On September 17th the Dodgers announced some dramatic moves in the locations of their minor league affiliates. The theme seemed to be “Oklahoma Here We Come,” as their AAA affiliation was moved from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City and their AA affiliation shifted from Chattanooga to Tulsa. Whereas the red of the RedHawks in Oklahoma City does not fit well with Dodger Blue and I’m not quite sure how they’ll square that circle, the Tulsa Drillers offer no such challenge with their dominate blue color. Simply adding a red number would make the uniforms very similar to those of the Dodgers high A affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga.

The Drillers came into being in 1977 and were the AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers until 2002. A twelve year partnership with the Colorado Rockies followed the Rangers tenure in Tulsa. In September the Dodgers signed a two year Player Development Contract with the Tulsa franchise with an eye on a long term relationship.

The Drillers have been a successful franchise with three Texas League championships in 1982, 1988, and 1998. They have also appeared in the Texas League playoffs during the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons. They play in the Northern Division of the League along with the Arkansas Travelers (LAA), Springfield Cardinals (STL) and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KC). The San Antonio Missions, formerly a longtime Dodger affiliate in the Texas League, play in the Southern Division of the league.

The Drillers play their home games in a state-of-the-art facility named ONEOK Field located in downtown Tulsa’s Greenwood district. They played their first home opener at ONEOK Field on April 8, 2010, losing 7–0 to the Corpus Christi Hooks in front of an over-capacity crowd of 8,665. ONEOK, a natural gas company, paid five million dollars to obtain the 20-year naming rights for the new baseball park. The first pitch at the stadium was thrown by country music star, Tim McGraw. Interestingly enough another country music star, Roy Clark, at one time was a co-owner of the Drillers.

ONEOK Field
(Image courtesy of MiLB.com)

In 2014 the Driller franchise ranked second in paid attendance in the Texas League at 415,403 including four playoff games. This marked a significant increase from 366,291 in 2011.

For the second consecutive year, the Tulsa Drillers were named the Texas League’s Organization of the Year. Eighteen sellouts at ONEOK Field , a team record, helped the Drillers garner their repeat awards that had been accomplished only twice before in the history of the Texas League.

The Drillers roster for 2015 naturally has not been set but both the Dodgers and Drillers are playing the Julio Urias card as they prepare to engage the fans for the upcoming season. Corey Seager has also been talked about but one would expect his time with the Drillers in 2015 may be short-lived, especially now that the Dodgers AAA affiliate is in nearby Oklahoma City.

Drillers fans will most likely get a look at top Dodgers prospects Corey Seager and Julio Urias in 2015, but they better not wait too long, as both will probably end up at Triple-A OKC at some point during the season.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

A pair of Lookouts from 2014 may be making a homecoming with Tulsa in 2105. Catcher Chris O’Brien, named the Southern League’s player of the month for August following his torrid finish to the season, attended Bishop Kelly High School in Tulsa. Daniel Mayora, arguably the Lookouts most valuable player in 2014, played with the Drillers in 2009 and 2010 before being signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 2014. The Dodgers would have to re-sign Mayora in order for him to return to the Drillers although both he and O’Brien will most likely play at the AAA level in 2015.

The Drillers website already has Dodger information on it including a Duke Snider bobble head giveaway on their Facebook page. That page also includes a bit of Duke Snider trivia regarding Philadelphia pitcher Robin Roberts: “No other batter in major league history has hit that many home runs (19) off a single pitcher.”

The Drillers 2015 season opener is set for Thursday, April 3 when they will host Corpus Christi. It is the first time since 2011 that the Drillers will open the season at home. Look for Tommy Lasorda and maybe Stan Kasten to be present at that kickoff event – especially if Julio Urias and Corey Seager are making their Drillers debut.

There is no secret why the Dodgers quickly signed the two-year agreement with the Drillers after they had secured Oklahoma City as their AAA affiliate. Having their two top affiliates about 100 miles apart offers definite advantages to the parent team such as building a fan base and much improved logistical considerations in player movement from team to team. It certainly cuts down on travel time for Dodgers executives, traveling coaches and scouts going from team to team.

Stan Kasten seemed visibly pleased when the move was announced in Tulsa: “We are thrilled to be working with the Hubbard family and making Tulsa our home for the Dodgers’ double-A team,” said Kasten. “Having our top two minor league teams within the state of Oklahoma will certainly be great for our organization and for the Dodger fans in the state.

“When this opportunity came up, it was too good to be true,” Kasten added. “It fits like a glove in our overall scheme of player development.”

One great way to quickly engage the fan base would be an exhibition game played by the Dodgers in Tulsa. That is extremely unlikely since the Dodgers have their traditional Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels just before the regular season starts. That tradition is not about to change. However, Drillers general manager Mike Melega said it is likely that there will be exhibitions between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, since both are affiliated with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are about to start making their own history in Tulsa. However, there is one part of their history the fans in Tulsa will never forget. On July 22, 2007 Tulsa batting coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed while standing in the first base coach’s box. He was hit by a line drive and died less than an hour later. It is widely believed he was struck in the head but actually he was struck in the neck rupturing a crucial artery in his neck. A rule was soon adopted by major league baseball forcing all coaches, including minor league coaches, to wear helmets when coaching at first and third base.

A great way for the Dodgers to start their affiliation with the Tulsa Drillers would be to remember Mike Coolbaugh in a way meaningful to the Coolbaugh family and Tulsa fans.