# Lewiston Broncs

The Lewiston Broncs were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Lewiston, Idaho, and played from 1952 through 1974. Locally, the team was known as "Lewis-Clark" to include the adjacent twin city of Clarkston, Washington. The team's ballpark was Bengal Field, a few blocks southeast of the high school.

## History

The parent organization was Lewiston Baseball Club, Inc., formed in 1952 by Lewiston businessmen Sam Canner Sr., Jack Lee, Billy Gray, George Thiessen, and others. Gray later sold his shares to Thiessen. Prior to its arrival in Lewiston, the team was the Tacoma Tigers, owned by William Starr of San Diego, and were affiliated with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League (PCL).
The Broncs were a member of the Western International League ("Willy") from 1952–54, and its successor, the Northwest League, from 1955–74. The Broncs won the NWL championships in 1961, led by catcher–manager John McNamara, the future MLB skipper, and again in 1970 and 1972.
The Broncs had two distinctions:
* They played in the smallest town in America to have a professional baseball team (1960 census = 12,691^); and
* They were the only professional baseball team to be operated without a business manager. During their entire existence, they were run by a board of directors centered on the stockholders.
The team colors were blue and white and the ballpark was Bengal Field; at 11th Avenue and 14th Street, it is now the football-only venue of Lewiston High School, with a grandstand on its west sideline. When it was a baseball stadium for the Lewiston Broncs, home plate was in the northeast corner of the property at 15th Street, resulting in an unorthodox southwest alignment (home to center field). (The recommended alignment is east-northeast.) LHS played baseball there through 1983.
^ Note: The Orchards area of south Lewiston was unincorporated until late 1969.

## Affiliations

The Broncs were affiliated with four major league franchises:
| Year | Affiliation |
| 1952 | Independent |
| 1953 | St. Louis Browns |
| 1954 | Baltimore Orioles |
| 1955–56 | Independent |
| 1957 | Philadelphia Phillies |
| 1958–59 | Independent |
| 1960–66 | Kansas City Athletics |
| 1967–70 | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 1971 | Independent |
| 1972 | Baltimore Orioles |
| 1973–74 | Oakland Athletics |
* The St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.
* The Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland in 1968.

## Players

A roster check in 1967 showed that 40% of the players and coaches of the Kansas City Athletics had been in Lewiston at one time or another. Reggie Jackson was perhaps the most famous Lewiston Bronc of all-time; Mr. October played 12 games at age 20 for Lewiston in 1966. which was the first year of the short season for the NWL. The Broncs' rosters included Rick Monday, manager John McNamara, Vearl ("Snag") Moore, Thorton ("Kip") Kipper, Antonio Perez, Ron Koepper, Delmer Owen, Dick Green, Bud Swan, Bert Campaneris, John Israel, Dave Duncan, Al Heist and as a player, later coach-manager Robert ("Gabby") Williams. In 1967, the Broncs started a four-year affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals, who went to the World Series those first two seasons, both going seven games; they won in 1967, but were a game short in 1968.

## Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

* Reggie Jackson (1966) Inducted, 1993
* Tony LaRussa (1964) Inducted, 2015
* John McNamara (1955), (1958–1962, MGR) Inducted, 2015

## Notable alumni

* Jack Aker (1961, 1963)
* Bert Campaneris (1963) 6x MLB All–Star
* Reggie Cleveland (1967)
* Chuck Dobson (1965)
* Dave Duncan (1965) MLB All–Star
* Bob Forsch (1969–1970)
* Dick Green (1961)
* Wayne Gross (1973) MLB All-Star
* Dave Hamilton (1966)
* Ted Kubiak (1963)
* Marcel Lachemann (1964)
* Hillis Layne (1956–1958, MGR)
* Steve McCatty (1973-1974) 1981 AL ERA Leader
* Rick Monday (1965) 2 x MLB All–Star
* Dwayne Murphy (1973) 6x Gold Glove
* Jim Nash (1965)
* Fred Norman (1962)
* Blue Moon Odom (1965) 2x MLB All–Star
* John O'Donoghue (1960-1961) MLB All–Star
* Tom Trebelhorn (1974)
* Gary Woods (1973)