Minor league baseball first came to the area when the Coos Bay–North Bend A's joined the Northwest League in 1970. The franchise relocated from Pasco, Washington where they played the 1969 season as the Tri-City A's in the Northwest League as an Oakland A's affiliate. The Northwest league expanded from a four–team league in 1969 to a six–team league in 1970. The Coos Bay–North Bend team remained as an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics and adopted the A's moniker. The Tri-City A's folded after the 1969 season due to sponsorship issues. But, Oakland A's farm system director Phil Seghi wanted to keep a team in the Northwest League. Seghi and the league president narrowed down a list of possible destinations: Vancouver, British Columbia, Kalispell, Montana, Missoula, Montana and North Bend, Oregon. The Northwest League president, John Carbray, negotiated with Seghi to move the franchise into North Bend/Coos Bay and gained the support of local leaders. North Bend Municipal Park was expanded and upgraded to host the team. The A's games were broadcast locally on KBBR radio. The price of a 1970 a single-season ticket was $25 for the whole season. On opening night June 24, 1970, 813 were in attendance for the first game. The 1970 Coos Bay–North Bend A's won the Northwest League Championship. The A's finished with a 45–35 record, ahead of the Bend Rainbows, Lewis-Clark Broncs, Medford Dodgers, Tri-City Padres and Walla Walla Phillies. The 1970 A's finished 1st in the NL's South Division and were managed by Harry Bright. Playing at North Bend Municipal Park, the Coos Bay–North Bend A's had season attendance of 14,817, an average of 370 per game. In their second season, the Coos Bay–North Bend A's finished 2nd in the Northwest League South Division. The 1971 Coos Bay–North Bend A's finished the regular season 36–42. The 1971 team were managed by Jim Reinhold and Warren Hacker. The A's drew 11,701 for the season. In their final season, the 1972 Coos Bay–North Bend A's finished 3rd in the Northwest League South Division and 5th overall. Managed by Grover Resinger, the A's finished 33–45. In their final season at North Bend Municipal Park, the Coos Bay–North Bend A's' season attendance was 10,220 an average of 262, last in the Northwest League. On August 21, 1972, the team scheduled a ceremonial Charlie O’ Finley day in honor of the Oakland A's and franchise owner. Finley didn't appear as planned. On August 30, the last home game of the season, there were 291 fans in attendance. In 1973, the Athletics moved their Northwest League franchise to Lewiston, Idaho, where they remained in the 1973 Northwest League as the Lewiston Broncos. Coos Bay–North Bend has not hosted another minor league team. "The Bay Area was blessed," said Ed Keim, President of Oregon Coast Baseball, the Coos Bay–North Bend A's local sponsor group,. "Even though it was a short amount of time, the people who were able to brave the weather got to see some great ballplayers who did some incredible things after the time they spent here."
The ballpark
The Coos Bay–North Bend A's played at North Bend Municipal Park. Built in 1947, the balllpark had a capacity of 1,000 and field dimensions of 325–390–305. Today, the ballpark is known as "Clyde Allen Field" and is still in use by youth baseball teams and North Bend High School teams. The ClydeAllen Field address is 2222 Broadway Avenue, North Bend, Oregon.
