Miles Field

Miles Field was a professional baseball stadium based in Medford, Oregon that played host to high school baseball, American Legion baseball and professional minor league baseball from 1948 to 2004. The pro teams that played at this facility included the Medford Nuggets/Rogues of the Far West League in 1948-1951 and three Northwest League teams, the Medford Giants from 1967 to 1968, the Rogue Valley Dodgers from 1969 to 1971, the Medford/Southern Oregon A's/Southern Oregon Timberjacks franchise from 1979 to 1999. It was previously known as Jackson & Perkins Gardens at Miles Field during the mid to late 1990s because of the ballpark's relationship with Bear Creek Corporation, now the Harry & David Corporation.

History

In 1951, former player Claude "Shorty" Miles worked behind the scenes to help get a new baseball park built in Medford because of his unbridaled passion for the sport. A suspicious fire destroyed the structure, but it was quickly rebuilt. The stadium was originally known as the Jackson County Baseball Park when it first opened. Eight months after Shorty Miles died in 1968, Jackson County Baseball Park was rededicated as Miles Field.^[1]

Demise of the stadium

In 1999, the Timberjacks left Medford and relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, leaving the city without a pro baseball franchise. After many years of the field's continued use by high school and American Legion teams, and despite efforts to both raise funds to remodel the stadium and to bring in a new team to play there, it was torn down in 2004 to make way for a controversial new Wal-Mart Super Center, expected to open in 2010 or 2011.^[2] Two years later, Harry & David Field was constructed just down the street from the old Miles Field site. Under an agreement between the venue and the city of Medford, that field was built to accommodate youth baseball, high school baseball and American Legion baseball, but not a professional team.^[3]

To this day, the Miles Field site remains empty and unoccupied due to the legal battle over the site with involves the Medford City Council, Wal-Mart and the Medford Citizens for Responsible Development. On June 4, 2009, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruled to block the project temporarily until a traffic study is prepared. The city council plans to appeal that ruling.^[4][5] Despite the MCRD's best efforts to block construction, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in favor of Walmart on November 18, 2010 and the new Supercenter got the go-ahead to be built. The court overturned a decision by the state's Land Use Board of Appeals to do a traffic study.^[6][7]

Notes and references

1. ^ Snapshot: Miles Field Medford Mail Tribune, July 15, 2007
2. ^ Medford site plan panel approves Wal-Mart store again Medford Mail Tribune, July 19, 2008
3. ^ Baseball Notes
4. ^ LUBA stalls south Medford WalMart Medford Mail Tribune, June 4, 2009
5. ^ Medford delays challenge to WalMart ruling Medford Mail Tribune, June 5, 2009
6. ^ Supreme Court ruling favors Walmart in Medford, Medford Mail Tribune, November 18, 2010
7. ^ Supreme Court ruling favors Walmart Supercenter, Medford Mail Tribune, November 19, 2010

External links

• Southern Oregon Timberjacks year-by-year records, statistics and rosters at The Baseball Cube
• Northwest League Team History (1990-1997)
• Northwest League Team History (1998-2005)
• Miles Field pictures at Charlie's Ball Parks website
• Medford Mail Tribune: Timberjacks go north; owner courts replacement (October 27, 1999)
• Southern Oregon Timberjacks GBL Expansion Project website