Vernon Tigers

• Location: Vernon, CA
• League: Pacific Coast League 1909-1912, 1915-1925
• Affiliation:
• Ballpark:

Team History

The Vernon Tigers played in the Pacific Coast League, beginning operations in 1909 in the newly-formed railroad town 5 miles south of downtown Los Angeles as the PCL expanded from 4 to 6 teams. With several railroad lines crossing at Vernon, and no restriction on selling alcohol (as opposed to dry Los Angeles-proper), Vernon's founders decided to build a 7,000-seat stadium for boxing and baseball, with "the world's biggest bar" right outside the left field wall. For the 1913-14 seasons and part of 1915 the team was moved temporarily to Venice, CA where they were known as the Venice Tigers. The club was briefly owned by silent-film star Fatty Arbuckle from 1919-1920, a period that saw Tiger Babe Borton banned for alleged throwing of games during the 1919 season and the passing of the 18th Amendment, nullifying Vernon's permissive alcohol laws and taking away the advantages of their park's location. After the 1925 season, the club moved north and became the San Francisco Missions.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	notes
1909	80-131	6th	W.L. "Happy" Hogan	none
1910	113-107	4th	W.L. "Happy" Hogan	none
1911	118-88	2nd	W.L. "Happy" Hogan	none
1912	118-93	2nd	W.L. "Happy" Hogan	none
1915	59-54 (102-104 overall)	4th	Doc White	none	Venice (43-50) moved to Vernon July 11
1916	115-91	2nd	Hamilton Patterson	none
1917	84-128	6th	George Stovall	none
1918	58-44	1st	Bill Essick	League suspended operations July 14
1919	111-70	1st	Bill Essick	none League Champs
1920	110-88	1st	Bill Essick	none League Champs
1921	96-90	6th	Bill Essick	none
1922	123-72	2nd	Bill Essick	none
1923	77-122	8th	Bill Essick	none
1924	97-104	6th	Bill Essick	none
1925	80-120	8th	Bill Essick (43-75) / Rube Ellis (37-35)	none

Further Reading

• Josh Jackson: "In PCL of 1919, Tigers were wild, dangerous: Film star Arbuckle took reins of rowdy franchise before title run", MiLB.com, January 3, 2020. [1]
• Josh Jackson: "Truth about Tigers emerges in pennant race: Grand jury exposes Borton's misdeeds, mars Vernon's 1919 title", MiLB.com, January 6, 2020. [2]