By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

PORTLAND, Ore. (January 25th, 2021) — The Wild Wild West League will enter its second season this June, 2021. Two new teams representing the culture and history of the Pacific Northwest will be joining the Wild Wild West League in 2021, the Portland Rosebuds and the Willamette Wild Bills.

The Portland Rosebuds are inspired by the Negro league team of the same name that played a season at Vaughn Street Park Portland in 1946. The Portland Rosebuds are an often overlooked, but important part of Portland’s baseball history.

The Willamette Wild Bills feature a baseball-loving platypus mascot. He came to Portland from Australia years ago and fell in love with the culture, baseball and, of course, the terrific food he finds by the bucketful in the wonderful Willamette.

The Portland Gherkins will play their second season in the league. Gherkins players will have the opportunity to showcase their talents and earn a spot on the Pickles roster. The Gherkins play their home games at Walker Stadium in Portland, OR. Last year’s breakout star and Gherkins first baseman Patrick Muskat will be playing for the Pickles this summer in The West Coast League. The Gresham Greywolves will also rejoin the Wild Wild West League for the second straight summer.

“We are really excited to welcome two new teams to the Wild West,” said owner Alan Miller. “Telling the story of the Rosebuds is a topic we have wanted to bring to light.”

Four outstanding coaches will lead the teams, and include Ryan Gorton (Assistant Coach at Oregon State University), Gerhett Moser (2020 Gherkins Head Coach & Chemeketa CC Assistant Coach, Ethan Bragg (Corban College Assistant Coach), and Michael Forgione (Lower Columbia Assistant Coach).

“The Wild Wild West League gives local college and top High school players a chance to play at home with all the amenities of a big time collegiate summer program. This is the premier platform in the NW for up and coming players to be scouted and to prove they can play at the next level. The coaches we have assembled for this are some of the top up and coming leaders from collegiate programs. With the implementation of video and next level statistics, the value of this league is unmatched,” Says JJ Mascolo, General Manager of the Wild Wild West League.

New merchandise has been created and can be found at https://www.wwwestleague.com/ along with team information.

After playing the 2020 season in the Wild Wild West League, The Pickles will return to the West Coast League this summer. All Wild Wild West League games will return to Walker Stadium, Home of The Portland Pickles, between June-August. Full Schedule can be found here (https://www.wwwestleague.com/schedule-1). The Wild Wild West League & Portland Pickles are currently working on their extensive safety plans to allow fan attendance. Tickets for the Wild Wild West League will go on sale in March.

The rosters include players from colleges around the country and locally, including Linfield University, Pacific University, George Fox University, Western Oregon University, Montana State University, Mt. Hood CC, Linn Benton CC, Lane CC, Clark CC, Chemeketa CC, Eastern Oregon University, Corban University, Belview University, & will also feature select premiere graduating high school players.  Full rosters will be released throughout the week at https://www.wwwestleague.com/ .

The Wild Wild West League will utilize Trackman Baseball & Rapsodo as analytics tools during the season, and all games will be broadcast for free courtesy of Adventist Health Portland on Facebook Live and YouTube Live.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald

• 

• 

• 

• 

•