Houston Oilers
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| Team logo | |||||||
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| Affiliations | |||||||
| League | Bull League | ||||||
| Subleague | Metropolitan League | ||||||
| Division | East (1991-1994, 2018-Present)
West (1995-2017) | ||||||
| Team Info | |||||||
| Name | Houston Oilers
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| Previous names | St. Petersburg Admirals (2018-2022)
Anchorage Aces (2017) San Diego Seagulls (1991-2016) | ||||||
| Previous locations | St. Petersburg, Florida (2018-2022)
Anchorage, Alaska (2017) San Diego, California (1991-2016) | ||||||
| Colors | Dark Blue, brown, white
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| Owner | Gary Brett, Jr.
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| General manager | Brandon Popper | ||||||
| Ballpark | |||||||
| Ballpark | ExxonMobil Oil Field (2023-) | ||||||
| Former | The Burg (2018-2022)
Mountain Range (2017) (San Diego Stadium) (1995-2016) Shayne Hall Field (1991-1994) | ||||||
| Titles | |||||||
| Bull Cup championships | (1) 2019 | ||||||
| League pennants | (3) 2002, 2018, 2019 | ||||||
| Division titles | (6) AEL West - 1999, 2002, 2016
AEL/ML East - 2018, 2019, 2020 | ||||||
The Houston Oilers are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the Bull League playing in the Metropolitan League (ML) East division. They play their home games at Cowboy Stadium. The general manager & field manager of the team is Brandon Popper.
The team was founded in 1991 as the San Diego Seagulls, and placed in the former American Eagle League (AEL) East, although the city is located on the Pacific coast, and thus further west than some of the AEL West teams at that time. They were moved to the AEL West in the 1995 reorganization of the Bull League. In December, 2016, the team was relocated to Anchorage and renamed to the Aces.[1] Then, in early 2018, the team relocated to Florida and became the St. Petersburg Admirals. Following the 2022 season, the team decided it was time to go back to an original location of the league when it was first formed and headed to Houston and became the Oilers.
Although they have seldom made playoff appearances, they had one of the best third basemen in the Bull League on their team from 1993-2005, Always Rosy. Rosy was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2016 for his stellar career, in which the two-time Most Valuable Player led the American Eagle League in HRs six times, including for four consecutive years (1996-1999).
The team has a lifetime win-loss record of 1299-1319 (.496) from 1995-2022.
Contents
History
After the Southern League was renamed to the American Eagle League in 1991, and many of its under performing teams were disbanded, the San Diego Seagulls were founded and placed into the new league's East division, joining Chicago and California. None of those teams remain in the AEL East today. San Diego was moved to the AEL West in 1995, while Chicago went to the Lake League and California moved with San Diego to the geographically appropriate AEL West. The team relocated to Anchorage, Alaska, in December, 2016, and was renamed to the Anchorage Aces.
In February, 2018, details were finalized for a move to Florida, and the team became the St. Petersburg Admirals and was moved back to the AEL East division.
Despite having several high performing players over the years, the team has struggled to make the playoffs, appearing in the American Eagle League Championship Series only three times (1999, 2002, 2009). While the team won the AEL Trophy in 2002, they were swept in the Bull Cup Championships by Hamilton 3-0.
General Managers
| Houston Oilers General Managers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Name | Record | Notes |
| 1998–2000 | Alex Gutierrez | 116-124 (.483) | Offensively-minded Gutierrez cut his teeth in San Diego, before perfecting his craft with California and then later taking Calgary to a Bull Cup. |
| 2001–2004 | John Phillips | 135-173 (.438) | Though the Seagulls made the playoffs under Phillips, they began an implosion afterwards that took years to recover from. |
| 2004 | Nick Bond | 6-4 (.600) | Bond came in at the end of a last place finishing season for just ten games, before being dismissed in the offseason as the team sought a different direction |
| 2005–2012 | Brennan Glover | 302-340 (.470) | Glover began his general managerial career with the San Diego Seagulls, with several very positive seasons, finally reaching the playoffs in 2009 as a wild card team, before back-to-back losing seasons led to his dismissal. |
| 2013–2016 | Blake Kenik | 157-171 (.478) | Led Seagulls to first playoffs since 2009 |
| 2017–present | Brandon Popper | 219-143 (.604) | Came 2nd in GM of the Year voting for 2017. Led team to first Bull Cup win in 2019. |
Rivalries
Calgary Inferno Rivalry
The Aces have an inter-division rivalry with the Calgary Inferno, with whom they are tied 1-1 in AELCS appearances. While still based in San Diego and called the Seagulls, the team played Calgary (then called the Chinooks) in the 1999 AELCS, getting swept out of the series 3-0. The team returned to the AELCS in 2002 to face Calgary again, this time going 3-1 and advancing to the Bull Cup Championship Series in their only appearance in the final playoff round (they would lose to Hamilton).
