The Carlsbad Potashers were a minor league baseball team based in

Carlsbad, New Mexico Carlsbad ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,238. Carlsbad is centered at the intersection of U.S. Routes 62/180 and 285, and is the principal city o ...

. Carlsbad teams played as members of the

Longhorn League The Longhorn League was the name of a Minor league baseball circuit that operated from through in the Southwestern United States. In , it was renamed the Southwestern League and operated through before changing its name to the Sophomore Leagu ...

from 1953 to 1955,

Southwestern League The Southwestern League was the name of four former minor league baseball leagues that operated in the Southwestern United States. The second league, also known as the ''Oklahoma State League'', was in operation for the 1904 season. The third l ...

in 1956 and 1957 and

Sophomore League The Sophomore League was a Class D level minor league baseball league that operated from 1958 through 1961. League franchises were located in New Mexico and Texas. The league evolved from the Southwestern League, which played in 1956 and 1957. ...

from 1958 to 1961, winning the 1953 league championship. Carlsbad played as a minor league affiliate of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

from 1958 to 1961 and hosted home games at Montgomery Field. In 1959, at Montgomery Field in Carlsbad, Potasher player Gil Carter hit a home run claimed have traveled 733 feet, possibly the longest in professional baseball history.

History

The Carlsbad Potashers began minor league play in 1953. Carlsbad teams played as members of the Class C level

(1953–1955), the Class B level

(1956–1957) and Class D level

(1958–1961) during their nine seasons of play. In their first season, the 1953 Potashers finished with a record of 80–52 and captured the Longhorn League Championship. The 1954 and 1959 teams lost in the league Finals The Potashers attendance was 83,462 in their first season of 1953, an average of 1,265 per game. In their last season, 1961, they drew 14,974 an average of 236 per game.

Gil Carter: Possibly longest home run in history

As reported in ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', Potashers player Gil Carter hit a majestic home run at Montgomery Field in 1959: "On a hot August night in 1959, former heavyweight boxer Gil Carter smashed a pitch through Carlsbad's high-elevated air and out of Montgomery Field. The ball carried over the left field wall, soared past two city streets and landed in a peach tree. A newspaper reporter later took an aerial photo from a plane and used the picture to estimate the ball traveled 733 feet. Carter's hometown paper, The Topeka Capital-Journal, said "the blast is considered the longest home run in baseball history." The official scorer estimated the home run to have traveled 650 feet. However, aerial photographs measurements put the distance at 700–733 feet, which would make it the longest home run ever hit in professional baseball. The ball itself was signed by Carter and notes the distance of 733 feet. Gil Carter was inducted into the

National Baseball Congress The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 17 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 1935 by Hap Dumont, it has conducted an annual North Americ ...

Hall of Fame in 2015.

The ballpark

The Potashers played home minor league games at Montgomery Field. Montgomery Field had a capacity of 2,500 and dimensions of (Left, Center, Right) 340–390–340. The ballpark is no longer in existence.

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

*Gil Carter (1957–1959) Inducted National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame (2015) *

Billy Connors William Joseph Connors (November 2, 1941 – June 18, 2018) was an American player, coach and front office official in professional baseball. A pitcher born in Schenectady, New York, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed in ...

(1961) *

Merv Connors Mervin James Connors (January 23, 1914 – January 8, 2006) was a professional baseball player who played 52 games as an infielder in the Major Leagues from 1937 to 1938 for the Chicago White Sox. Hit three home runs in successive at-bats and ju ...

(1953) *

Walt Dixon Walter Edward Dixon (November 25, 1920 – September 25, 2003) was an American pitcher, outfielder, first baseman, coach and manager in minor league baseball. He threw and batted right-handed, stood (187 cm) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84& ...

(1959, MGR) *

Jonas Gaines Jonas Donald Gaines (January 9, 1914 – August 6, 1998), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played professionally from 1937 to 1953 with several teams. A native of New Roads, Louisiana, Gaines served i ...

(1956–1957) * Tom Jordan (1956–1957) *

Lou Klein Louis Frank Klein (October 22, 1918 – June 20, 1976) was an American professional baseball player, manager, coach and scout. During his active career he was an infielder in the Major Leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians and ...

(1961, MGR) *

Pat McLaughlin Pat McLaughlin is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Waterloo, Iowa, but moved to San Francisco, California in the early 1970s. There McLaughlin began to write songs, playing alone at open mic nights and in the ...

(1953–1954, MGR) * Bob Raudman (1961) *

René Solís René Solís Peña (July 25, 1925 – September 21, 2013) was a baseball pitcher who played in the minor leagues, for the Cuba national baseball team and in the Cuban League. Minor league career He played in the minor leagues from 1948 ...

(1954) *

Jimmy Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

(1960) *

Thurman Tucker Thurman Lowell Tucker (September 26, 1917May 7, 1993) was an American professional baseball player. A center fielder, Tucker played in Major League Baseball for nine seasons in the American League with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. ...

(1955–1956, MGR) MLB All-Star *

Verlon Walker Verlon Lee Walker (March 7, 1929 – March 24, 1971) was an American catcher in minor league baseball and a coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball from 1961 through 1970. He was also known as Rube Walker, nicknamed after his more famou ...

(1960, MGR) * Jesse White (1954) *

Tony York Tony Batton York (November 27, 1912 in Irene, Texas – April 18, 1970 in Hillsboro, Texas) was a professional baseball player. He played part of one season in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs in 1944 as a shortstop and third baseman. T ...

(1958, MGR)

References

{{reflist Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates Defunct minor league baseball teams Sports clubs and teams in New Mexico Carlsbad, New Mexico Baseball teams disestablished in 1961 Baseball teams established in 1953 Defunct baseball teams in New Mexico Professional baseball teams in New Mexico 1953 establishments in New Mexico 1961 disestablishments in New Mexico Longhorn League teams