Tulsa Baseball History

Tulsa's longest relationship with any professional sport has been with baseball. And that love affair with its minor league teams has endured its share of peaks and valleys, of passionate embraces, periods of frustration and despair and joyous celebrations. Baseball and Tulsa are currently living "happily ever after" with record-setting season attendance figures, more frequent appearances in postseason playoffs, having one of the finest stadiums on the Double-A level and its new partnership with one of baseball's most prestigious organizations, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ten major league teams, from powerhouses such as the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals to the woeful St. Louis Browns, have placed developmental teams in Tulsa with varying degrees of success. This book tells the stories of not only the men who wore the uniforms of Tulsa's professional baseball teams but also of opposing players along with others who came through town and left their mark on the sport, for better or for worse. You can read about … How a crude invention by the manager of the 1966 Tulsa Oilers opened up baseball to be played and enjoyed by young boys and girls around the world. How a fan got fed up with constant booing from others nearby and his response was a yell that became a battle cry for Tulsa baseball fans. How the 1921 Oilers and their home stadium were involved in one of America's darkest hours, the Tulsa Race Massacre. What happened when future Hall of Fame players and managers visited the Oil Capital of the World for exhibition games. How the Tulsa Drillers were the stepping stone for superstars with the Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers. Members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame with connections to Tulsa. And how the 1966 Oilers lost nine games in a row and, incredibly, strengthened its hold on first place.