California Tidals Rivalry
Because the Aces were formerly based in San Diego, and formed in 1991, they have had a long-standing rivalry with another team in the same state, the California Tidals. Both California and San Diego were founding AEL East division teams in 1991 (despite being located on the west coast), and both teams were moved to the AEL West division in 1995 during the major realignment.
Retired Numbers
The Anchorage Aces have retired just one uniform number (as the former San Diego Seagulls).
 Always Rosy Third base Retired 2010 |
Awards and other achievements
Player awards
Most Valuable Player Award
- 1996 & 1997 — Always Rosy
Rookie of the Year Award
- 1995 — Always Rosy
- 1997 — Adam Gordon
- 2017 — Jose Soto
Woodchuck Trophy
Sandy Koufax Award
League Leaders
The following players still hold current league leader records until the games went up to 152
- SLG Pct — Always Rosy (1996 Season), .898
- Winning Percentage — Jose Soto (2017), 1.000
Records since games went up to 152
- Strikeout — Jose Soto (2019), 266
- Hits Allowed /9 IP — Jose Soto (2019), 6.38
- Strikeouts /9 IP — Jose Soto (2019), 10.41
- Opponents AVG — Jose Soto (2019), .199
Team Records
For career hitting percentage records, 1,460 plate appearances are required. For career pitching percentage records, 471 innings pitched are required.
| Statistic | Single season record | Career record | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Record | Year | Player | Record | |
| Batting average | Prennick Argon † Katai Kitagawa |
.401 .357 |
1999 2019 |
Prennick Argon | .342 |
| On base percentage | Always Rosy † Brian Bonner |
.459 .451 |
1996 2021 |
Alex Viramontes | .422 |
| Slugging percentage | Always Rosy † Julio Rangel |
.838 .633 |
1996 2021 |
Always Rosy | .611 |
| At bats | Jose Dominguez † Katai Kitagawa |
363 665 |
2006 2021 |
Katai Kitagawa | 3,394 |
| Runs | Adam Gordon † Always Rosy † Katai Kitagawa |
81 134 |
1998 1996 2021 |
Always Rosy | 692 |
| Hits | Prennick Argon † Katai Kitagawa |
125 225 |
1999 2019 |
Katai Kitagawa | 1098 |
| Doubles | Section Attack † Omar Medina |
33 39 |
2016 2021 |
Katai Kitagawa | 210 |
| Triples | Billy Kidd † Katai Kitagawa |
8 13 |
1997 2021 |
Katai Kitagawa | 47 |
| Home runs | Always Rosy † Julio Rangel |
39 52 |
1996 2021 |
Always Rosy | 307 |
| Runs batted in | Always Rosy † Julio Rangel |
90 145 |
1997 2019 |
Always Rosy | 801 |
| Stolen bases | Adam Gordon † Katai Kitagawa |
29 85 |
1998 2021 |
Katai Kitagawa | 284 |
| Earned runs average | Jose Soto | 2.00 | 2017 | Jose Soto | 3.03 |
| Wins | A.C. Deucey† Tom Parker&dagger Bobby Miller† Ed Gerts † Harry Ferguson |
10 19 |
2010 2010 2012 1995 2019 |
Tim McHaney | 85 |
| Losses | Travis Dreis † Young-lau Weng |
11 17 |
2015 2021 |
Tim McHaney | 79 |
| Saves | Jake Pruitt † Ryu Saito |
24 36 |
2010 2019 |
Ryu Saito | 75 |
| Games pitched | Eye Suck † Ryu Saito |
49 71 |
2000 2019 |
Josh Martinez | 241 |
| Games started | Eddie Clunker† Ed Gerts† Gary Ingeborj † Youang-lau Weng |
20 35 |
1995 1995 1995 2019 |
Josh Martinez | 241 |
| Complete games | A.C. Deucey † Jose Soto |
5 9 |
2012 2019 |
Jose Ramirez | 25 |
| Shutouts | Jose Soto | 3 | 2017 | Jose Soto | 7 |
| Innings pitched | Ed Gerts † Jose Ramirez |
135.2 247 |
1995 2020 |
Tim McHaney | 1,318.1 |
| Strikeouts | Bobby Miller † Jose Soto |
135 266 |
2014 2019 |
Jose Soto | 1034 |
† This player also holds a Bull League award for this stat category, and the record indicated occurred in an 80 game season.
