Reno Silver Sox

:"For the disambiguation, see Reno Silver Sox (disambiguation)."

Independent baseball team
name = Reno Silver Sox
founded = 2005
city = Reno, Nevada

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cap
current league = Golden Baseball League
current division = North Division
past league =
currentname = Reno Silver Sox (2006-present)
* Mesa Miners (2005)
colors = Navy Blue, Silver, White, Crimson Red
color box|#00003d color box|silver color box|white color box|crimson
ballpark = William Peccole Park
pastparks = HoHoKam Park
leaguechamps = 1 (2006)
divisionchamps = 2 (2005, 2006)
owner = Golden Baseball League
manager = Jeffrey Leonard
gm = TBA
media = Reno Gazette-Journal
website = http://www.goldenbaseball.com/Reno goldenbaseball.com/Reno

The Reno Silver Sox are a professional baseball team based in Reno, Nevada, in the United States. They are a member of the North Division of the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball "or" Minor League Baseball. From 2006 to 2008, they have played their home games at William Peccole Park, on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno.

The team is the descendent of the original Reno Silver Sox minor league baseball team that played with three different leagues from 1947 to 1992.

The official relocation of the new Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League from Tucson, Arizona is expected to force the Silver Sox, according to reports, to either fold or likely relocate to Carson City, Nevada, essentially keeping the team within the state and the immediate area (Carson being only about an hour's drive away from Reno, even closer once Interstate 580 is completed). An official announcement could be made as early as October 2008, regarding the team's future.

History of the Silver Sox name

For obvious reasons, the name Silver Sox is derived from the nickname of Nevada, the "Silver State". Like MLB's Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, the team has a sock as its logo.

Sunset League/Far West League (1948-1951)

Before they became a part of the GBL, the Silver Sox actually began their legacy as a member of the class-C Sunset League in 1947. They won the league championship in 1948. [http://www.chicoer.com/sports/ci_10159032 1961: When Silver Sox were fashionable] (Chico Enterprise-Record, August 10, 2008)] The team would move to the Far West League in 1950 and would play there until 1951.

California League (1955-1992)

The second incarnation were a member of the single-A California League starting in 1947 as the Ventura Yankees and remained so until 1949. They changed their names several times starting with the Ventura Braves in 1950-52, the Ventura Oilers in 1953, the Channel Cities Oilers in 1954-55, then moved to Reno during 1955 season becoming the Reno Oilers in 1955 and finally became the Reno Silver Sox during that 1955 season. The team won the CL Championship on four different occasions before folding in the 1970s. They won the league championship on four separate occasions (1960, 1961, 1975, 1976) and were listed #55 among MinorLeagueBaseball.com's 100 Best Minor League Baseball Teams. [ [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=55 Top 100 Teams at MiLB.com] ] They were a class-C (equivalent to today's single-A) affiliate of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.

The third version was another California League team that was an affiliate of the San Diego Padres from 1977 to 1987, then was unaffiliated from 1988 to their final season in 1992. They joined the league as the "new" Silver Sox then changed their name to the Reno Padres in 1982, then back to the Silver Sox when they were dropped as Padres affiliate in 1988. The team made the playoffs on two separate occasions, losing the CL Championship series in 1987.

Golden Baseball League franchise history

Beginning

The fourth, and current, Silver Sox franchise started as the Mesa Miners in 2005. They played their home games at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Arizona. They were one of the original eight GBL charter teams along with the Chico Outlaws, Fullerton Flyers, Long Beach Armada and San Diego Surf Dawgs in California; Surprise Fightin' Falcons and Yuma Scorpions in Arizona and the traveling Japan Samurai Bears that began play in May of 2005.

In their only year of play in Mesa, the team won the first ever GBL Arizona Division title and played in the Championship Game against the Surf Dawgs. Unfortunately, the Miners had the league's worst overall attendance, (which is somewhat dubious because of the highly inflated attendance numbers that the Surprise Fightin' Falcons allegedly received) and was dropped from the GBL in November 2005. The league also dropped Surprise largely due to not having another team in central Arizona and to give the league an even number of six teams instead of seven. The low attendance numbers both teams received were due largely to the fact that many of their home games were played in the scorching afternoon heat of central Arizona.

