Yakima Packers
The Yakima Packers of Yakima, Washington, lasted one season, and it was a hard one: 52-109 in 1948, last of eight teams in the Class B Western International League and 47.5 games behind first-place Spokane. The league that year stretched from Salem, Oregon, to Victoria, British Columbia.
Yakima had been in the league since 1937 as the Pippins and returned after World War II as the Stars, who went 71-69 in 1946 and 59-95 in 1947. The club took the Packers name for 1948 and became the Bears in 1949. The reason for the Packers name is not documented in the sources checked; it likely refers to the Yakima Valley's fruit-packing industry, but that has not been confirmed.
Vernon Johnson started the season as manager, and Hub Kittle replaced him on July 2. Kittle also pitched, going 7-18 with a 4.76 ERA. He went on to a long Yakima connection, winning the 1956 pennant as manager of the Bears, and was pitching coach of the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. In 1980, at age 63, he took the mound for Triple-A Springfield and became the only man to pitch professionally in six decades.
The roster included Spencer Harris, who had managed the 1946 Stars and returned in 1948 as a 47-year-old outfielder. He hit .330 in 34 games in his final season. Harris played for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics between 1925 and 1930, and he still holds minor league career records for hits (3,617), runs (2,287) and doubles (743). Gene Thompson led the club with a .319 average and 41 doubles.
