After hearing some discussion about how Boise professional teams have fared in placing talent in their respective “Big Leagues,” I decided to thoroughly research this history of the Boise Hawks and professional baseball in the City of Trees – and found some interesting things.

Between myself and local sports guru, Tom Scott, we had a list of 70 former Hawks in the Big Leagues since 1987 – however, we were off.  It was really 76 – two from the Mal Fitchman independent days, 47 from the Angels affiliate days, and 27 from the Cubs.

But I dug further – all the way back to 1939, the days of the Boise Pilots, Boise Yankees, Boise Braves, Boise A’s, and Boise Buckskins – adding another 48 players who went on to the big leagues.  Rickey Henderson and Bob Uecker – enshrined in the Hall of Fame, both played in Boise, as did Dontrelle Willis and Geovany Soto – NL Rookies of the Year.  As did all-stars Henderson, Willis, Soto, Gerry Staley, Sandy Alomar Sr., Garret Anderson, Troy Percival, John Lackey, and Francisco Rodriguez.

Since 1952 – only the 1987 and 1988 teams did not produce a big league talent (2008 and 2009 are still too recent), while the 1998 did not provide a new name, Greg Jones (who played for the Hawks first in 1997) did reach the majors.

Enjoy the Official List of former Boise players who have headed to the Major Leagues. (
All-TimeBoisePlayersMLB.pdf)