Carlsbad Potashers
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Minor League Baseball
| name =Carlsbad Potashers
| firstseason =1953
| lastseason =1961
| allyears =
| city =Carlsbad, New Mexico
| logo =
| uniformlogo =
| class level =Class C (1953–1955)
Class B (1956–1957)
Class D (1958–1961)
| league =Longhorn League (1953–1955)
Southwestern League (1956–1957)
Sophomore League (1958–1961)
| majorleague =Chicago Cubs (1958–1961)
| nickname =Carlsbad Potashers (1953–1961)
| ballpark =Montgomery Field (1953–1961)
| classnum =
| classchamps =
| leaguenum =1
| leaguechamps =1953
| confnum =
| conferencechamps =
| divnum =
| divisionchamps =
| wildcardnum =3
| wildcardberths ={{hlist|1954|1955|1959}}
}}
The Carlsbad Potashers were a minor league baseball team based in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Carlsbad teams played as members of the Longhorn League from 1953 to 1955, Southwestern League in 1956 and 1957 and Sophomore League from 1958 to 1961, winning the 1953 league championship. Carlsbad played as a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs from 1958 to 1961 and hosted home games at Montgomery Field.
In 1959, at Montgomery Field in Carlsbad, Potasher player Gil Carter hit a home run claimed have traveled 733 feet, possibly the longest in professional baseball history.
History
The Carlsbad Potashers began minor league play in 1953. Carlsbad teams played as members of the Class C level Longhorn League (1953–1955), the Class B level Southwestern League (1956–1957) and Class D level Sophomore League (1958–1961) during their nine seasons of play.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=Carlsbad, New Mexico Encyclopedia|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor1=Lloyd Johnson |editor2=Miles Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=Baseball America |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}
In their first season, the 1953 Potashers finished with a record of 80–52 and captured the Longhorn League Championship. The 1954 and 1959 teams lost in the league Finals
The Potashers attendance was 83,462 in their first season of 1953, an average of 1,265 per game. In their last season, 1961, they drew 14,974 an average of 236 per game.{{cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-425|title=Montgomery Field in Carlsbad, NM history and teams on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}
=Gil Carter: Possibly longest home run in history=
As reported in The Sporting News, Potashers player Gil Carter hit a majestic home run at Montgomery Field in 1959:
"On a hot August night in 1959, former heavyweight boxer Gil Carter smashed a pitch through Carlsbad's high-elevated air and out of Montgomery Field. The ball carried over the left field wall, soared past two city streets and landed in a peach tree. A newspaper reporter later took an aerial photo from a plane and used the picture to estimate the ball traveled 733 feet. Carter's hometown paper, The Topeka Capital-Journal, said "the blast is considered the longest home run in baseball history."{{cite web|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/baseball-longest-home-run-carlsbad-denver-oakland-sacramento-reno-mantle-mickey-mlb-minor-league/1ptgqpqcy9ior12xgsco2eo21m|title=Where was baseball's longest home run? A five-city mystery|date=11 January 2016|website=Sporting News}}{{cite web|url=http://www.milb.com/milb/history/tdih.jsp?tdih=0811&sid=milb|title=This Day in History - MiLB.com History - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball|website=MiLB.com}}{{cite web|url=https://conlasbasesllenas.com/longest-homerun-in-baseball-history/|title=The longest homerun in baseball history was measured at 733 ft|date=5 January 2018|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.efqreview.com/NewFiles/v18n1/numbersgame.html|title=Elysian Fields Quarterly - The Baseball Review|website=www.efqreview.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://nbcbaseball.com/gil-carter/|title=Gil Carter}}
The official scorer estimated the home run to have traveled 650 feet. However, aerial photographs measurements put the distance at 700–733 feet, which would make it the longest home run ever hit in professional baseball. The ball itself was signed by Carter and notes the distance of 733 feet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kshs.org/km/items/view/310422|title=Gil Carter home run baseball - Kansas Memory - Kansas Historical Society|website=www.kshs.org}}
Gil Carter was inducted into the National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame in 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://nbcbaseball.com/about-us/club-history/hall-of-fame/|title=National Baseball Congress Hall Of Fame}}
The ballpark
The Potashers played home minor league games at Montgomery Field. Montgomery Field had a capacity of 2,500 and dimensions of (Left, Center, Right) 340–390–340. The ballpark is no longer in existence.{{cite web|url=http://digitalballparks.com/Cubs.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203033859/http://www.digitalballparks.com/Cubs.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=December 3, 2014|title=Chicago Cubs Minor League Affiliations and Baseball Stadium History|website=digitalballparks.com|date=14 November 2024 }}{{cite web| url = https://www.statscrew.com/venues/v-425| title = Minor league baseball at Montgomery Field in Carlsbad, NM on StatsCrew.com}}
Timeline
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;"
! Year(s) !! # Yrs. !! Team !! Level !! League!!Affiliate!!Ballpark | ||||||
| 1953–1955 | 3 | rowspan=3|Carlsbad Potashers | Class C | Longhorn League | rowspan=2|None | rowspan=3|Montgomery Field |
| 1956–1957 | 2 | Class B | Southwestern League | |||
| 1958–1961 | 4 | Class D | Sophomore League | Chicago Cubs |
Year–by–year records
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||
| Year | Record | Finish | Manager | Playoffs/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center
| 1953 | 80-52 | 1st | Pat McLaughlin | League Champions |
| align=center
| 1954 | 87-52 | 3rd | Pat McLaughlin | Lost League Finals |
| align=center
| 1955 | 72-67 | 4th | Thurman Tucker | Lost in 1st round |
| align=center
| 1956 | 70-74 | 7th | Thurman Tucker | Did not qualify |
| align=center
| 1957 | 65-54 | 3rd | Jodie Phipps | Did not qualify |
| align=center
| 1958 | 55-65 | 5th | Tony York | Did not qualify |
| align=center
| 1959 | 72-54 | 2nd | Walt Dixon | Lost League Finals |
| align=center
| 1960 | 66-64 | 3rd | Verlon Walker | Did not qualify |
| align=center
| 1961 | 56-71 | 5th | Lou Klein / Walt Dixon | Did not qualify |
| align=center |
Notable alumni
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
- Gil Carter (1957–1959) Inducted National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame (2015)
- Billy Connors (1961)
- Merv Connors (1953)
- Walt Dixon (1959, MGR)
- Jonas Gaines (1956–1957)
- Tom Jordan (1956–1957)
- Lou Klein (1961, MGR)
- Pat McLaughlin (1953–1954, MGR)
- Bob Raudman (1961)
- René Solís (1954)
- Jimmy Stewart (1960)
- Thurman Tucker (1955–1956, MGR) MLB All-Star
- Verlon Walker (1960, MGR)
- Jesse White (1954)
- Tony York (1958, MGR)
{{Div col end}}
=See also=
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates
Category:Defunct minor league baseball teams
Category:Sports clubs and teams in New Mexico
Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1961
Category:Baseball teams established in 1953
Category:Defunct baseball teams in New Mexico
Category:Professional baseball teams in New Mexico
Category:1953 establishments in New Mexico
Category:1961 disestablishments in New Mexico