{{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox Minor League Baseball | name =Williston Oilers | firstseason =1954 | lastseason =1957 | allyears = | city =Williston, North Dakota | logo = | uniformlogo = | class level =Independent (1954–1957) | league =Manitoba-Dakota League (1954–1957) | majorleague =None | nickname =Williston Oilers (1954–1957) | ballpark =Ardean Aafedt Stadium (1954–1957) | classnum = | classchamps = | leaguenum =1 | leaguechamps =1956 | confnum =1 | conferencechamps =1956 | divnum = | divisionchamps = | wildcardnum =3 | wildcardberths ={{hlist|1954|1955|1957}} }} The '''Williston Oilers ''' were a minor league baseball team based in Williston, North Dakota. The "Oilers" played as members of the Independent level Manitoba-Dakota League from 1954 to 1957, winning the 1956 league championship. The league folded following the 1957 season.
The Williston Oilers teams hosted home minor league games at Ardean Aafeldt Stadium, which is still in use today.
==History== Minor league baseball began in Williston, North Dakota in 1954, when the Williston "Oilers" began play as members of the four-team, independent level Manitoba-Dakota League, known as the "Mandak League."<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1954 Williston Oilers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref name="encyc">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor1-first=Lloyd |editor1-last=Johnson |editor2-first=Miles |editor2-last=Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=Baseball America |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}</ref> The Brandon Greys, Carman Cardinals and Minot Mallards teams joined the Oilers in beginning play in the league.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-MANDK/y-1954|title=1954 Manitoba-Dakota League (MANDAK) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=c51c7351|title=1954 Manitoba-Dakota League|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> The new Williston franchise replaced the Winnipeg Royals in the league.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-MANDK/y-1953|title=1953 Manitoba-Dakota League (MANDAK) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-true-greatness-of-the-mandak-league/|title=The True Greatness of the ManDak League – Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>
The Williston use of the "Oilers" nickname corresponds to local history and industry in the era. Williston is home to numerous oil fields, first discovered in 1936 and is the namesake of the Williston Basin.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/06/boomtown-oil-williston-north-dakota|title=I joined the oil rush to an American boomtown. Guess who got rich?|date=June 6, 2021|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-resource-sustainability|title=Office of Resource Sustainability|website=Energy.gov}}</ref>
thumb|Map. Williston Basin. Williston, North Dakota Location
The Mandak League was a professional independent minor league that was not affiliated with the minor league baseball. The Mandak League member teams often paid players better than affiliated minor league teams. Some league players left minor league baseball and played for teams in the Mandak League. In the era, a player in the lower-level minor leagues earned approximately $150 per month, while Mandak League salaries in the era may have started at about $275 per month, with some players earning up to $900 per month.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://attheplate.com/mallards/|title=Minot Mallards|website=attheplate.com}}</ref> The league was also an integrated league, with many former negro leagues players on team rosters.<ref>Swanton, Barry (2006). The ManDak League: Haven for Former Negro League Ballplayers, 1950–1957. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-2510-5</ref>
With 2,550 fans in attendance at home on May 29, 1954, Williston defeated the Brandon Greys by the score of 5–4. Williston's John Chalfont hit a sacrifice fly that drove in teammate Ron Martin with the winning run in the 11th inning. Lloyd Gearhart of the Oilers had four hits and a home run in the contest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://attheplate.com/wcbl/1954_20i.html|title=1954 ManDak Game Reports|website=attheplate.com}}</ref>
On August 20, 1954, Oiler player Dewey Williams was attacked by two men on the Williston's Main Street and was stabbed in his chest and abdomen, nearly losing his life. Williams was hospitalized under 24–hour police guard and was in serious condition before ultimately recovering. One of the attackers, a laborer drifter named Paul Jackson, was arrested, plead guilty to the assault and was sentenced to one year in the state penitentiary. Williams and Jackson had known each other and had a previous altercation in Toledo, Ohio after Williams had played a minor league game there. Williams played in four Mandak League seasons. A native of North Carolina, Williams eventually married and settled in Williston, living the remainder of his life in the community. He worked part time for the Williston Parks and Recreation Board umpiring baseball games, before retiring in 1982.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dewey-williams/|title=Dewey Williams – Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>
