Aberdeen Pheasants
The Aberdeen Pheasants were a minor league baseball team based in Aberdeen, South Dakota that played in the Northern League from 1946 until 1971. For their entire existence, the Pheasants were an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles franchise. They played their home games at Municipal Stadium.
At the time of the Pheasants' dissolution, their working agreement was the longest ever between a major and minor league baseball team. Aberdeen won the Northern League championship in 1949, 1961, and 1964.
History
In 1946, the Northern League, which had been on hiatus since 1942 due to World War II, restarted and invited Aberdeen to bring the circuit up to eight teams.. The name "Pheasants" was chosen for the club through a local contest. The team was community-owned, which was unusual for the time.The first Opening Day for the Pheasants drew a crowd of over two thousand people. After missing the postseason in their first year, the Pheasants would go on to play in the league finals three straight years from 1947 to 1949. Aberdeen won the Northern League championship in 1949, defeating the Eau Claire Bears.
1964 exhibition vs. Baltimore
On 8 June, 1964, the Pheasants' parent club, the Baltimore Orioles, came to Aberdeen to play an exhibition game. Aberdeen, which featured future major leaguers such as Mark Belanger, Jim Palmer, and Lou Piniella, came into the game leading the Northern League with a 31–9 record, while the Orioles were 31–17 and ½ game behind the White Sox for the American League lead.The Orioles, arriving on a charter plane from Minneapolis, had to bring a ladder along to disembark, as Aberdeen's airport had no portable stairs. Pheasants players were quoted as saying, "We're gonna beat 'em and climb onto that big plane. They can stay here and finish the Northern League schedule." Official attendance for the game was 5,130 — one-fifth of Aberdeen's entire population — but local news estimated that another thousand people watched from vantage points outside the ballpark. The Orioles won the game, 6–3.
Demise
After the 1971 season, the Northern League only had two teams remaining: the Pheasants and the St. Cloud Rox. Unable to find any other teams, the Northern League closed down.. Aberdeen's working agreement with the Orioles franchise had been the longest-running working agreement in baseball, lasting the entirety of the Pheasants' existence.Aberdeen would be without professional baseball until the Aberdeen Pheasants of the Prairie League began play in 1995.