Pocatello Giants

The Pocatello Giants were a professional minor league baseball team located in Pocatello, Idaho. The team played in the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and were affiliated with the San Francisco Giants for the 1988 and 1989 seasons; prior affiliation was with the Oakland A's. The home stadium was Halliwell Park, located on Alameda Drive. After the 1989 season the franchise ended their farm team affiliation with the San Francisco Giants. The franchise became an independent/co-op team and was renamed the Gate City Pioneers for the 1990 season; that team featured players from the Montreal Expos and Chicago White Sox farm systems as well as minor league players from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Pacific League. For the 1991 season, the team changed its name to the Pocatello Pioneers. The success of the franchise was hampered by a series of ownership and front office staff changes, including one season where the out-going management and ownership left numerous debts to local businesses. Added to the difficulties for the franchise was a feeling by a vocal group of citizens that Halliwell park should be the domain of the two Pocatello high school baseball teams and the local American Legion team, rather than a professional team run by "outsiders." The last ownership group moved the franchise to Lethbridge, Canada.