History Buffalo Bisons

1 history

1.1 previous buffalo bisons teams
1.2 mets era
1.3 blue jays era

history
previous buffalo bisons teams

t206 baseball card buffalo bisons pitcher dummy taylor, ca. 1909-11

organized baseball in buffalo had been around since @ least 1859, when niagara baseball club of national association of base ball players played first season. first professional team play in buffalo began in 1877; team invited become major league club, buffalo bisons of national league, played 1879 1885. in 1886, bisons moved minor league baseball members of original international league, known eastern league. (an outlaw team known buffalo bisons played in players league, upstart third major league, in 1890, team not considered part of bisons history.) team joined western league in 1899, , within weeks of becoming major league team when western league announced changing name american league in 1900. however, start of 1901 season, buffalo had been bumped league in favor of boston americans; bisons returned minors , eastern league year.

this franchise continued in eastern/international league through june 1970, when transferred winnipeg, manitoba winnipeg whips, due poor attendance, stadium woes, montreal expos (then canada s mlb team) affiliating franchise, , increasingly saturated buffalo sports market saw buffalo sabres of nhl , buffalo braves of nba established same year. (the team had narrowly avoided relocation in 1956, intervention led local broadcaster stan barron prevented team leaving; nonetheless forced move football venue, buffalo war memorial stadium, few years later, after existing ballpark closed.) in 1969, héctor lópez became first black manager @ triple-a level while managing buffalo bisons—six years before frank robinson became first black manager in major league baseball. after stops in winnipeg , hampton, virginia, team suspended after 1973 season make way memphis blues, moving double-a.

in 1979, point braves had left town, double-a eastern league s jersey city s forced leave city due decrepitude of city s roosevelt stadium , opted move waterbury, connecticut, city had eastern league team. again barron leading effort, league awarded franchise buffalo, , bisons (taking on previous team s name , history) returned field.

after 6 seasons in eastern league, bisons rejoined triple-a ranks in 1985, joining american association when wichita aeros franchise rights transferred buffalo. when, part of reorganization of triple-a baseball, american association folded after 1997 season, buffalo joined international league.

since return triple-a baseball in 1985, bisons have qualified playoffs several times. in 2004, although bisons 10 games behind first-place team in june, bisons won division. buffalo won first-round playoff, against durham bulls, , advanced governors cup finals, in had home field advantage on richmond braves. remnants of hurricane ivan caused major flooding problems in richmond , entire series played in buffalo. bisons defeated braves in 4 games , won governors cup second time since 1998. in 2005, buffalo won north division , played indianapolis indians in first round, winning first 2 games in indianapolis, losing 3 remaining games. many of players shuffled cleveland indians throughout final months of season, bisons failed qualify playoffs in 2006. in 2007, buffalo again failed clinch playoff spot, marking first time since buffalo parented pittsburgh pirates bisons missed playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

mets era

after 2008 season, buffalo parted ways cleveland, indians signed affiliation agreement columbus clippers beginning in 2009. bisons signed two-year agreement top home new york mets prospects.

on december 16, 2008, mets officially announced ken oberkfell bisons new manager 2009. @ same press conference, bisons unveiled new logo. logo paid homage baseball s history in city of buffalo city s skyline in background. logo, along new colors of blue , orange, closely resemble of team s new parent club, mets.

in 2009–2010 off-season, bisons chosen host 2012 triple-a all-star game celebrate 25 years @ coca-cola field. game played on wednesday, july 11, 2012.

in late july 2010, bisons , mets agreed on two-year extension carried agreement through 2012 season.

the 2010–2011 off-season saw changes bisons coaching staff. ken oberkfell replaced tim teufel, member of 1986 mets team. teufel introduced on friday january 21, 2011, 16th manager in bisons modern era.

the 2011–2012 off-season once again saw coaching changes. tim teufel replaced wally backman. introduced on november 17, 2011.

blue jays era

the bisons agreement mets ended after 2012 season due bisons management being dissatisfied drop in attendance , poor performance during mets era. bisons enjoyed 1 winning season out of 4 years affiliated mets. consequently, bisons signed player development contract toronto blue jays on september 18, 2012. blue jays geographically closest mlb team buffalo , such partnership build on other international fan base efforts in region, such defunct bills toronto series in football.

as part of rebuilding efforts, bisons announced new uniform (a throwback uniform using modernized variant of 1980s logo , colors) , return of former bisons manager marty brown in november 2012.

on april 18, 2013 bisons scored 27 runs on 29 hits against syracuse chiefs, setting records runs , hits in international league game since 1973.

in 2016, bisons , blue jays agreed again extend player development contract, extending relationship through 2018 season.