Omaha Dodgers
The Omaha Dodgers were a minor league baseball affiliate, based in Omaha, Nebraska, of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Class AAA American Association in 1961-62. The team was Omaha's second AAA and American Association franchise, succeeding the Omaha Cardinals of 1955-59.
| Omaha Dodgers 1961–1962 Omaha, Nebraska | |||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Previous classes | Triple-A (1961-1962) | ||
| League | American Association (1961-1962) | ||
| Major league affiliations | |||
| Previous teams | Los Angeles Dodgers (1961-1962) | ||
| Minor league titles | |||
| League titles | 0 | ||
| Conference titles | 0 | ||
| Division titles | 0 | ||
| Team data | |||
Previous names | Omaha Dodgers (1961-1962) | ||
The Omaha Dodgers were the transplanted St. Paul Saints of the Association, a longtime Dodger farm team that was displaced after the 1960 season when the Minnesota Twins moved from Washington, D.C., to bring Major League Baseball to Minneapolis-St. Paul. The O-Dodgers were one of two AAA farm clubs of the Dodgers at the time (the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League were the other), and the Omaha club was managed in both seasons of its existence by Danny Ozark, who a decade later would become well known as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 1961 Omaha Dodgers finished last in the six-team Association with a record of 62 wins and 87 defeats (.416), 23½ games behind the pennant-winning Indianapolis Indians. They drew 120,000 fans. In 1962, Omaha climbed all the way to second place with a mark of 79 wins and 68 defeats (.537), ten games behind Indianapolis, but were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Bears. The 1962 club drew 109,000 fans, fourth in the six-team league. Members of the O-Dodgers included Bill Lajoie, future MLB front office executive (then an outfielder), and Pete Richert, who would forge a long career in baseball as a relief pitcher.
At the close of the 1962 season, the American Association disbanded. The Omaha Dodgers and Louisville Colonels folded, and the surviving clubs were absorbed into the Pacific Coast League and the International League. In 1969, the Association was revived and the Omaha Royals became a charter member. The club still exists, but the Association — even though it was thriving as the third AAA league — again disbanded after the 1997 season in a minor-league reorganization, and its teams were absorbed by the two surviving AAA leagues. The Royals, therefore, now play in the Pacific Coast League.
References
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 1997 edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America.
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