The Bradford Bees was an American

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 that was based in

Bradford, Pennsylvania Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located close to the border with New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Home to an oil refinery, Zippo headquarters and a University of Pittsburgh b ...

during the twentieth century.

History

The Bradford Bees was a charter member of the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York (PONY) League and played eighteen seasons from 1939 to 1957 (the team sat out the 1943 season due to World War II). Over the course of the team's history, the team also played under the names Bradford Beagles, Bradford Blue Wings, Bradford Phillies and Bradford Yankees. As the Bees, the team won the league title in 1941. The Blue Wings also won a league title in 1949. In its final season, the Beagles split their schedule between Bradford and

Hornell Hornell is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers. The City of Hornell is surrounded by Town of Hornellsville. Hornell is about ...

after the

Hornell Dodgers The New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 1978 and sanctioned by the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball, National Amateur Baseball Federation and Major League Baseball. Each NY ...

had ceased operations; in Hornell, the team was known as the ''Hornell Redlegs''. Bradford no longer hosts baseball at the professional level, nor does it host summer baseball as a few other former PONY League markets that have shrunk to the point where they can no longer support the professional game have done.

Notable alumni

Hall of Fame alumni

Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

(1940) Inducted, 1973

Other notable alumni

Roy Face Elroy Leon Face (born February 20, 1928), nicknamed "the Baron of the Bullpen", is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. During a 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A ...

(1949-1950) 6 x MLB All-Star *

Frank McCormick Frank Andrew McCormick (June 9, 1911 – November 21, 1982) was an American baseball first baseman who played fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Buck" in honor of Frank Buck, he played for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelp ...

(1951) 9 x MLB All-Star; 1940 NL Most Valuable Player *

Jim Owens James Donald Owens (March 6, 1927 – June 6, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played one year in the National Football League (NFL) as an end for the Baltimore Colts. His career in coaching was longer-lived, as he held the p ...

(1951) *

Jack Sanford John Stanley Sanford (May 18, 1929 – March 7, 2000) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Sanford was notable for the meteoric start to his career when, he led the National League w ...

(1948) MLB All-Star; 1957 NL Rookie of the Year *

Carl Sawatski Carl Ernest Sawatski (November 4, 1927 – November 24, 1991) was an American professional baseball player and executive. In the Major Leagues, he was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs (1948, 1950 and 1953), Chicago White Sox (1954), Milwaukee Brav ...

(1945) McKean County, Pennsylvania Defunct baseball teams in Pennsylvania Defunct New York–Penn League teams Baseball teams established in 1939 Baseball teams disestablished in 1957 Boston Braves minor league affiliates Cincinnati Reds minor league affiliates New York Yankees minor league affiliates Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates 1939 establishments in Pennsylvania 1957 disestablishments in Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-baseball-team-stub