For all his vast accomplishments and A-List sports industry resume, Andy Dolich is a very funny guy and a total delight to hang with at a ballpark. Knowing who he is and all that he’s done, you want to be in awe of him but he’s so, well, cool.
Eccentricity is defined as “deviating from a usual pattern or style”, and much that can be said of Grand Junction, Colorado, a city of 65,000 located against the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains is in keeping with its cherished tradition of quirkiness.
Across the country this year many towns and cities will resume celebrating the Fourth of July after largely being absent in the pandemic year of 2020. Idaho Falls, almost a quintessential American small city, regained its parade and fireworks despite baking triple digit temperatures.
At 11:25 a.m. on August 15, 1950, Nick Mariana, the GM of the Great Falls "Electrics" was inspecting the empty Legion Stadium when a bright flash caught his eye. Mariana later said he saw two bright silvery objects, rotating while flying over the city of Great Falls.
Approaching the three separated, ponderous grandstand structures one would think of it as a 1940’s era WPA project gone wrong. Who, one would ask, thought up this idea of triple disconnected, vertically engineered, non-descript ballpark design, devoid of any charisma?
After the stunning, picturesque drive from Boise over the Tetons into hip-chic Jackson Hole, WY and then into the jaw-dropping magnificence of Yellowstone Park, with post card images of gushing rivers, majestic mountains, geysers, waterfalls, bison and elk herds at every turn, the vast Big Sky Country of Montana unfolds to Billings, home of the Mustangs and their lovely stable, Dehler Park.
Like Austin, Texas, Missoula is a college town oasis in the midst of the mesas and buttes of Montana’s cowboy country. Ranches, streams, and rugged, mountainous terrain create a vast hardscrabble ocean surrounding this town’s unmistakable vibe - known for its artsy cultural scene, fly fishing (made famous by the book and movie, A River Runs Through It), film festivals, bookstores, Lewis & Clark and , the coolest name and logo in minor league baseball, The Missoula PaddleHeads.
Our Teams, Ballparks, and Communities
- Grand Junction Rockies name Bobby Jenks Manager
- Former MLB Manager and Current Billings Manager, Jim Riggleman, to Attend Pioneer League Tryout Camp in Tucson
- From The Big Leagues to Indy Ball
- Cory Snyder Announced as Manager of the Northern Colorado Owlz
- Mustangs Name Jim Riggleman Club Manager
- The Pioneer League Partnering with Pecos League for Pre-Season Tryout Camp
- Missoula PaddleHeads Pitcher is Stepping up to the Big Leagues
- Rosie Aguilera Makes History as Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC and Owlz Team President
- Pioneer Baseball League and TicketSmarter Announce Historic Naming Rights Agreement
- Chukars Bring Back Gardner and Milacki
- White Sox Sign Infielder Jason Matthews to Minor League Deal
In November 2020, Peter Davis, proud proprietor of the Missoula PaddleHeads, was two years into life as a minor league baseball owner when disaster struck.
On Jan. 19 the latest addition to the Pioneer Baseball League revealed its name and logo. The Flathead Valley based team operated by Ridge Run Baseball, will be known as the Glacier Range Riders.
You can thank the Savannah Bananas and the Pioneer League for a promo we’re sure to see a lot in coming games, as the Worcester Bravehearts (Futures League) will host a game where the fans choose the rules and will be decided by a home-run derby.
MISSOULA, Mont. - The Pioneer Baseball League final series is seeing a tight pennant race that involves three teams from Montana.
ELLISON Hanna II earned an opportunity to enter the professional baseball ranks with the Missoula PaddleHeads of the Pioneer League.
Following the first Pioneer League tryout, Hanna was one of three prospects chosen by the PaddleHeads to join the franchise, based in Missoula, Montana.
Former Yale hurler Eric Brodkowitz, using the remote work option to its fullest, honed his breaking ball with an independent club in Idaho as his adoptive team makes an improbable run to Tokyo
It was in November of 2020 that the Pioneer league of minor league baseball walked away from teams being affiliated with a MLB parent club, and was designated a “Partner League.”
Take a look at the eight stadiums of the PBL and their scenery.