''This article is about the minor league baseball franchise, for other teams named Buffalo Bisons see Buffalo Bisons (disambiguation). ''This article covers all modern incarnations but focuses on the Double-A team founded in 1979 and the Triple-A team that moved from Wichita, Kansas in 1984. The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York which plays in the International League (IL). They are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. The Bisons play at Coca-Cola Field, located in downtown Buffalo. The current incarnation of the Bisons was founded in 1979, when Buffalo ownership interests purchased the Jersey City A's of the Double-A Eastern League and moved the team to the city.

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Team history

The team originally known as the Buffalo Bisons actually dates to a major league club, the Buffalo Bisons of the National League (1879–1885). In 1886, the Bisons moved into minor league baseball as members of the original International League. This team joined the Western League in the late 1890s, and was within weeks of becoming a major league team when the Western League announced it was changing its name to the American League in 1900. However, by the start of the 1901 season, Buffalo had been bumped from the league in favor of the Boston Americans; the Bisons returned to the minors that year.

The Buffalo Bisons were to be a member of the new American League and their manager Jim Franklin was told right up to Jan. 29, 1901, that "Buffalo was in the league and not to worry," Ban Johnson unceremoniously dumped Buffalo and placed the franchise in Boston. It was later revealed that he not only had been negotiating surreptitiously with Boston people for several months, but also that he had money invested in the Boston franchise.

This franchise continued in the IL (known as the Eastern League from 1891 to 1911) through June 11, 1970, when it transferred to Winnipeg, Manitoba as the Winnipeg/Peninsula Whips, due to poor attendance and stadium woes. In 1969, Héctor López became the first black manager at the Triple-A level while managing Buffalo Bisons—six years before Frank Robinson became the first black manager in Major League Baseball. ^[1]

After six seasons in the Eastern League, the Bisons joined the Triple-A ranks in 1985, joining the American Association when the Wichita Aeros' franchise rights were transferred to Buffalo. When the American Association folded after the 1997 season, Buffalo (along with the Indianapolis Indians and Louisville RiverBats) found refuge in the International League, while their former American Association opponents joined the Pacific Coast League.

In the past five seasons, the Bisons have made the playoffs twice. In 2004, the team came back from being 10 games out of first-place in late June to winning their division by a convincing 9½ games. Buffalo won its first-round playoff, against the Durham Bulls, and advanced to the Governors' Cup Finals, in which they had home field advantage over the Richmond Braves. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan caused major flooding problems in Richmond and the entire series was played in Buffalo. The Bisons defeated the Braves in four games and won the Governors' Cup for the second time since 1998. In 2005, Buffalo won the North Division and played the Indianapolis Indians in the first round, winning the first two games in Indianapolis, but losing all three remaining games. With many of its players shuffled to the Cleveland Indians throughout the final months of the season, the Bisons failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2006. In 2007, Buffalo failed once again to clinch a playoff spot, marking the first time since Buffalo was parented with the Pittsburgh Pirates that the Bisons missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

The Mets Era

After the 2008 season, Bisons parted ways with the Indians, as the Tribe signed an affiliation agreement with the Columbus Clippers beginning in 2009. The Herd then signed a two-year agreement to be the top home for New York Mets prospects. ^[2]

On December 16, 2008, the Mets officially announced that Ken Oberkfell will be the Bisons new manager for 2009. At the same press conference, the Bisons also unveiled their new logo. The logo pays homage to baseball's 123 year history in the city of Buffalo with the city's skyline in the background. The logo, along with the new colors of blue and orange, closely resemble that of the team's new parent club, the Mets. ^[3]

