Yakima Bears Information & Yakima Bears Links at HealthHaven.com

	Yakima Bears; Founded in 1990; Yakima, Washington;
; Team Logo	; Cap Insignia
	Class-level
	Short-Season A (1990-present);
	Minor league affiliations
	Northwest League (1990-present) Eastern Division; ;
	Major league affiliations
	Arizona Diamondbacks (2001-present); Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-2000);
	Name
	Yakima Bears (1990-present);
	Ballpark
	Yakima County Stadium (1993-present); Parker Field (1990-1992);
	Minor league titles
League titles	1996, 2000
Division titles	1991, 1994, 1996, 2000
	Owner(s)/Operated by: Short Season, LLC
	Manager: Bob Didier
	General Manager: K.L. Wombacher

The Yakima Bears are a minor league baseball team in Yakima, Washington. They are a Short-Season A classification team in the Northwest League and have been a farm team of the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2001, formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers from the team's creation in 1990 when the Salem Dodgers were moved to Yakima. The Bears play home games at Yakima County Stadium.

The history of baseball in Yakima stretches back to 1920 with the short-lived Yakima Indians in the Northwest League's original form as the Northwest International League. The Indians lasted only two seasons, closing in 1921 as the NIL became the Western International League.

Yakima re-entered the WIL in 1937 as the Yakima Pippins, reflecting Washington's apple-growing heritage, lasting until the 1941 season due to World War II. In 1946, as the WIL resumed play, Yakima again fielded a team, this time named the Stars. Renaming themselves the Packers for the 1948 season, the team finally settled on the Bears in 1949, lasting through the reformation of the WIL into the Northwest League, as the Bears became a charter member of the NWL in the 1955 season.

The Bears' time in the early years of the NWL were fruitful, as they won six NWL titles in nine years (1956, 1958-'60, 1963, and 1964). In 1966, when the league converted to short-season, the team renamed itself for the last time as the Yakima Braves due to an agreement with the Atlanta Braves, which they were affiliated with at the time, but the team was no longer in Yakima at the end of the 1966 season.

In 1990, Yakima again fielded a team in the Northwest League when the Dodgers moved from Salem after the 1989 season, bringing with them their affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2001, the Bears changed their affiliation to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

[edit] Roster

Yakima Bears roster

Players

Coaches/Other

Pitchers

37 Justin Albert
17 Ariel Brea
24 Brian Budrow
25 Ben Dollar
20 Brad Gemberling
3 Jake Hale
16 Randy Hamrick
32 William Harvil
33 Chrisopher Odegaard
35 Jesse Orosco
22 Rafael Quezada
29 Pedro Rodriguez
40 Houston Summers
28 Clayton Suss
41 Ricardo Taveras
30 Daniel Taylor
9 Brad Wilson
14 Andrew Wolcott

Catchers

6 Jhoan Pimentel
26 Tyson Van Winkle
11 Zachary Varnell

Infielders

38 Evan Button
18 Clayton Conner
10 Jorge Corniel
5 Matthew Davidson
36 Andrew Fie
8 Brent Greer
23 Daniel Kaczrowski
19 Gerson Montilla
27 Ryan Wheeler

Outfielders

15 Astolfo Inciarte
21 Tim Sherlock
34 Tyrell Worthington

Manager

04 Bob Didier

Coaches

12 Andy Abad (hitting)
34 Gil Heredia (pitching)

† Disabled list
* On Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster
∞ Reserve list
§ Suspended list
‡ Restricted list
# Rehab assignment
Roster updated 2009-06-19
Transactions

[edit] Notable ex-Bears

Todd Hollandsworth- Rookie of the Year for Los Angeles Dodgers
Conor Jackson- Arizona Diamondbacks 1st baseman
Ted Lilly- Chicago Cubs Starting Pitcher
Damian Rolls- MLB 3rd baseman drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers
Scott Proctor- Los Angeles Dodgers reliever
Dan Uggla Second Baseman for the Florida Marlins
Paul Konerko- Chicago White Sox 1st baseman, MVP
Pedro Astacio- 14 Year MLB Veteran
Peter Bergeron- Fourth Round Draft Pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2004 MLB Draft
Joe Thurston- Journeyman MLB infielder
Shane Victorino- Philadelphia Phillies center fielder, 2 time gold glove winner
Mark Reynolds- Arizona Diamondbacks 3rd baseman

[edit] External links