Why The Pioneer Baseball League Matters
Our lives are made immeasurably richer because we have Baseball, and perhaps more importantly, because in the Mountain States of Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado we have the Pioneer League in our communities. It’s there for a family night out, for the young players whose careers are just getting started,
Our lives are made immeasurably richer because we have Baseball, and perhaps more importantly, because in the Mountain States of Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado we have the Pioneer League in our communities. It’s there for a family night out, for the young players whose careers are just getting started, and for the hospitals and schools our players visit. The ballparks of our league become a place for recognizing local heroes, merchants and high school champions; a place for preserving the game’s continuum from Jackie Robinson to Frank Robinson, from Mookie Wilson to Mookie Betts.
We mark the times of our life by the memories we share and for so many of us, we’ve come to the ballpark over the years with parents and grandparents, with our kids and our friends for a common experience where baseball is played as it was meant to be - for the love of the game - and for a few hours we can diffuse, relaxing with a dog and a beer, beefing over a close call, joyously cheering a bloop and a blast.
There may be those who would say the game is a vestige of the past, that it no longer occupies prominence in the soul of America. They would tell you that the game’s too slow for a video game generation or that it lacks relevance to diverse audiences.
Though there may be simplistic truths to these cliched critiques, the real story of today’s Baseball, particularly the game played in the Mountain States communities of the Pioneer Baseball League, is not about instant gratification or clock-driven deadlines, but rather about lovely summer nights at a bandbox ballpark with kids in tow, a dog with mustard in hand and very talented young men playing the game as it was meant to be played…with delight and grace and grand dreams of making it to the big leagues.
We come to the yard for a fun night out, expecting the familiar comforts of this living connection to our past with its carny ambiance of kitschy, guilty pleasures wafting their compulsive aromata once we pass through the main gates like crossing into the Technicolor of an Oz-like wonderworld. It’s like an amusement park wrapped around a brilliant, green outfield pasture enclosed by an assault of fence signs urging us, appropriately, to support our local merchants.
Those young men on the field remind us of what this game is about. Athletic and strong, they can perform impossible, balletic feats providing maybe an insight into their promise yet to be realized. After all, these are very talented players, even at such a young age, who may still develop the full array of skills they’ll someday need to survive against the best of the best. Or, like most, they may not succeed to the promised land of the majors but will forever recall their golden halcyon days of a summer in Montana, Idaho, Colorado or Utah...giving us all they had.
We will remember them too. Maybe not by name, but rather for the memories they created for us and the moments of our lives we shared.
It is good to have Baseball here in these stalwart western communities where we have such a great appreciation for the precious pleasures of life, like our community’s pro baseball team playing in the intimacy of our local ballparks with their homey, quirky resonance to a fading Americana. As we go about raising our families and living our days, we have this game of Baseball to hold dear.
Baseball, after all, unites us with our diverse backgrounds, perspectives and passions in the common joy of taking the time to sit for a moment and just enjoy a ballgame.
