Trois-Rivières Aigles

For the Can-Am League team, see Trois-Rivières Aigles (Can-Am).

Les Aigles de Trois-Rivières (English: Three Rivers Eagles) was the name of a Canadian minor league baseball franchise representing Trois-Rivières, Quebec, in the Double-A Eastern League between 1971 and 1977. The Eagles were an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and played at le Stade Municipal de Trois-Rivières.[1]

Farm team for 'The Big Red Machine'

The Eastern League expanded from six to eight clubs following the 1970 season, adding two teams in Quebec. One, the Québec Carnavals, affiliated with the newly minted Montreal Expos, then entering their third season in Major League Baseball. The other, the Eagles, joined the Cincinnati organization, which moved its Double-A affiliate from the Asheville Tourists in the Southern League. While the Carnavals had the advantage of an affiliation with the province's big league baseball team, the Eagles during their history were supplied with multiple future Major Leaguers by the Reds, then one of the premier powers in baseball as the "Big Red Machine".

The Eagles' first club, managed by Jim Snyder, won a division title before falling to the Elmira Royals in the playoffs and drew over 109,000 fans to lead the league. The Eastern League's Quebec expansion was so successful that the Waterbury Pirates transferred to Sherbrooke in 1972. That season, Quebec and Trois-Rivières finished one-two in league attendance, with the Eagles again winning their division but falling in the postseason, this time to the West Haven Yankees.

But losing teams from 1973–1975 and the wearing off of the novelty of minor league baseball took their toll. The Eagles recovered to win division titles in both 1976 and 1977, but attendance fell to 52,000 in the latter year. In 1978, the Eastern League shed both the Eagles and the renamed Québec Métros and shrunk back to six teams. The Reds and Expos moved their farm clubs back to the Southern League, hooking up with the Nashville Sounds and the Memphis Chicks, respectively.[2]

A summer amateur-league team known as les Aigles de Trois-Rivières currently plays in the Ligue de Baseball Élite du Québec. In addition, the Trois-Rivières Royals represented the city in organized baseball during the first half of the 20th century in the Provincial League and the Canadian–American League.

Notable alumni

Year Record Finish
Full Season
Attendance Manager Postseason
1971 78–59 First
(National Div.)
109,346 Jim Snyder Lost to Elmira Royals
1972 76–60 First
(National Div.)
119,751 Jim Snyder Lost to West Haven Yankees
1973 67–72 Third
(National Div.)
90,565 Jim Snyder
1974 65–73 Fourth
(National Div.)
84,843 Jim Snyder
1975 57–80 Eighth 54,436 Jim Snyder
Ron Plaza
1976 83–55 First
(North Div.)
62,655 Roy Majtyka Lost to West Haven Yankees
1977 76–62 First
(North Div.)
52,927 Chuck Goggin Lost to West Haven Yankees

See also

References

  1. Digital Ballparks.com
  2. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007, pp. 554, 558, 562, 566, 570, 574, 578, 584

External links

Preceded by
Asheville Tourists
Cincinnati Reds
Double-A affiliate

1971–1977
Succeeded by
Nashville Sounds
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