Year-by-year records

Year	Aff.	League	Div.	Finish	W	L	W%	Manager	Playoffs
1979	Pirates	Eastern League		4th	72	67	.518	Steve Demeter	League didn't hold playoffs
1980	Pirates	Eastern League	North	1st (first half) 3rd (second half) 5th (overall)	67	70	.489	Steve Demeter	Lost in Semi-Finals, 0–2 (Millers)
1981	Pirates	Eastern League	North	4th (first half) 2nd (second half) 7th (overall)	56	81	.409	John Upon	Did not qualify
1982	Pirates	Eastern League	North	4th (first half) 4th (second half) 8th (overall)	55	84	.396	Tommy Sandt	Did not qualify
1983	Indians	Eastern League		3rd	74	65	.532	Al Gallagher	Lost in Semi-Finals, 0–2 (Sailors)
1984	Indians	Eastern League		5th	72	67	.518	Jack Aker	Did not qualify
1985	White Sox	American Association	East	3rd	66	76	.465	John Boles	Did not qualify
1986	White Sox	American Association	East	2nd	71	71	.500	Jim Marshall	Did not qualify
1987	Indians	American Association		5th	66	74	.471	Orlando Gomez Steve Swisher	Did not qualify
1988	Pirates	American Association	East	3rd	72	70	.507	Rocky Bridges	Did not qualify
1989	Pirates	American Association	East	2nd	80	62	.563	Terry Collins	Did not qualify
1990	Pirates	American Association	East	2nd	85	62	.578	Terry Collins	Lost one-game playoff, 3–4 (Sounds)
1991	Pirates	American Association	East	1st	81	62	.566	Terry Collins	Lost in Championship, 2–3 (Zephyrs)
1992	Pirates	American Association	East	1st	87	57	.604	Marc Bombard	Lost in Championship, 0–4 (89ers)
1993	Pirates	American Association	East	2nd	71	73	.493	Doc Edwards	Did not qualify
1994	Pirates	American Association		8th	55	89	.382	Doc Edwards	Did not qualify
1995	Indians	American Association		2nd	86	62	.569	Brian Graham	Won Semi-Finals, 3–1 (Royals) Lost in Championship, 2–3 (Redbirds)
1996	Indians	American Association	East	1st	84	60	.583	Brian Graham	Lost in Semi-Finals, 2–3 (Indians)
1997	Indians	American Association	East	1st	87	57	.604	Brian Graham	Won Semi-Finals, 3–2 (Indians) Won Championship , 3-0 (Cubs)
1998	Indians	International League	North	1st	81	62	.566	Jeff Datz	Won Semi-Finals, 3–0 (SkyChiefs) Won Championship , 3–2 (Bulls) Lost World Series, 1–3 (Zephyrs)
1999	Indians	International League	North	4th	72	72	.500	Jeff Datz	Did not qualify
2000	Indians	International League	North	1st	86	59	.593	Joel Skinner	Won one-game playoff, 7–1 (Red Barons) Lost in Semi-Finals, 1–3 (Red Barons)
2001	Indians	International League	North	1st	91	51	.641	Eric Wedge	Lost in Semi-Finals, 2–3 (Red Barons)
2002	Indians	International League	North	2nd	84	54	.609	Eric Wedge	Won Semi-Finals, 3–0 (Red Barons) Lost in Championship, 0–3 (Bulls)
2003	Indians	International League	North	3rd	73	70	.510	Marty Brown	Did not qualify
2004	Indians	International League	North	1st	83	61	.576	Marty Brown	Won Semi-Finals, 3–2 (Bulls) Won Championship , 3–1 (Braves)
2005	Indians	International League	North	1st	82	62	.569	Marty Brown	Lost in Semi-Finals, 2–3 (Indians)
2006	Indians	International League	North	3rd	73	68	.518	Torey Lovullo	Did not qualify
2007	Indians	International League	North	3rd	75	67	.569	Torey Lovullo	Did not qualify
2008	Indians	International League	North	5th	66	77	.462	Torey Lovullo	Did not qualify
2009	Mets	International League	North	Season In Progress				Ken Oberkfell	Did Not Qualify
2010	Mets	International League	North	Season Not Started				Ken Oberkfell	TBD

Titles

The Bisons have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 6 times, including the inaugural Cup, and played in the championship series 10 times.

• 1933 - Defeated Rochester
• 1936 - Defeated Baltimore
• 1938 - Lost to Newark
• 1947 - Lost to Syracuse
• 1949 - Lost to Montréal
• 1957 - Defeated Miami
• 1961 - Defeated Rochester
• 1998 - Defeated Durham
• 2002 - Lost to Durham
• 2004 - Defeated Richmond

Since 1998 the Bisons have won the IL North Division four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005)

Roster

Players				Coaches/Other
Starting rotation Bullpen		Catchers Infielders Outfielders		Manager Coaches † Disabled list ‡ Reserve list § Suspended list

Notable alumni

Former Bisons in the majors in 2009

(former Bisons players who have participated in at least one MLB game in 2009)

Danys Báez (Baltimore Orioles) Josh Bard (Washington Nationals) Rafael Betancourt (Colorado Rockies) Milton Bradley (Chicago Cubs) Russell Branyan (Seattle Mariners) Tim Byrdak (Houston Astros) Asdrúbal Cabrera (Cleveland Indians) Fausto Carmona (Cleveland Indians) Shin-Soo Choo (Cleveland Indians) Bartolo Colón (Chicago White Sox) Chris Coste (Houston Astros) Coco Crisp (Kansas City Royals) Trevor Crowe (Cleveland Indians) Chad Durbin (Philadelphia Phillies) Alan Embree (Colorado Rockies) Ben Francisco (Philadelphia Phillies) Ryan Garko (Cleveland Indians) Jody Gerut (Milwaukee Brewers) Brian Giles (San Diego Padres) Jeremy Guthrie (Baltimore Orioles) Franklin Gutiérrez (Seattle Mariners) Travis Hafner (Cleveland Indians) Bobby Howry (San Francisco Giants) Maicer Izturis (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Zach Jackson (Cleveland Indians)

