The Portland Rockies were a minor-league baseball team that played in Portland, Oregon from 1995-2000. They were a single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. Their name and logo mimicked the mountain theme of the Colorado club, even though Portland is not located in the Rocky Mountains. A rose was added to the Portland team's cap logo to signify Portland's nickname, the "Rose City".
The Rockies (previously located in Bend, Oregon as the Bend Rockies) moved into Civic Stadium (now known as Jeld-Wen Field) when the Portland Beavers were moved to Salt Lake City, Utah by then-owner Joe Buzas in 1994. The Rockies played in the short-season Northwest League and had some success, including a league championship in 1997. Although few single-A teams play in cities as large as Portland, the Rockies were able to maintain local interest in baseball.
In 2000, PGE Park was renovated and a new incarnation of the AAA Beavers moved into the stadium in 2001. The Rockies moved to Pasco, Washington where they became the Tri-City Dust Devils.
Notable former Rockies include current MLB players Chone Figgins, Juan Pierre, Clint Barmes, Brad Hawpe, Jake Westbrook, and Garrett Atkins.
Read more about Portland Rockies: Year-by-year Record
Famous quotes containing the word portland:
“It is said that a carpenter building a summer hotel here ... declared that one very clear day he picked out a ship coming into Portland Harbor and could distinctly see that its cargo was West Indian rum. A county historian avers that it was probably an optical delusion, the result of looking so often through a glass in common use in those days.”
—For the State of New Hampshire, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)