The Saskatchewan Silver Sox are an independent professional baseball team based in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nort ...
of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...
. They play in the developmental
Arizona Winter League
The Arizona Winter League was an independent instructional winter baseball league. Arizona Winter League games were all played at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, Arizona. The league was founded in 2007. It disbanded in 2013 due to parent league, t ...
, a short-season instructional winter league affiliated with the
North American League and compete in the International Division, as well as the
Calexico Outlaws,
San Diego Surf Dawgs
The San Diego Surf Dawgs are an independent professional baseball team representing San Diego, California, that played for two seasons in the Golden Baseball League, based out of San Ramon, California, and then later in the short-season instructi ...
,
San Luis Atleticos and
Team Canada. They began playing their home games in 2009 at
Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma. (The
Blythe Heat
The Blythe Heat were a professional baseball team based in Blythe, California. They played in the Arizona Winter League, a short-season instructional winter league affiliated with the North American League. They began play in 2007 and played th ...
,
El Centro Imperials and
San Luis Atleticos played home games on their own fields until 2011.) They are owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment.
Team name
The Silver Sox brand belonged to the since-defunct
Golden Baseball League
The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico.
The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the organ ...
Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...
franchise and Reno's minor league team before them. The franchise began in the GBL as the
Mesa Miners
The Mesa Miners were an independent professional baseball team based in Mesa, Arizona. They began as a member of the Arizona Division of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League in 2005. The original team became known as the Reno Silver Sox in 2 ...
in 2005 and played one season at
HoHoKam Park before relocating to Reno and becoming the new Silver Sox one year later. They played their home games at
William Peccole Park
William Peccole Park is a stadium in Reno, Nevada. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack baseball team. It opened in 1988. It holds 3,000 people. It played host to the Reno Silver Sox ...
at the
University of Nevada at Reno
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...
and won the GBL Championship in their first season there in 2006, but suffered for their last two seasons in Western Nevada. Following the relocation of the AAA
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...
franchise the
Reno Aces
The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009 ...
from
Tucson, Arizona
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* ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
* Interlibrar ...
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
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, in 2009, the team was purchased by Tucson Baseball owner Jay Zucker, relocated to Tucson and renamed the
Tucson Toros
The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States.
The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...
. The Silver Sox team name (owned by the league) has since been given to the current Saskatchewan team in the AWL, which has no ties to the original Reno franchise, yet could adopt the team history.
Team name origin
Unlike its GBL predecessor and name sake, the Silver Sox team name is based on the importance of the precious metal in Saskatchewan where significant silver ore deposits lie in the Canadian Shield in the eastern part of the province near Flin Flon, Manitoba. It is also a not too subtle hint that the summer professional Golden Baseball League, which already has teams in Victoria, Calgary, and Edmonton; would be very open to a new ownership group that would like to add an expansion team in
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...
or
Regina for the 2010 season.
Attendance and possible relocation
Supported by throngs of Saskatchewan residents wintering in Arizona, the Silver Sox roster is reflective of the diversity of the province with players from Canada, Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Latin America and is striving to bring a professional baseball championship back to Saskatchewan. The Silver Sox lead the average attendance in 2009 with approximately 1,200.
Though nothing has been etched in stone, there has been talk between the GBL and a potential investor about bringing a franchise (possibly the Silver Sox) to play at
Cairns Field
Cairns Field is a stadium in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is primarily used for baseball and most recently the home of the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets of the Western Canadian Baseball League, Western Major Baseball League until their demise in ...
in Saskatoon. The dedicated fan base did catch the attention of Golden Baseball League commissioner Kevin Outcalt. He said in an interview, "The Silver Sox are also a bit of a nod by the Golden League that we'd love to be up in Saskatchewan, too, in Saskatoon or in Regina or Moose Jaw, if we had the right ownership group and ballpark."
Saskatchewan's Silver Sox wrap up season
Ron Petrie, ''The Regina Leader-Post'' @ Canada.com, March 2, 2009
Season-by-season records
Arizona Winter League:
See also
*List of baseball teams in Canada
The following is a list of currently active Professional, Independent Professional, Semi-Professional & Summer Collegiate baseball teams in Canada. It includes the league(s) they play for, and championships won.
Professional (Major League Ba ...
Articles
Sunshine boys eye Saskatoon
Kevin Mitchell, ''The StarPhoenix'', October 27, 2007
Ron Petrie, ''The Regina Leader-Post'', March 2, 2009
Mike Summers, Southern Oregon Timberjacks GBL website, May 21, 2009
References
External links
Arizona Winter League's official website
Golden Baseball League
''Regina Leader-Post'' newspaper
''Saskatoon StarPhoenix'' newspaper
{{Professional Baseball
Sport in Saskatoon
Arizona Winter League teams
Professional baseball teams in Arizona