colorado Owlz.

History

Formerly known as the Provo Angels (2001–2004), the team originally played at the Larry H. Miller Field on the campus of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

in northeastern Provo. After the 2004 season, the team changed ownership and moved from Provo to a new stadium in neighboring Orem. While retaining its affiliation with the Angels

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

club, the team introduced a new name and logo at the time of their move. The Owlz also introduced a new mascot named Hootz, a red

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

with a head in the shape of a large

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. Hootz was married in 2009 in an on-field ceremony to Holly, a female owl. According to team lore, the two Mascot Owlz lived in an abandoned oak tree that was offered by an Orem host family. The Owlz played in the Pioneer League, which was a Rookie League with an abbreviated schedule (

short-season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

). The team won five Pioneer League titles; one while in Provo (2004), and four while in Orem (2005, 2007, 2009, and 2016). With its championship victory in 2016, the Orem Owlz became the quickest franchise in Pioneer League history to win five championships, doing so in just 17 years. The team also finished first in the South Division of the Pioneer League eight times. The team is prominently mentioned in the book '' Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit'', a memoir recounting the author's one season playing for the Provo Angels. Team owner Jeff Katofsky planned to relocate the team to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...

, in 2020, where they would be known as the Pueblo Owlz, but the plan was abandoned due to financial concerns by the city of Pueblo. Ultimately, they relocated to Windsor, Colorado, in 2021 and became the Northern Colorado Owlz. This move was made in conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball in 2021 in which the Pioneer League was converted from an MLB-affiliated Rookie Advanced league to an independent baseball league and granted status as an MLB Partner League.

Playoffs

* 2017: Lost to Ogden 2–0 in semifinals. * 2016: Defeated Ogden 2–1 in semifinals; defeated Billings 2–0 to win championship. * 2015: Lost to

Idaho Falls Idaho Falls ( Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 6 ...

2–1 in semifinals. * 2014: Defeated Ogden 2–0 in semifinals; lost to Billings 2–0 in finals. * 2011: Lost to Ogden 2–1 in semifinals. * 2010: Lost to Ogden 2–1 in semifinals. * 2009: Defeated Ogden 2–0 in semifinals; defeated

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

2–1 to win championship. * 2008: Lost to Great Falls 2–1 in finals. * 2007: Defeated Great Falls 2–0 to win championship. * 2005: Defeated Helena 2–0 to win championship. * 2004: Defeated Billings 2–0 to win championship. * 2003: Lost to Billings 2–0 in finals. * 2002: Lost to Great Falls 2–1 in finals. * 2001: Lost to Billings 2–0 in finals.

All-stars

Players with MLB experience

Players are listed by the season(s) they played for the Provo Angels (2001–2004) or Orem Owlz (2005–present).

References

External links