The Great Falls Voyagers are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Great Falls, Montana, and play their home games at Centene Stadium.
| Great Falls Voyagers | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Independent (from 2021) | ||||
| Previous classes | Rookie Advanced (1948–1963, 1969–2020) | ||||
| League | Pioneer League (1948–1963, 1969–present) | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team | Independent (from 2021) | ||||
| Previous teams |
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| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles (13) |
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| Division titles (13) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Name |
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Previous names |
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| Mascots | Orbit | ||||
| Ballpark | Centene Stadium (1948–1963, 1969–present) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | Great Falls Baseball Club, Inc. | ||||
| General manager | Scott Reasoner | ||||
| Manager | Tommy Thompson | ||||
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The team has played continuously in the Pioneer League since 1969,[1] and previously played in the league from 1948 to 1963. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Pioneer League was converted from an MLB-affiliated Rookie Advanced league to an independent baseball league and granted status as an MLB Partner League, with Great Falls continuing as members.[2] Prior to this, the Voyagers had been affiliated with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1952–1963), San Francisco Giants (1969–1983), Los Angeles Dodgers (1984–2002), and Chicago White Sox (2003–2020). The team was not affiliated with any MLB team from 1964 to 1968.
Voyagers
editThe Voyagers name refers to the Mariana UFO incident in August 1950 when Nicholas "Nick" Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls Electrics, saw two spinning objects approaching at a seemingly high speed. Mariana recorded 16 seconds of footage of the unidentified flying objects at Legion Park.[3]
Playoffs
edit- 2018: Defeated Billings 2-0 in semifinals; defeated Grand Junction 2-0 to win league championship.
- 2017: Defeated Missoula 2-0 in semifinals; lost to Ogden 2-1 in league championship.
- 2016: Lost to Billings 2-0 in semifinals.
- 2014: Lost to Billings 2-0 in semifinals.
- 2013: Lost to Helena 2-0 in semifinals.
- 2012: Lost to Missoula 2-1 in semifinals.
- 2011: Defeated Missoula 2-1 in semifinals; defeated Ogden 2-1 to win league championship.
- 2010: Lost to Helena 2-1 in semifinals.
- 2009: Lost to Missoula 2-1 in semifinals.
- 2008: Defeated Orem 2-1 to win league championship.
- 2007: Lost to Orem 2-0 in finals.
- 2002: Defeated Provo 2-1 to win league championship.
- 2000: Lost to Idaho Falls 2-0 in finals.
- 1997: Lost to Billings 2-0 in finals.
Pete Rose Jr.
editOn December 18, 2012, Pete Rose Jr., the son of major league career hits leader Pete Rose, was named the Voyagers' manager. He replaced Ryan Newman.[4] Under Rose Jr. the Voyagers held a 48-28 record and made it to the Pioneer League playoffs where they were eliminated by the Helena Brewers. On January 20, 2014, it was announced that then hitting coach Charlie Poe would manage the Voyagers for the 2014 season, ending Rose Jr.'s tenure as manager.
Great Falls players with MLB experience
editHall of Fame members
edit- Bobby Cox 1963
- Pedro Martinez 1990
Notable alumni
edit- 1948
- Jim Hughes, Bill White
- 1951
- Bennie Daniels Jr, Dick Barone
- 1953
- John Roseboro
- 1954
- Larry Sherry
- 1955
- Donald LeJohn
- 1956
- Dick Scott
- 1957
- Ed Palmquist, Jack Smith, Doug Camilli
- 1958
- Larry Burright, Jim Duckworth
