Bisbee Bees

The Bisbee Bees were Bisbee, Arizona's professional baseball club from 1928 to 1932 and again from 1937 to 1941, the copper town's entry in Arizona's first league in organized baseball.

Bisbee played at Warren Ballpark, built by the mining company in 1909 and still standing, which makes it one of the oldest ballparks in the country. The first manager was Roy Johnson, nicknamed Hard Rock, who once, after being ejected from a game in Tucson, rented a horse from a boy outside the park and managed the rest of the game from behind the outfield fence.

The Bees had the best record in the league in 1929 at 60-30, but the title was never awarded. The deciding game at Miami on September 17 was still being played at nightfall, Bisbee scored eight runs in the dark to go ahead, and the home crowd came onto the field. The league president ruled it no contest and gave each club half a pennant. Bisbee won the 1930 championship instead, when Globe refused to travel for the deciding game, and finished first again in 1938 and 1939 before losing the playoffs both years.

Bisbee alumni who reached the majors include catcher and future Cardinals manager Johnny Keane, who hit .408 for the Bees in 1931, pitcher Jim Tobin, outfielder Tuck Stainback and Clarence Maddern. The club was a Chicago Cubs affiliate in 1930 and from 1939 to 1941. After the war Bisbee returned as the Yanks in 1947 and then shared a club with Douglas as the Copper Kings.

Arizona's first league in organized baseball opened in 1928 as a Class D circuit with four clubs, in Bisbee, Miami, Phoenix and Tucson. It became the Arizona-Texas League in 1931 and the Arizona-Mexico League in 1955, and ran, with gaps, through 1958, eventually reaching into Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and northern Mexico.