Bend Elks
We visit 58-year-old Vince Genna Stadium in Bend for a West Coast League battle between the Bend Elks (a name that goes back to 1926) and the Bellingham Bells (1941).
When Dad and I pulled into the small parking lot next to Vince Genna Stadium in Bend, I wasn’t sure what to expect. We had come to see the Bend Elks take on the Bellingham Bells in another West Coast League matchup. I knew a bit about the team and the history of the ballpark, but because the Elks take a relatively low-key approach to social media, I didn’t have a feel for the experience until we stepped inside.
Originally known as Municipal Ball Park when it opened in 1964, the facility was renamed in 1978 for Vince Genna, the director of the city’s Parks and Recreation department and former American Legion coach. The modest look of the ballpark belies a rich baseball history.
The Bend Elks name goes back to 1926, when a semi-pro team sponsored by the local Elks club took the field. A decade later, future Red Sox infielder Johnny Pesky helped the Elks win a state title. Minor League Baseball came to Municipal Ball Park in 1970 with the Northwest League Bend Rainbows, who were affiliated with the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League. Actor Kurt Russell played second base and hit .285 for the Rainbows in 1971, their final year in Bend before relocating to Walla Walla, Washington.
Kurt Russell bats for the Bend Rainbows in 1971.
The Northwest League returned to Bend in 1978 with the Timber Hawks, who played just one season before moving south to Medford, Oregon. (Vince Genna was an honorary first-base coach for the team’s opening game.) Bend was awarded a new Northwest League franchise the next year, and the Central Oregon Phillies — later renamed the Bend Phillies — played through the 1986 season. The Bend Bucks — originally affiliated with the California Angels — took over from 1987-91, followed by the Bend Rockies from 1992-94. When the Rockies left for Portland to fill the gap left by the departing Triple-A Portland Beavers, it ended a 17-year run of Minor League baseball in Bend that has yet to return.
The independent Bend Bandits played at Vince Genna Stadium for four seasons before the Bend Elks arrived as a member of the semi-pro Pacific International League. In 2005, the Elks joined other PIL teams — including the Bellingham Bells — to form the West Coast League. The Elks won their one and only WCL championship in 2015, the last time anyone other than the Corvallis Knights has taken the title.
The Elks get good support, with more than 1,400 fans showing up for an average game. They might get more if it weren’t for the unusual layout of the ballpark, which has the sun setting in left field rather than a typical orientation where it sets on the third-base side. This means fans on the first-base side are facing the sun directly for much of the game. The Timber Hawks declared “sun breaks” in the middle of their games due to the excessive glare, and the Angels cited the ballpark’s poor orientation as one of the reasons for ending its affiliation with the Bend Bucks in 1989.
Accordingly, the seats that went first on this warm afternoon were picnic tables situated in the shade down the left-field line.
As is the case for most collegiate summer league teams, the Bend Elks had work to do before the game, prepping the field for play.
I made a stop by the team store, which had a relatively limited selection of merchandise available. I was attracted to the white hats with the Elks logo, but at this point in my life, I had not yet come to terms with the fact that I wanted — nay, required — a hat from every team I visited.
Bellingham, Washington, has an interesting baseball legacy of its own as a former Minor League town. The Los Angeles Dodgers set up their Northwest League team there from 1974-76, succeeded by the Mariners when they joined Major League Baseball in 1977. Ken Griffey Jr. began his career as a pro with that Bellingham team. The San Francisco Giants took over in 1995, but moved their club to Salem-Keizer after two seasons, ending the Minor League arc in Bellingham around the same time as pro baseball left Bend.
The game began as a pitcher’s duel and would be a low-scoring affair throughout. Cameron Dayton, a left-hander from Seattle University, took the hill for the Bells. A senior who also played significant time at first base, Dayton gave up hits in each of the first three innings but did not allow a run.
For their starter, the Elks had an ace up their sleeve — A.J. Lattery, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound right-hander out of baseball powerhouse Oregon State. Lattery had just come off a strong year with the Beavers, notching a 2.57 ERA in 28 innings of work. He put in a commanding performance on this night, scattering just four hits and no runs in five innings of work, with no walks and eight strikeouts.
I made my way over to the intensely sunny first-base side to get a look at Vinnie the Elk, surrounded by a gaggle of young fans.
When it comes to food, Bend has the ballpark basics. The good thing about visiting a smaller baseball venue is that the burgers and hot dogs are often freshly grilled, not pre-packaged and left to stew as they often are in larger ballparks. A dog and a beer hit the spot in Bend.
The Elks scored a run on two singles and two walks in the fourth, chasing Dayton from the game. They added two more in the sixth to take a 3-0 lead.
In the seventh inning, an odd, wispy cloud formation provided dramatic views as the intense sunlight finally receded behind the peaks of the Three Sisters.
The Elks bullpen took over nicely from Lattery, giving up just two hits in the final four innings.
Bellingham did not put up any further resistance, and the game ended with a 3-0 win for the Elks. We had finished games in 12 ballparks and were now ready for the home stretch on the western side of the Cascade Range.
