Buffalo Bisons

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This article is about the minor league baseball franchise, for other teams named Buffalo Bisons see Buffalo Bisons (disambiguation).
This article covers all modern incarnations but focuses on the AA team founded in 1979 and the AAA team that moved from Wichita, Kansas in 1984.
Buffalo Bisons
Founded in 1979
Buffalo, New York

Team Logo
Cap Insignia
Class-Level
  • Triple-A (1985-Present)
  • Double-A (1979-1984)
Minor League affiliations
Major League affiliations
Name
  • Buffalo Bisons (1979-Present)
Ballpark
Minor League titles
League titles 1933, 1936, 1938, 1947, 1949, 1957, 1961, 1998, 2002, 2004
Division titles 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005
Owner(s)/Operated by: Bob Rich Jr.
Manager: Torey Lovullo
General Manager: Mike Buczkowski

The Buffalo Bisons (Pronounced 'BI-zons' [bɪzəns] by locals) are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York which plays in the International League (IL). The team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians Major League club. The Bisons play in Dunn Tire Park stadium, located in downtown Buffalo.

The current incarnation of the Bisons was founded in 1979, when Buffalo ownership interests purchased the Jersey City franchise of the Class Double-A Eastern League and moved the team to the city. It is of note that the plural form of bison is bison, not bisons.

Contents

[edit] Team history

The team originally known as the Buffalo Bisons actually dates to a major league club, the Buffalo Bisons of the National League (1879-85). In 1886, the Bisons moved into minor league baseball as members of the original International League. This franchise continued in the IL (known as the Eastern League from 1891-1911) through June 11, 1970, when it transferred to Winnipeg, Manitoba as the Winnipeg/Peninsula Whips, due to poor attendance and stadium woes. In 1969, Héctor López became the first black manager at the AAA level while managing Buffalo Bisons-- six years before Frank Robinson became the first black manager in Major League Baseball.[1]

After six seasons in the Eastern League, the Bisons joined the AAA ranks in 1985, joining the American Association when the Wichita Aeros franchise rights were transferred to Buffalo. When the American Association folded after the 1997 season, Buffalo (along with the Indianapolis Indians and Louisville RiverBats) found refuge in the International League, while their former American Association opponents joined the Pacific Coast League.

In the past five seasons, the Bisons have made the playoffs twice. In 2004, the team came back from being 10 games out of first place in late June to winning their division by a convincing 9.5 games. Buffalo won its first-round playoff, against the Durham Bulls, and advanced to the the Governors' Cup Finals, in which they had home field advantage over the Richmond Braves. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan caused major flooding problems in Richmond and the entire series was played in Buffalo. The Bisons defeated the Braves in four games and won the Governors' Cup for the second time since 1998. In 2005, Buffalo won the North Division and played the Indianapolis Indians in the first round, winning the first two games in Indianapolis, but losing all three remaining games. With many of its players shuffled to Cleveland throughout the final months of the season, the Bisons failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2006. In 2007, Buffalo failed once again to clinch a playoff spot, marking the first time since Buffalo was parented with Pittsburgh that the Bisons missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

[edit] Season records

[edit] 1980s

Year Wins Losses Percentage Finish Manager
1980 (East.) 67 70 .578 (1 in North. Div. - first half), (3 in North. Div. - second half) Steve Demeter
1981 (East.) 56 81 .409 (4 in North. Div. - first half), (2 in North. Div. - second half) John Upon
1982 (East.) 55 84 .396 (4 in North. Div - both halves) Tommy Sandt
1983 (East.) 74 65 .532 (2 in East) Al Gallagher
1984 (East.) 72 67 .518 (5) Jack Aker
1985 66 76 N/A N/A John Boles
1986 71 71 N/A N/A Jim Marshall
1987 66 74 N/A N/A Orlando Gomez (13-28), Steve Swisher (53-46)
1988 72 70 N/A N/A Rocky Bridges
1989 80 62 N/A N/A Terry Collins

[2]

