Previous Class B League titles 1901 Previous parks Vaughn Street Ballpark | Previous None Previous names Portland Webfeet League title 1901 | |
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The Portland Webfoots were a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Northwest League. They were based in Portland, Oregon and were active for only two years, 1901 and 1902. They played at Vaughn Street Ballpark.
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When the Pacific Northwest League and the California League merged to create the Pacific Coast League in 1902 the Webfoots disbanded and the Portland Browns were created.
History
In the Webfoots first year of competition, it was reported that they had trouble keeping attendance up at their home field. This began a debate over whether or not Portland should hold a team in the 1902 league expansion with the California League into the Pacific Coast League, something that the Webfoots President Jack Marshal opposed. Some newspapers claimed that Marshal's opposition was due in large part to his personal dislike of Pacific Northwest League President William Henry Lucas.
This led to a long debate over the inclusion of the Portland team in the Pacific Coast League. Both the Portland and Seattle clubs first wanted to create a rival league to the Pacific Coast League. The Portland team was accepted into the Pacific Coast League but not before a lawsuit filed by the Portland team against the Pacific Northwest League that said the league harassed the Portland team into throwing the league pennant to the Butte, Montana baseball team.