Top '11' Stories of 2014 - Padres Replace Rockies as Dust Devils Parent Club

It was one of the longest partnerships in all of professional baseball, but all good things must end. Starting with the 2015 season, the San Diego Padres will return to a familiar area, the Tri-Cities, as the parent team for the Tri-City Dust Devils. The best news? Professional baseball STAYS in the Tri-Cities!

After years of watching such stars as Jeff Francis, Christian Freidrich, Jeff Rutledge, Charlie Blackmon and others make their way from GESA Stadium to Coors Field in Denver, the Colorado Rockies will head Boise. They will play as the Hawks next season, replacing the Chicago Cubs, who are headed to Eugene as the "new" Emeralds in the Northwest A League.

San Diego has long had ties to our area. In 1971 the Tri City Padres, who played at old Jacobs Field in Kennewick,(See photo above) won the Northwest League title. The team was here for three seasons, and also (close by) played in Walla Walla from 1972-82 as the Walla Walla Padres. Jacobs Field was just off Clearwater in Central Kennewick, was closed in the fall of 1974, and later torn down. No remnants of the stadium remain, the area has long since been completely developed. But it was a large, AAA-sized ballpark.

The move will actually provide baseball fans an even better look at the Padres top draft choices. Unlike Colorado, San Diego does NOT have a Rookie League team. Instead, they send their first round picks directly to short season A, which will be GESA Stadium. The same players you watch in the draft on MLB Network (the can't-miss prospects) will likely be playing here!

Part of the reason the Padres wanted to come here is they were sharing the University of Oregon's brand new baseball facility with the college team. While it was a top-notch stadium, Padres officials preferred a natural grass field, and scheduling was a challenge since the Ducks reintroduced baseball a few years ago. Long-time Padre officials recalled their history in the Tri-Cities, liked the very "baseball friendly weather" and support for the sport from the youth through high school teams.

So when the Rockies player development contract expired, the Padres jumped at the chance, and signed with Tri-Cities. These PDC's, as they are called, are signed in two-year increments.

It's expected they will keep the name Dust Devils, but no word yet on what - if any - possible uniform and color changes might occur. Some teams adopt a scheme similar to their parent club, like the old Yakima Bears, who looked like the Arizona Diamondbacks. Others do not. We shall see coming in 2015.