Grand Junction Rockies name Bobby Jenks Manager
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Former MLB Manager and Current Billings Manager, Jim Riggleman, to Attend Pioneer League Tryout Camp in Tucson
Former Cubs, Nationals, and Mariners manager to address players at April 1-4 tryout camp
From The Big Leagues to Indy Ball
Last month the Billings Mustangs welcomed veteran MLB manager and coach Jim Riggleman as their 2022 field manager. The PBL sat down with Jim to discuss the unique and twisting path he’s taken in his baseball career, most recently from the New York Mets all the way to Billings. In
Cory Snyder Announced as Manager of the Northern Colorado Owlz
_Former Major League star and Olympian to lead Pioneer League team after managing in USA, Mexico, and Taiwan _
Mustangs Name Jim Riggleman Club Manager
Five-Time MLB Manager to Serve as Skipper for the Mustangs
The Pioneer League Partnering with Pecos League for Pre-Season Tryout Camp
A Conversation with Pioneer League President and Pecos League Commissioner
Missoula PaddleHeads Pitcher is Stepping up to the Big Leagues
The Missoula PaddleHeads are coming off of a pretty strong baseball season - you know, if you consider winning the Pioneer League championship to be a pretty strong season! The PaddleHeads played some great baseball for their debut season, and obviously, somebody in the major leagues is taking notice -
Pioneer Baseball League and TicketSmarter Announce Historic Naming Rights Agreement
First-Ever Pro Baseball League to Sell Naming Rights; TicketSmarter Acquires Secondary Ticketing Rights to PBL
Chukars Bring Back Gardner and Milacki
The Idaho Falls Chukars announced that manager Billy Gardner Jr. and pitching coach Bob Milacki will return to Idaho Falls for the 2022 Pioneer League season. Gardner and Milacki are tasked with assembling this season’s Chukars team as they were last season. In 2021 they led Idaho Falls to a
White Sox Sign Infielder Jason Matthews to Minor League Deal
The lockout hasn’t stopped the White Sox from making minor league moves, and it appears that they’ve made yet another one. This week, the White Sox signed infielder Jason Matthews to a minor league deal. This was first reported by Matthews himself during an appearance on the Auckland Tuatara baseball
Ridge Run Baseball Announces New Team Name
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Pioneer League Baseball Making Its Way to the Flathead Valley
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Ridge Run Baseball Signs More Players, Sells First Tickets
Until last week, Mike Knell didn’t know the Flathead Valley existed. He’s never been to Montana, and has only heard stories about the Last Best Place from a friend who recently moved to Bozeman. That all changed when he saw his phone flash “Montana” for an unknown number while awaiting
PaddleHeads Retain Schlact as Manager in 6 Year Contract Extension
Missoula, MT. – The Missoula PaddleHeads Professional Baseball Club took on a new challenge during the 2021 season its first season as an independent franchise. It could not have been a more successful first season taking on the new format as the PaddleHeads would take home the 2021 Pioneer League
Holy Cow! Former Missoula Timberjack Jim Kaat Reaches Baseball Hall of Fame
Hours after his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame was announced Sunday, Jim Kaat wrote to let me know he's hoping to get his old Missoula manager, Jack McKeon, at the ceremony in July. What a proud, proud moment for Zootown professional baseball. Long before Kaat earned legendary status
Voyagers Ben Norman Singed By Chicago White Sox
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Pioneer Baseball League Announces Spring 2022 Tryout Camp
April 1-4 Camp in Tucson
Former Billings Mustang Jonathan India National League Rookie of the Year
It didn't feel like Randy Arozarena was a rookie this season. Tampa Bay's speedy and powerful outfielder certainly didn't play like one, either. Arozarena won AL Rookie of the Year honors with a superb follow-up to his 2020 postseason heroics while Cincinnati Reds second baseman Jonathan India earned NL Rookie
Pioneer League Concludes Annual Meetings
Dodgers EVP, Janet Marie Smith, Delivers Keynote Address; Kim Klages Johns named PBL Executive of the Year
PBL Announces Postseason Award Winners
All Star Team, Award Winners and Stats Champs Announced
Flathead Valley PBL Team Home Opener is June 14
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Construction Underway for Pioneer League Stadium
Erik Moore and Chris Kelly, with Ridge Run Baseball, stand atop a berm overlooking the development of a baseball stadium for Kalispell's new Pioneer League team located at the former Montana Raceway Park along Highway 93 on Wednesday, Nov 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Pioneer Baseball League Announces 2022 Schedule
MLB Partner League Launches 96 Game Schedule on May 23rd, Two New Teams Added
Stories from the Pioneer League: Robbie Baker
Interview with former pitcher for the Pioneer Baseball League: Robbie Baker
Cubs Ink INF Alejandro Rivero Out of Pioneer League
According to a report from baseball writer and BBWAA member Francys Romero, the Chicago Cubs have signed infielder Alejandro Rivero to a contract. Rivero played three seasons of college baseball at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida and spent the 2021 season with the Boise Hawks of the Pioneer League.