The Boise Buckskins were a

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team located in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

. They were members of the

Class A-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 (crea ...

Northwest League 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 Baseba ...

(NWL) for a single season in 1978.

History

Following the departure of the Boise A's to

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, after the 1976 season, Boise went without professional baseball in 1977. Lanny Moss, who had gained notoriety as the 27-year-old female general manager of the

Portland Mavericks The Portland Mavericks are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league created in 2021. The entire league, including the Mavericks, will play their games at ...

, was awarded ownership of an expansion franchise in the Northwest League. Without an affiliation with a major league team, the Buckskins operated as an independent and in a unique financial strategy, Moss attempted a sponsorship program. Rather than sponsoring the Buckskins club, businesses and community members would sponsor individual players for $3,000. The sponsorship concept was based on a roster of roughly twenty players. The Buckskins debuted against the

Salem Senators The Salem Senators are the longest lasting name used by several minor league baseball teams based in Salem in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team name derived from Salem being the capital of Oregon. The team was founded in 1940. The current inca ...

and recorded the franchise’s first win in an 11–3 victory. Unfortunately, most of the headlines made by the Buckskins weren’t related to their on field performance. Manager Gerry Craft gained national media attention regarding divine guidance that prompted him to release a player. Moreover, the Bucks added former Milwaukee Brewer

Danny Thomas Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz, (born January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) known professionally as Danny Thomas, was an American comedian, actor, singer, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in ''The Danny Thomas Show''. In additio ...

, the sixth overall selection from the 1972 draft, to their roster. Thomas, earned the nickname "Sundown Kid" as he refused to play from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday in adherence with his religious beliefs, which ended his career with the Brewers. In fifty-four games, Thomas led Boise with eleven home runs and a batting average of .359, but quit before the end of the season after not receiving his paycheck. By the final weeks of the season, the Buckskins were playing without pay, as low attendance severely impacted the club's finances; they finished last in the eight-team NWL at . The team was plagued by low attendance and a player sponsorship plan that failed to meet projections. Despite the club being on the verge of bankruptcy, Moss was determined to return the following season. Ultimately the franchise ceased operations. The City of Trees went without professional baseball until the 1987 season, the first for the

Hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...

Ballpark

Home games were played at Borah Field (now Bill Wigle Field) on the campus of

Borah High School Borah High School is a three-year public secondary school in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. One of four traditional high schools in the Boise School District, it serves students in grades in the southwest portion of the di ...

. Also the home of the Boise A's (1975, 1976) and

for their first two seasons (1987, 1988), the

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

is still in use today for high school and

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

play.

Season record

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Stats Crew
Boise Buckskins Defunct Northwest League teams Defunct baseball teams in Idaho