In their first season of play, the Williston Oilers placed third in the Manitoba-Dakota League regular season standings.<ref name="auto"/> Managed by Bert Shepard, the Oilers ended the 1954 regular season with a record of 28–40, finishing 11.5 games behind the first place Minot Mallards. In the four–team playoffs, the Brandon Greys defeated Williston 4 games to 3 in the first round.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-wo15231/y-1954|title=1954 Williston Oilers minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref>
Oiler manager Bert Shephard was an amputee, and was the first major league amputee player, pitching in one game in 1945. Shephard had his right leg amputated after his fighter plane was shot down during World War II in May 1944.<ref>"Milestones: Bert Shephard". ''Time''. July 7, 2008. p. 18.</ref> The left–handed pitcher taught himself to walk and eventually to pitch again with an artificial leg while a prisoner in the German POW camp ''Stalag IX C(b)'' in Meiningen.<ref>Baseball in Wartime, ''When Baseball Went to War''. Society for American Baseball Research, 55th Fighter Group Association</ref> On August 31, 1945, Shepard received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his service in World War II in between games of a doubleheader for his Washington Senators. General Omar Bradley presented his medals in the ceremony at Griffith Stadium.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/sports/baseball/20shepard.html|title=Bert Shepard, 87, Who Pitched in Majors After War Amputation, Dies (Published 2008)|work=The New York Times |date=June 20, 2008 |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard }}</ref>
In the 1955 season, the Mandak League continued play, with the Bismarck Barons and Dickinson Packers, teams joining the league, replacing the Brandon and Carman, as the returning Minot Mallards and Williston Oilers remained in the league.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-MANDK/y-1955|title=1955 Manitoba-Dakota League (MANDAK) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=52210c74|title=1955 Manitoba-Dakota League|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>
In 1955, the Oilers finished the regular season in second place in the four-team Mandak League and lost in the first round of the four-team playoffs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1955 Williston Oilers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Williston ended the regular season with a record of 41–37, to place second in the Manitoba–Dakota League regular season. Playing under manager Roy Weatherly, the Oilers finished 4.0 games behind the first place Bismarck Barons. In the Playoffs, the Willison Oilers were defeated by Minot 4 games to 3 in the first round, ending their season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?code=MDAK&class=Ind|title=Manitoba-Dakota League (Independent) Encyclopedia and History|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-MANDK/y-1955|title=1955 Manitoba-Dakota League (MANDAK) Standings on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-wo15231/y-1955|title=1955 Williston Oilers minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref>
In 1956, Madak League teams also played some games against teams from the Western Canadian Baseball League.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://attheplate.com/wcbl/1956_1.html|title=Western Canada Baseball 1956|website=attheplate.com}}</ref> The Williston Oilers won both the Mandak League regular season pennant and overall league championship in the 1956 season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1956 Williston Oilers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bismarcktribune.com/news/columnists/curt-eriksmoen/when-williston-was-the-best-team-in-western-canada/article_abbfa1b6-0227-11df-bd7a-001cc4c03286.html|title=When Williston was the best team in western Canada|first=CURT|last=ERIKSMOEN|date=January 17, 2010|website=The Bismarck Tribune}}</ref> The Oilers finished in first place with a 49–29 record, playing the season under managers Dee Moore and Preston Elkins. Williston finished 2.0 games ahead of the second place Bismarck Barons in the regular season standings. In the first round of the four–team playoffs, the Dickinson Packers were defeated by Williston 4 games to 3. In the playoff final, the Oilers defeated Minot in six games to claim the league championship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/standings/l-MANDK/y-1956|title=1956 Manitoba-Dakota League (MANDAK) Standings on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-wo15231/y-1956|title=1956 Williston Oilers minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref>