The GBL has said publicly that they would reconsider the Arizona market (Mesa and Surprise) if the league, the city of Mesa and the concessionaire at HoHoKam Park could agree on a revenue sharing agreement for concessions sales. In 2005 the Miners received none of the sales proceeds from their own games. The Miners were the only team in the league without revenue sharing on concessions.

The Miners roster and coaching staff were carried over to the league's new Reno Silver Sox team in 2006. The Silver Sox opened their inaugural campaign in Reno by winning the 2006 GBL Championship defeating the Fullerton Flyers 3-1 in the championship series. Les Lancaster was named the GBL Manager of the Year for the 2006 season. [ [http://www.goldenbaseball.com/ArDisplay.aspx?ID=2951&SecID=123 Les Lancaster named Golden Baseball League Manager of the Year] ] After a disasterous 2007 season, Lancester left the team and would be replaced by former San Francisco Giants star Jeffrey Leonard in 2008. They finished the season with an even more disappointing 30-58 record under Leonard.

The Carson City Silver Sox?

With the (at the time) impending arrival of the now-former Tucson Sidewinders from the triple-A Pacific Coast League to Reno in 2009, the Silver Sox were originally thought to be absorbed into the new Tucson Toros franchise for the 2009 season. But there is now word that the GBL-owned team could possibly relocate to Carson City, Nevada, making them the first-ever professional sports franchise to represent Nevada's capital city. The Silver Sox team name was ruled out of possible names for the new PCL franchise because the GBL owns the rights to the name, logos and uniforms and the league was not contacted about any interest by the new team of purchasing those rights. [ [http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2008/09/01/news/doc48b6e5de83776081205646.txt Tucson Toros make their return home to Hi Corbett next year] (AZBiz.com, September 1, 2008)] [Chris Gabel. [http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809160357 Silver Sox could be headed down the highway] "Reno Gazette-Journal", September 16, 2008] [ [http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/SPORTS/809160358 Triple-A team gets a name] ("Reno Gazette-Journal", September 16, 2008)] The PCL team was officially named the Reno Aces on September 23, 2008.

Local newspapers are reporting that investors are being sought in Carson City to try and get the Silver Sox relocated, but the likelihood of that is up in the air. An official announcement is expected as early as October, but could be pushed back until December or January. [Moody, Darrell. [http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080621/SPORTS/114970343&parentprofile=search "Bring Silver Sox to Carson City"] "The Nevada-Appeal". June 21, 2008.] [Moody, Darrell. [http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080913/SPORTS/809139976&parentprofile=search Silver Sox deal getting a little bit closer?] "The Nevada-Appeal". September 13, 2008] [Gabel, Chris. [http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809160357 Silver Sox could be headed down the highway] "Reno Gazette-Journal", September 16, 2008] [Moody, Darrell. [http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080916/SPORTS/809159922 GBL wants to keep Silver Sox in area; local investors sought for team] "The Nevada Appeal", September 16, 2008]

If they were to relocate, one of the places that they could play is at the Western Nevada College's John L. Harvey Field, but lighting issues could prevent that facility from hosting the Sox. Another location could be Carson High School's Ron McNutt Field, which would have to be remodeled. Otherwise, a new stadium would have to be built. [Moody, Darrell. [http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080906/SPORTS/809069965 Bring on the Silver Sox, Carson] "The Nevada Appeal", September 6, 2008] The likelihood of "that" happening is not certain.

The team would keep their normal caps, uniforms and team colors that were worn by the Reno team, with the exception of the "Reno" name and the "R" logo, which would essentially be dropped should the relocation take place.

Logo Gallery

eason-by-season records

California League

:"see Reno Silver Sox (minor league version)"

Golden Baseball League

References

ee also

*Mesa Miners
*Reno Silver Sox (minor league team)
*Tucson Sidewinders
*Tucson Toros
*Reno Aces
*Carson City Silver Sox (future team, pending GBL approval)

External links

* [http://www.goldenbaseball.com/Reno Reno Silver Sox]
* [https://www.sedonamg.com/renosecure/Store The Silver Mine: Reno Silver Sox online store]
* [http://www.ballparkwatch.com/news/2005/oct/reno_silver_sox.html Ballpark Watch - New in 2006: Reno Silver Sox]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/team_10363.shtml Reno Silver Sox California League statistics and records at The Baseball Cube (1978-1992)]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/team_12015.shtml Reno Silver Sox Golden League statistics and records at The Baseball Cube (2006-2007)]