Mission Reds
PCL team representing San Francisco's Mission District.
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The Mission Reds were a Minor League Baseball team located in San Francisco, California, that played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1926 through 1937. The team was a rival to the well-established San Francisco Seals and represented the city's Mission District. The Mission Reds were born in Los Angeles in 1909, where they played under the name the Vernon Tigers, winning two PCL pennants during their 18-year stay in Southern California. Declining attendance forced owner Edward Maier to sell after the 1925 season, and a group led by Herbert Fleishhacker moved the team to San Francisco for the 1926 season, calling it the Mission Reds.
History in San Francisco
The Mission Reds were rarely called by their full name; fans and newspapers usually referred to them as "the Missions" or "Mission. The team played at Recreation Park from 1926 to 1930, sharing the venue with the Seals, and moved to Seals Stadium in 1931 when the Seals relocated there. The Missions failed to build a strong fan base during their 12 years in San Francisco and never replaced the Oakland Oaks as the Seals' primary rival.
They finished first in the PCL only once, in 1929, but lost the postseason series to the Hollywood Stars. Their overall record was 1,088–1,117. In 1935, manager Gabby Street was suspended indefinitely for assaulting an umpire.
First Missions team
In early September 1914, the Sacramento Solons relocated to San Francisco and were renamed "Mission" after the Mission District. Local newspapers had called the Sacramento team the "Wolves" due to manager Harry Wolverton, and that nickname followed the club to San Francisco.
The team played the final seven weeks of the season at Ewing Field and Oaks Park, often holding Sunday doubleheaders with one game in each city. The Missions' last home games were on October 25, 1914. Despite talk of moving to Recreation Park for 1915, the club moved to Salt Lake City and became the Salt Lake Bees.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Mission Reds (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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