Medford Giants

{{Infobox Minor League Baseball

| name = Medford Giants

| firstseason = 1967

| lastseason = 1968

| allyears =

| city = Medford, Oregon

| logo =

| caplogo =

| class level = Class A-Short Season

| league = Northwest League

| conference =

| division =

| past league =

| pastmajorleague = San Francisco Giants (1967–1968)

| pastnames =

| ballpark = Jackson County Ballpark

| classchamps =

| leaguenum = 1

| leaguechamps = 1967

| conferencechamps =

| divisionchamps =

| owner = Rouge Valley Baseball, Inc.

| colors = Black, orange, white
{{color box|#000000}} {{color box|#FD5A1E}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}}

}}

The Medford Giants were a minor league baseball team based in Medford, Oregon. The Giants were members of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League from 1967-1968 and were an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

History

In early 1967 it was announced that Rouge Valley Baseball, Inc. had secured a Northwest League franchise. The club signed a player development contract with the San Francisco Giants.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=1967-02-18|title=Medford Giants' Exec Starts Work|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/441829979/?terms=Medford%20Giants&match=1|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}} Adopting their parent club's moniker the club began to play in the summer of 1967 as the Medford Giants. In their innagural season the Giants finished with a record of 51-33. The Giants and Eugene Emeralds were in a dead heat down the stretch. Medford swept the Tri-City Atoms in a season finale double-header to finish one game ahead of Eugene in the standings to claim the Northwest League pennant.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=1967-09-05|title=Giants New NWL Champs|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/441870546/?terms=Medford%20Giants&match=1|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}

There was uncertainty about whether the franchise would remain in Medford due to a dispute over ballpark rent. Jackson County Commissioners sought to raise rent, an increase that owner Joseph Graham strongly opposed. The county agreed to maintain the same rental rate, which secured the Giants return for the 1968 season.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=1967-12-17|title=NW League Will Return to Medford|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/441870546/?terms=Medford%20Giants&match=1|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}}

After the completion of the season, citing a lack of available players, San Francisco ended their affiliation with Medford.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=1968-12-06|title=SF Giants Drop Medford Club|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/26030091/?terms=Medford%20Giants&match=1|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Newspapers.com|language=en}} Medford signed on with the Los Angeles Dodgers and became the Rogue Valley Dodgers.

Season-by-season record

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"
scope="col"\|Season !scope="col"\|PDC !scope="col"\|Division !scope="col"\|Finish !scope="col"\|Wins !scope="col"\|Losses !scope="col"\|Win% !scope="col"\|Post-season !scope="col"\|Manager !scope="col"\|Attendance
align="center" colspan="11" style="background:#FD5A1E; color: white; border:2px solid#000000"\|Medford Giants
1967 \|SFG \| \|1st \|51 \|33 \|.607 \|bgcolor="#EEDC82"\|Northwest League champion by virtue of record \|Tony Eichelberger \|43,478
1968 \|SFG \| \|3rd \|34 \|43 \|.442 \| \|Harvey Koepf \|20,585

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"

scope="col"|Season

!scope="col"|PDC

!scope="col"|Division

!scope="col"|Finish

!scope="col"|Wins

!scope="col"|Losses

!scope="col"|Win%

!scope="col"|Post-season

!scope="col"|Manager

!scope="col"|Attendance

align="center" colspan="11" style="background:#FD5A1E; color: white; border:2px solid#000000"|Medford Giants