Kevin Kouzmanoff (San Diego Padres) Aaron Laffey (Cleveland Indians) Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Philles) Jensen Lewis (Cleveland Indians) Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis Cardinals) Víctor Martínez (Boston Red Sox) Darnell McDonald (Cincinnati Reds) John McDonald (Toronto Blue Jays) Jason Michaels (Houston Astros) Edward Mujica (San Diego Padres) Jhonny Peralta (Cleveland Indians) Rafael Pérez (Cleveland Indians) Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds) Manny Ramírez (Los Angeles Dodgers) David Riske (Milwaukee Brewers) C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankees) Marco Scutaro (Toronto Blue Jays) Kelly Shoppach (Cleveland Indians) Grady Sizemore (Cleveland Indians) Justin Speier (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Brian Tallet (Toronto Blue Jays) Julián Tavárez (Washington Nationals) Ramón Vázquez (Pittsburgh Pirates) Tim Wakefield (Boston Red Sox) Jamie Walker (Baltimore Orioles) David Weathers (Milwaukee Brewers)

Buffalo Bisons in the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Player/Manager [4]	Year Inducted	Years with the Bisons
Connie Mack	1937	1890
Charles Radbourn	1939	1880
Jimmy Collins	1945	1893–1894
Jim O'Rourke	1945	1881–1884
Dan Brouthers	1945	1881–1885
Joe Tinker	1946	1930 (Coach)
Herb Pennock	1948	1916
Gabby Hartnett	1955	1946 (Manager)
Ray Schalk	1955	1932–1937, 1950 (Manager)
Joe McCarthy	1957	1914–1915
John Montgomery Ward	1964	1877
Pud Galvin	1965	1878–1885, 1894
Lou Boudreau	1970	1939
Bucky Harris	1975	1918–1919, 1944–1945 (Manager)
Johnny Bench	1989	1966–1967
Ferguson Jenkins	1991	1962
Jim Bunning	1996	1953, 1955
Frank Grant	2006	1886–1888

Mascots

The main mascots of the team have traditionally been Buster T. Bison along with his cousin Chip, but as of 2006, a new mascot named Belle the Ballpark Diva has appeared, along with flamboyant reporter Johnny $tyles. Buster and Belle pursued a love interest, and were married following the August 26, 2007 game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Buster and Chip wear Bisons jerseys and caps. Buster's number is the last two numbers of the season (in 2007 his number was 07). Chip's number has always been 1/2. The Bisons have had a number of other mascots in the past. MicroChip, who was smaller and presumably "younger" than Buster and Chip, wore a Bisons jersey as well. His number was 1/4. Loudmouth was another mascot for the team. She was a mime. The other official mascot of the Bisons was Howie the Ump. He wore a costume much like Buster and Chip, but it was a costume of a human umpire, with an umpire's uniform and mask. He was very short lived, existing only during the 1995-1997 seasons.

Other unofficial Bisons include Conehead, a beer vendor who wears a rubber conehead hat, and The Earl of Bud, another beer vendor, who during the third inning would climb on the dugout and dance. His last appearance was at the 20th Anniversary game for Dunn Tire Park in August 2007.

There is also the "K-man." K-man is a fan with season tickets, who sits in the upper deck, and hangs a green "K" sign every time a Bisons pitcher records a strikeout. He puts the sign up backwards when the batter is called out looking, just as in baseball scorekeeping.

Media/Game Broadcasts

All Bisons games can be heard on WWKB-AM in Buffalo and many games are televised on Time Warner Cable SportsNet throughout Western New York. Ben Wagner handles play by play while veteran Duke McGuire is color commentator.

In 2009, Joel Godett was added to the broadcast team. Also new for 2009, Sunday games will air on sister station WBEN and a Game of the Week package will air on WGR. These games will be a simulcast of those airing on WWKB.

References

1. SPORTS OF THE TIMES; A Yankee Comes Back To Baseball
2. "Buffalo Bisons and New York Mets sign player development contract" New York Mets. September 22, 2008. Retrieved on September 28, 2008.
3. "Bisons Unveil New Primary Logo" Buffalo Bisons. December 16, 2008. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
4. "Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame." Buffalo Bison. Retrieved on September 28, 2008.