PaddleHeads, MLB Announce Professional Baseball Is Here To Stay In Missoula 

The Missoula PaddleHeads announced today that they have agreed to be a part of a Major League Baseball Partner League. The agreement assures the PaddleHeads will remain a fixture in professional baseball going forward. At this time, the league will consist of the former eight Pioneer League teams, although, further expansion is possible. The season will also be extended from the league’s former format to a 92-game schedule that begins in mid-May and concludes in early September. This will mean that the PaddleHeads will have 46 home games, 8 more than the previous schedule format.

"We are very pleased that professional baseball is alive and well in Western Montana. The decision to extend the decades long relationship between MLB and the Pioneer League is not just great news for our communities, but also for the players and the game of baseball. Through this partnership, we see ourselves contributing to player development in more substantial ways, while also developing baseball fans for life,” said Peter Davis and Susan Crampton Davis Co-Chairs of the Missoula PaddleHeads.

The Pioneer League will operate as a Professional Baseball Independent League. As a result, the PaddleHeads and other Pioneer League franchises can acquire their own players. Players will be most likely undrafted players, and former professional baseball players who have been released from a Major League club. Each franchise can decide how and which direction they will go in terms of player acquisition and development.

“We are excited to welcome the players back to Missoula this Spring,” said PaddleHeads Vice President Matt Ellis. “This agreement with Major League Baseball will give future generations of Missoula fans the continued opportunity to enjoy professional baseball and affordable family entertainment that they’ve come to know and love. We are already hard at work to make the newly rebranded PaddleHeads inaugural season the best yet.”

Pending COVID-19 restrictions, the Missoula PaddleHeads are committed to creating a socially distanced and safe environment for the 2021 season. Fans should expect not just baseball, but the return of movies, trivia, and other great events that our fans enjoyed during the summer in 2020. The PaddleHeads will provide updates and some exciting new initiatives in the coming months.