The Wild Wild West League, a summer collegiate baseball league that debuted last summer, will return for a second season in 2021 and add two new teams, including one that will honor an “overlooked, but important part of Portland’s baseball history.”
The Portland Rosebuds are one of new teams. The nickname was inspired by a Negro league team of the same name that played in Portland in 1946.
The original Portland Rosebuds were owned by Olympic champion Jesse Owens and played in the West Coast Negro Baseball Association, a six-team league that provided Black baseball players an opportunity to play pro baseball on the West Coast. The league only lasted one season.
The Rosebuds and the Willamette Wild Bills will join two 2020 Wild Wild West League holdovers, the Portland Gherkins and Gresham Greywolves in 2021.
The Wild Wild West League was formed in 2020, originally as a stopgap league to fill the void left when the West Coast League, another summer collegiate league, canceled its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Portland Pickles, which played in the Wild Wild West League last summer, will return to the West Coast League in 2021.
“We are really excited to welcome two new teams to the Wild West,” said Alan Miller, the owner of Portland Pickles and Gherkins. “Telling the story of the Rosebuds is a topic we have wanted to bring to light.”
The Wild Wild West League will play all its games at Walker Stadium in Portland from June to August. Rosters are expected to consist of players from lower-level college programs, including junior college programs, as well as providing an opportunity for recent high school graduates.