- 1959
- Dick Smith, Bill Kunkel
- 1960
- Nate Oliver, Rod Miller
- 1961
- Gene Brabender
- 1962
- Bob Griffith, Clarence Jones
- 1963
- Bobby Cox, Angel Alcaraz
- 1969
- Gary Thomasson, Elías Sosa, Ed Goodson, Horace Speed, Skip Pitlock, Steve Ontiveros, Mike Phillips
- 1970
- Butch Metzger, Doug Capilla, John D'Acquisto
- 1971
- Frank Riccelli, Willie Prall, Steven Stroughter, Gregg Thayer
- 1972
- Ed Halicki, Bob Knepper, Gary Alexander, Rob Dressler, Reggie Walton, Fred Kuhaulua, Terry Cornutt
- 1973
- Tommy Toms, Johnnie LeMaster, Jack Clark, Pete Falcone, Jeff Little, Ed Plank
- 1974
- John Henry Johnson, Guy Sularz
- 1975
- Alan Wirth, Jeff Yurak, Mike Rowland, Jose Barrios, Rick Murray
- 1976
- Joe Strain Jr, Bob Brenly, Casey Parsons
- 1977
- Phil Huffman, DeWayne Buice, Bob Kearney, Tom Runnells, Jeff Stember, Bob Tufts
- 1978
- John Rabb, Rob Deer
- 1979
- Scott Garrelts, Tom O'Malley, Frank Williams, Chris Brown, Randy Kutcher
- 1980
- Alan Fowlkes, Randy Gomez, Jessie Reid, Mark Dempsey
- 1981
- Matt Nokes, Mark Grant, Phil Ouellette
- 1982
- Randy Bockus, Pat Larkin
- 1983
- Eric King, Mike Aldrete, Charlie Hayes, John Burkett, Alonzo Powell, Ángel Escobar
- 1984
- Darren Holmes, Tim Scott, Wayne Kirby, Luis Lopez, Jeff Nelson
- 1985
- Mike Devereaux, Jack Savage, Mike Huff, John Wetteland
- 1986
- Kevin Campbell, Dave Hansen, Mike Munoz
- 1987
- Rafael Bournigal, Dennis Springer, Tony Barron, Zak Shinall
- 1988
- Eric Karros, José Offerman, Mike James, Jeff Hartsock, Jerry Brooks, Eddie Pye
- 1989
- Jamie McAndrew, Matt Howard, Tom Goodwin
- 1990
- Pedro Martínez, Raúl Mondesí, Mike Mimbs, Garey Ingram
- 1991
- Henry Blanco, Roberto Mejía, Juan Castro, José Parra, Rick Gorecki, Todd Williams, Ken Huckaby, Willis Otáñez
- 1992
- Roger Cedeño, Félix Rodríguez, Chad Zerbe, Chris Latham
- 1993
- Wilton Guerrero
- 1994
- Dennys Reyes, Adam Riggs, Nate Bland, Ricky Stone
- 1995
- Pedro Feliciano, Luke Prokopec, Ángel Peña
- 1996
- Brad Thomas
- 1997
- Víctor Álvarez, Luke Allen
- 1998
- Jorge Piedra
- 1999
- Shane Victorino, Jason Repko
- 2000
- Ricardo Rodríguez, Willy Aybar, Reggie Abercrombie, Joel Hanrahan, Agustín Montero
- 2002
- Jonathan Broxton, James Loney, Joel Guzmán, Eric Stults, Delwyn Young, Eric Hull, Arturo López
- 2003
- Brandon McCarthy, Brian Anderson, Boone Logan, Sean Tracey, Chris Young, Ryan Sweeney, Fernando Hernández, Tom Jacquez
- 2004
- Donny Lucy, Adam Russell, Jack Egbert, Jay Marshall
- 2005
- Brandon Allen, Chris Getz, Clayton Richard, Carlos Torres
- 2006
- Chris Carter
- 2007
- John Ely, Aaron Poreda
- 2008
- Eduardo Escobar, Daniel Hudson, Brent Morel
- 2009
- Trayce Thompson
- 2010
- David Holmberg, Addison Reed, Taylor Thompson, Andy Wilkins
- 2011
- Chris Devenski, Erik Johnson, Kevan Smith, Scott Snodgress
- 2012
- Chris Beck, Micah Johnson, Mike Marjama
- 2013
- Adam Engel, Brad Goldberg, Jacob May
- 2014
- Brandon Brennan, Aaron Bummer, Jace Fry, Zach Thompson
- 2016
- Bernardo Flores Jr, Matt Foster
- 2017
- Luis Gonzalez, Carlos Pérez
- 2018
- Romy González, Codi Heuer, Davis Martin, Konnor Pilkington, Lenyn Sosa, Bennett Sousa, Jonathan Stiever, Steele Walker
- 2019
- McKinley Moore, Sammy Peralta
Roster
edit| Active (25-man) roster | Coaches/Other | |||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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References
edit- ^ Pioneer League Affiliations September 12, 2007.
- ^ "Pioneer League named MLB Partner League". Baseball America. November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Historic sighting spawns new image for Great Falls ball club". OurSports Central. January 15, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- ^ Pete Rose Jr. named manager of Great Falls rookie team