Oregon State University began its football program in 1893 and has been a study in contrasts ever since. The Beavers went to the Rose Bowl after the 1941, 1956, and 1964 seasons and to the Liberty Bowl in 1962. There was also a streak of losing seasons that lasted from 1971 until 1998. Two years later, the Beavers competed in the Fiesta Bowl and ranked among the top five teams in the country. From the "Iron Men" of 1933 to the "Civil War" rivalry between OSU and the University of Oregon, and from Terry Baker--the first Heisman Trophy winner on the West Coast--to a pair of bowl victories over...

When the Pacific Coast League was founded in 1903, the Portland Beavers-then known as the Browns-played in the circuit's first game, a 3-1 road loss to the San Francisco Stars. When the PCL celebrated its centennial season in 2003, Portland was the only city in the league to have been there at the start. The team's alumni include Satchel Paige, Lou Piniella, and Louis Tiant, but even more familiar to Portland fans are players like Eddie Basinski, Roy Hesler, and Bernardo Brito, who spent much of their careers with the Beavers...and groundskeeper Rocky Benevento and broadcaster Rollie Truitt,...