The Eugene Emeralds played their final home game of the 2019 season on August 31st. It wouldn’t be until 14 months later that the Ems would take the field at PK Park again. The 2020 Minor League Baseball season was canceled, leaving dozens of communities without their only form of professional sports. Eugene was one of these communities, and because the Emeralds have been a staple of summers in Eugene and Springfield for 66 years, the team’s absence was especially noticeable.
Whether it has been Bethel Park, Civic Stadium, or PK Park, Emeralds games have been home to memories for families and ballplayers alike since 1955.
The Emerald’s first major league affiliate came in 1959 and is their current affiliate, the San Francisco Giants. Although there wasn’t much in team success, the Emeralds affiliation with a team who had relocated to the west coast just a year prior put Eugene on the national map as a baseball town. After three years with the Giants as a Class B affiliate, the Emeralds saw changes to their affiliate and their subsequent class.
From 1963 to 1968, the Emeralds major league affiliate and their class were subject to constant changes. The Ems were the Class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in 1963 before spending 1964 and 1965 with the Philadelphia Phillies, respectively. Following the 65’ season, the Emeralds would transition to Short-Season A ball as they split time with the St. Louis Cardinals and aforementioned Phillies during the 1966 season.
However, the Emeralds would be an affiliate of the Phillies for the next six seasons, and from 1969 to 1973, Eugene would be the last stop for prospects on their way to the majors as a AAA club in the Pacific Coast League. The Ems tenure with the Phillies also saw them move from Bethel Park into Civic Stadium. Attendance of Emeralds games boomed as games became a headlining activity during summers in Eugene, and for good reason. Two future baseball Hall of Fame inductees would call Eugene home in this span.
Mike Schmidt played for the Ems in 1972 and Jim Bunning managed the team in 1973. Schmidt is widely considered to be the greatest third baseman in the history of the sport, with three MVP awards, 12 All-Star appearances, and a World Series ring to prove it. Bunning managed the 1973 team, but as a pitcher from 1955 to 1971, he was a part of nine All-Star teams, and at the time of his retirement, he was second in career strikeouts.
In 1974 the Emeralds returned to the Northwest League as an independent ballclub. This season would mark the first of back-to-back NWL championships, the second of which would come as a Short-Season A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The Emeralds would win another title as an affiliate of the Reds five years later, their third in six seasons.
The Ems would remain in the Northwest League as a Short-Season A affiliate until 2019 for several teams, including the Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and Chicago Cubs. While with the Cubs, Eugene would collect two more NWL titles in 2016 and 2018.
No matter the team, classification, or amount of success, baseball fans in Eugene have established the Emeralds as a pillar of the community. That support has continued into a new era of baseball in the Pacific Northwest. In 2021 the Emeralds were reunited with the San Francisco Giants as their High-A affiliate, their highest classification since 1973.
This reclassification means that the Emeralds play a full 132 game season, and that comes with new stadium guidelines from Major League Baseball. In order to keep the Emeralds in the community, a new stadium is needed, or else the MLB could move the franchise to a new location. This is something that no one wants, and a new stadium would mean that the Emeralds would get a new home that invokes the same feelings that Civic Stadium did.
The Emeralds need your help. Please text: SaveOurEms to 855-340-5357 and follow the Facebook group ‘Save Our Ems’ in order to keep the Ems where they have been for nearly 70 years.