The Boise Pilots were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States, based 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 played in the Pioneer League for a total of 11 seasons between 1939 and 1954. They were unaffiliated with any major league team, and played at the Class C level. Their home venue was originally named Airway Park in 1939, and in 1952 was renamed Joe Devine Airway Park.

History

Minor league baseball began in Boise in 1904 when the Boise Fruit Pickers played as members of the Pacific National League. In 1905, the Boise Infants continued play in the Pacific National League. Boise fielded two teams in 1909, as Boise played as members of the Montana State League, and the Boise Irrigators were members of the Inter-Mountain League. The Boise Irrigators later played in the

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

(1911, 1914) and Western Tri-State League (1912–1913). The Boise Pilots immediately followed the Boise Senators of the 1928 Utah-Idaho League and were one of the six original teams of the Pioneer League when it was formed in 1939. The team competed through the 1951 season, except for three years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when the league did not operate. Boise's team then became the Yankees, who were affiliated with

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

during 1952 and 1953. That affiliation did not continue, and the team operated independently again as the Pilots in 1954. Boise's team then became a

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

affiliate from 1955 through 1963, operating as the

Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The club was founded in Boston, ...

. After the Braves' final season of 1963, the ballpark was demolished, and Boise was without a minor league team until the Boise A's of the

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 ...

debuted in 1975.

Season records

All-stars

Notable players

Lee Maye Arthur Lee Maye (December 11, 1934 – July 17, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played eleven seasons in the majors as an outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves (1959–1965), Houston Astros (1965–1966), Cleveland Indians ...

* Ford "Moon" Mullen *

Marv Rickert Marvin August Rickert (January 8, 1921 – June 3, 1978) was an American professional baseball player. The native of Longbranch, Washington, was an outfielder who appeared in 402 Major League games in and from to for the Chicago Cubs, Cincin ...

* Floyd Robinson * Gerry Staley

References

External links