Milestones
Milestones listed here were obtained while playing for the Aces (Seagulls 1995 - 2016)
| Player | Milestone | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Always Rosy | 200 Home Runs | 08/13/2000 |
| Ed Gerts | 500 Strikeouts | 08/14/2000 |
| Always Rosy | 500 RBIs | 07/03/2001 |
| Always Rosy | 500 Runs Scored | 06/03/2002 |
| David Marchesani | 500 Strikeouts | 06/08/2003 |
| Dontbea Fool | 500 Strikeouts | 07/25/2003 |
| D.P Justice | 500 Runs Scored | 08/05/2004 |
| D.P Justice | 500 RBIs | 07/07/2005 |
| Adam Gordan | 500 Runs Scored | 08/21/2005 |
| Carl Simms | 1000 Hits | 06/09/2006 |
| Carl Simms | 300 Home Runs | 06/04/2007 |
| Leonard Hurrach | 100 Saves | 06/14/2009 |
| Tim McHaney | 500 Strikeouts | 07/20/2009 |
| Tom Parker | 500 Strikeouts | 08/28/2010 |
| Dave Norman | 1500 Hits | 08/18/2012 |
| Bobby Miller | 500 Strikeouts | 08/03/2014 |
| Alex Viramontes | 500 RBIs | 06/04/2015 |
| Alex Viramontes | 500 Runs Scored | 08/08/2015 |
| Alex Viramontes | 1000 Hits | 07/23/2016 |
| Takeo Otomo | 300 Home Runs | 05/22/2017 |
| Julio Resendiz | 500 Runs Scores | 07/26/2017 |
| Alex Viramontes | 200 Home Runs | 06/01/2018 |
| Takeo Otomo | 1000 Runs Batted In | 04/14/2019 |
| Alex Viramontes | 1500 hits | 09/24/2020 |
| Katai Kitagawa | 500 Runs Scored | 05/21/2021 |
| Danny Huertero | 500 Runs Scored | 05/21/2021 |
| Israel Medina | 500 Runs Batted In | 04/21/2022 |
| Israel Medina | 200 Home Runs | 05/30/2022 |
| Julio Rangel | 500 Runs Batted In | 07/14/2022 |
| Jose Soto† | 1000 Strikeouts | 08/13/2022 |
†Youngest player to date to reach landmark
Hall of Fame Players
The St. Petersburg Admirals have two players who has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
| Houston Oilers Hall of Famers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Inducted |
| Always Rosy | Third baseman | 2016 (as a SD Seagull) |
| Prennick Argon | Third baseman | 2021 (as a SD Seagull) |
1st Round Draft Picks
| Houston Oilers 1st round draft picks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Position | Overall | Current Team? |
| 1997 | Joey Williams | First Basemen | 13 | Retired |
| 1997 | Jason Hovis | Second Basemen | 14 | Retired |
| 1998 | Tim McHaney | Pitcher | 5 | Retired |
| 2000 | Pat Klinger | Second Basemen | 8 | Retired |
| 2000 | Bobby Lambert | Pitcher | 10 | Retired |
| 2001 | Dana Hoskin | Pitcher | 3 | Retired |
| 2003 | Chris Price | Left Field | 10 | Retired |
| 2003 | Noe Giron Jr | Pitcher | 11 | Retired |
| 2004 | Ryan Cowley | Third Basemen | 3 | Retired |
| 2006 | Berry Requiem | Pitcher | 4 | Seattle |
| 2007 | Simon Nelson | Left Field | 6 | Retired |
| 2008 | Ricky Jalapeno | Left Field | 6 | Miami |
| 2009 | Jon Fulcher | Second Basemen | 12 | Retired |
| 2011 | Dan Konschak | Center Field | 8 | Retired |
| 2011 | Dungeon Master | Pitcher | 9 | Retired |
| 2014 | Chris Zerkle | Pitcher | 5 | Calgary |
| 2015 | Dan Brannon | Pitcher | 9 | Milwaukee |
| 2016 | Glenn Torraville | Right Field | 10 | Arizona |
| 2017 | Justin Longfield | Pitcher | 12 | Houston |
| 2017 | Sal Salazar | Pitcher | 14 | Houston |
| 2018 | Dexter Robinson | Right Field | 18 | Miami |
| 2020 | Sam Wainwright | First Basemen | 19 | Houston |
| 2021 | Graham Fenwick | First Basemen | 16 | Houston |
| 2022 | Hector de Sales | Pitcher | 9 | Houston |
Championships
| Bull Cup Champions | ||
| Preceded by: Montreal Metros |
2019 | Chicago Pit Bulls |
| Metropolitain League pennants | ||
| Preceded by: Nevada Speeders |
2002 | Succeeded by: Nevada Speeders |
| Preceded by: Calgary Inferno |
2018—2019 | Succeeded by: Nevada Speeders |
| Metropolitan League East division titles | ||
| Preceded by: Calgary Inferno |
2018—2020 | Succeeded by: Calgary Inferno |
| American Eagle League West Division Titles | ||
| Preceded by: Richmond Ravens |
1999 | Succeeded by: California Tidals |
| Preceded by: California Tidals |
2002 | Succeeded by: Richmond Ravens |
| Preceded by: Seattle Salts |
2016 | Succeeded by: Seattle Salts |
Minor League Affiliations
| Level | Team | League | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | St. Anthony SeaWolves | Cow League | St. Anthony, Nfld. |
| AA | Savannah Buccaneers | Heifer League | Savannah, Georgia |
| A | Tijuana Firebirds | Calf League | Tijuana, Mexico |
| Short A | Springfield Isotopes | New England League | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Rookie | Treasure Island Devil Rays | Florida Rookie League | Treasure Island, Florida |
