Carlsbad Potashers

The Carlsbad Potashers was a minor league baseball franchise in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Carlsbad played as members of the Sophomore League (1958–1961), Southwestern League (1956–1957) and Longhorn League (1953–1955). Carlsbad was an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1958–1961). The team moniker derives from potash mining.

Carlsbad Potashers
1953–1961
Carlsbad, New Mexico
Minor league affiliations
Previous classesClass D (1958–1961)
Class B (1956–1957)
Class C (1953–1955)
Previous leagues
Sophomore League (1958–1961)
Southwestern League (1956–1957)
Longhorn League (1953–1955)
Major league affiliations
Previous teamsChicago Cubs (1958–1961)
Minor league titles
League titles 1953
Team data
NameCarlsbad Potashers (1953–1961)
BallparkMontgomery Field (1953–1961)

In 1959, at Montgomery Field in Carlsbad, Potasher player Gil Carter hit a home run claimed have traveled 733 feet, possibly the longest in professional baseball history.

History

Carlsbad played in the Class D Sophomore League (1958–1961), the Class B Southwestern League (1956–1957) and the Class C Longhorn League (1953–1955).[1]

In their first season, the 1953 Potashers finished 80–52 and captured the Longhorn League Championship. The 1954 and 1959 teams lost in the league Finals.[2]

The Potashers attendance was 83,462 in their first season of 1953, an average of 1,265 per game. In their last season, 1961, they drew 14,974 an average of 236 per game.[3]

Gil Carter: Possibly longest home run in history

As reported in The Sporting News, Potashers player Gil Carter hit a majestic home run at Montgomery Field in 1959: "On a hot August night in 1959, former heavyweight boxer Gil Carter smashed a pitch through Carlsbad's high-elevated air and out of Montgomery Field. The ball carried over the left field wall, soared past two city streets and landed in a peach tree. A newspaper reporter later took an aerial photo from a plane and used the picture to estimate the ball traveled 733 feet. Carter's hometown paper, The Topeka Capital-Journal, said "the blast is considered the longest home run in baseball history."[4][5][6][7][8][9]

The official scorer estimated the home run to have traveled 650 feet. However, aerial photographs measurements put the distance at 700-733 feet, which would make it the longest home run ever hit in professional baseball. The ball itself was signed by Carter and notes the distance of 733 feet.[10]

Gil Carter was inducted into the National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame in 2015.[9][11]

The ballpark

The Potashers played at Montgomery Field. Montgomery Field had a capacity of 2,500 and dimensions of (Left, Center, Right) 340–390–340. The ballpark is no longer in existence.[2][12]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Carlsbad, New Mexico Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. "Carlsbad Potashers - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com.
  3. "Montgomery Field in Carlsbad, NM history and teams on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  4. "Where was baseball's longest home run? A five-city mystery". Sporting News. 11 January 2016.
  5. "This Day in History - MiLB.com History - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com.
  6. "The longest homerun in baseball history was measured at 733 ft". 5 January 2018.
  7. "Elysian Fields Quarterly - The Baseball Review". www.efqreview.com.
  8. "Gil Carter".
  9. https://www.kansas.com/sports/other-sports/nbc-baseball/article28720216.html
  10. "Gil Carter home run baseball - Kansas Memory - Kansas Historical Society". www.kshs.org.
  11. "National Baseball Congress Hall Of Fame".
  12. "Chicago Cubs Minor League Affiliations and Baseball Stadium History". digitalballparks.com.
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