Miles Field - Medford, Oregon
Posted by: 
ddtfamily
N 42° 18.599 W 122° 51.374
10T E 511848 N 4684203
Marker on the former site of a minor league baseball park, now a Wal*Mart
Waymark Code: WMJX05
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 01/09/2014
Views: 5
Another landmark of my youth is gone - this historical marker notes the former location of Miles Field, a minor league baseball stadium that served as home to several professional baseball franchises from the 1960's through the 1990's. When I grew up in the area in the 1970s and 80s it was home to the Medford A's, the Oakland Athletics Class A short-season minor league team that won several Northwest League championships. Among the future big league stars I saw play here were Jose Canseco and Terry Steinbach. The franchise was well supported, consistently drawing the most fans in the league during that era.
Following the 1999 season, Medford lost it's team to Vancouver, Canada, fallout from a number of franchise shifts. This ended more than thirty years of Medford teams in the Northwest league. A previous ballpark on this same site hosted a Brooklyn Dodgers Class D affiliate from 1948-1951. That club was initially called the Medford Nuggets but was later renamed the Medford Rogues.
After failing to secure a new team, the ballpark sat vacant for many years, with the property caught in a legal battle between Wal*Mart, the Medford City Council and a citizens group. Eventually the court ruled in favor of Wal*Mart and a new superstore opened on this site in mid-2012.
The text of the marker reads:
| "There used to be a baseball park at this site."
MILES FIELD
Named in Honor of
CLAUDE
"SHORTY" MILES
June 14, 1969
"Shorty" Miles played a leading role for
many years in supporting youth baseball
and in rebuilding the former baseball stadium
on this site following a fire that destroyed it in 1951.
He died October 22, 1968
At the age of 81
|
Click a photo to enlarge
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