[edit] 1990s

Year Wins Losses Percentage Finish
1990 (American Association) 85 62 .578 (2 - East) (Failed to Make Playoffs)
1991 (AA) 81 62 .566 (1 - East) (Lost in Finals)
1992 (AA) 87 57 .604 (1 - East) (Lost in Finals)
1993 (AA) 71 73 .493 (2 -East) (Failed to Make Playoffs)
1994 (AA) 55 89 .382 (8) (Failed to Make Playoffs)
1995 (AA) 82 62 .569 (2) (Lost in Finals)
1996 (AA) 84 60 .583 (1) (Lost in First Round)
1997 (AA) 87 57 .604 (1) (League Champions)

[3]

[edit] International League

Season Manager Record Win % Playoff Result
1998 Jeff Datz 81-62 .566 IL Champions, lost in World Series
1999 Jeff Datz 72-72 .500 failed to make playoffs
2000 Joel Skinner 86-59 .593 lost in first round
2001 Eric Wedge 91-51 .641 lost in first round
2002 Eric Wedge 84-54 .609 lost in finals
2003 Marty Brown 73-70 .510 failed to make the playoffs
2004 Marty Brown 83-61 .576 IL Champions, No World Series
2005 Marty Brown 82-62 .569 Lost in first round
2006 Torey Lovullo 73-68 .518 Failed to make playoffs
2007 Torey Lovullo 49-38 .563 Failed to make playoffs
2008 Torey Lovullo 14-19 .424 Season in progress

[edit] Titles

The Bisons have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 6 times, including the inaugural Cup, and played in the championship series 10 times.

Since 1998 the Bisons have won the North IL Division four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005)

[edit] 2008 roster

Buffalo Bisons roster
view • talk • edit
Players Coaches/Other
Pitchers
 Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaches


† Disabled list
* On Cleveland Indians 40-man roster
‡ Reserve list
§ Suspended list
Roster updated 2008-06-09
Transactions

[edit] Former Bisons currently in the Majors

[edit] Buffalo Bisons in the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Player/Manager Year Inducted Years with the Bisons
Connie Mack 1937 1890
Charles Radbourn 1939 1880
Jimmy Collins 1945 1893-94
Jim O'Rourke 1945 1881-84
Dan Brouthers 1945 1881-85
Joe Tinker 1946 1930(Coach)
Herb Pennock 1948 1916
Gabby Hartnett 1955 1946( Manager)
Ray Schalk 1955 1932-37, 1950 (Manager)
Joe McCarthy 1957 1914-15
John Montgomery Ward 1964 1877
Jim Galvin 1965 1878-85, 1894
Lou Boudreau 1970 1939
Bucky Harris 1975 1918-19, 1944-45 (Manager)
Johnny Bench 1989 1966-67
Ferguson Jenkins 1991 1962
Jim Bunning 1996 1953, 1955
Frank Grant 2006 1886-1888

[4]

[edit] Mascots

The main mascots of the team have traditionally been "Buster T. Bison" along with his cousin "Chip," but as of 2006, a new mascot named "Belle the Ballpark Diva" has made her appearance, along with flamboyant reporter "Johnny $tyles." Buster and Belle pursued a love interest, and were married following the August 26, 2007 game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Buster and Chip wear Bisons jerseys and caps. Buster's number is the last 2 numbers of the season (in 2007 his number was 07). Chip's number has always been 1/2. The Bisons have had a number of other mascots in the past. ""MicroChip,"" who was smaller and presumably "younger" than Buster and Chip, wore a Bisons jersey as well. His number was 1/4. "Loudmouth" was another mascot for the team. She was a mime. The other official mascot of the Bisons was "Howie the Ump". He wore a costume much like Buster and Chip, but it was a costume of a human umpire, with an umpire's uniform and mask. He was very short lived, existing only in the 1997 season.

Other unofficial Bisons include "Conehead," a beer vendor who wears a rubber conehead hat, and "The Earl of Bud," another beer vendor who during the 3rd inning would climb on the dugout and dance. He since has retired. His last appearance was in last year's Buffalo Sabres playoff run.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Vecsey, George (1990-03-28). SPORTS OF THE TIMES; A Yankee Comes Back To Baseball. New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  2. ^ Buffalo Bisons: About
  3. ^ Buffalo Bisons: About
  4. ^ Buffalo Bisons: About

[edit] External links


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