On September 7, 1956, Willison won game six of the finals to win the Mandak League championship series 4 games to 2. Williston pitcher Jack Sanoff was the winner as Williston defeated Minot 7–3 to capture the Mandak League title in six games. Sanoff pitched a three-hitter and hit a homer run, triple and single, with 5 RBI in the clinching game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://attheplate.com/wcbl/1956_20i.html|title=1956 ManDak Game Reports|website=attheplate.com}}</ref>
1957 was the final season of the Mandak League, as the Brandon Greys returned to the league, replacing the Dickinson Packers franchise.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/l-MANDK/y-1957|title=1957 Manitoba-Dakota League (MANDAK) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> The Oilers placed third in the Mandak League standings, playing the season under returning manager Preston Elkins.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1957 Williston Oilers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-wo15231/y-1957|title=1957 Williston Oilers minor league baseball Statistics on StatsCrew.com|website=www.statscrew.com}}</ref> With a 34–37 record, Williston tied with Brandon for third place, 3.5 games behind the first place Bismarck Barons in a close race. The playoffs were not the usual four–team playoffs. Instead, the league president placed Bismarck and Minot, the top two regular season finishers, directly into the finals, which were ended due to poor weather with Minor up 2 games to 1.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://attheplate.com/wcbl/1957_20i.html|title=1957 ManDak Game Reports|website=attheplate.com}}</ref>
The Mandak League folded after the 1957 season.<ref name="encyc"/> Williston continued hosting independent minor league for the next two seasons, with roster, record and league information unknown for both seasons. Willison reportedly played the 1958 season as members of the Western Canada League<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1958 Williston Oilers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inforum.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/north-dakota-baseball-team-was-top-of-canadian-league|title=North Dakota baseball team was top of Canadian league|date=January 17, 2010|website=InForum}}</ref> and the 1959 season as members of the Can–Am League.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=1959 Williston Oilers Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=Williston, North Dakota Encyclopedia|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>
==The ballpark== The Williston Oilers hosted home minor league games at Ardean Aafedt Stadium. The ballpark is still in use today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalballparks.com/ManDak/Williston3.html|title=Ardean Aafedt Stadium - Williston North Dakota - Babe Ruth League World Series - Former Williton Oilers (Man-Dak League)|website=www.digitalballparks.com}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The ballpark has undergone numerous upgrades and has hosted three youth baseball Babe Ruth League World Series. Constructed in 1950, Ardean Aafedt Stadium is named for a local baseball founder.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.willistonherald.com/sports/ardean-aafedt-stadium-is-pride-of-williston/article_c1b473d6-5f66-11e6-9298-97e2fc2f7c9d.html | title=Ardean Aafedt Stadium is pride of Williston | date=11 August 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.digitalballparks.com/ManDak/Williston5.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819221509/https://www.digitalballparks.com/ManDak/Williston5.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=August 19, 2023 | title=Ardean Aafedt Stadium - Williston North Dakota - Babe Ruth League World Series - Former Williton Oilers (Man-Dak League) }}</ref> Ardean Aafeldt Stadium is located within Davidson Park at 1002 11th Street W in Williston, North Dakota.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://edan.io/ardean-aafedt-stadium | title=Ardean Aafedt Stadium }}</ref>
==Timeline== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;" ! Year(s) !! # Yrs. !! Team !! Level !! League!!Ballpark |- | 1954–1957 || 4 || Williston Oilers||Independent || Manitoba-Dakota League||Ardean Aafedt Stadium |- |}
==Year–by–year records== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- ! Year !! Record !! Finish !! Manager !! Playoffs/Notes |- align=center | 1954|| 28–40 || 3rd ||Bert Shepard || Lost in first round |- align=center | 1955 || 41–37 || 2nd || Roy Weatherly|| Lost in first round |- align=center | 1956|| 49–29 || 1st ||Dee Moore / Preston Elkins|| Won pennant<br />'''League champions''' |- align=center | 1957 || 34–37 || 3rd (tie) ||Preston Elikins|| Did not qualify |- align=center |} <ref name="encyc"/>
==Notable alumni== {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} *Jerry Adair (1957) *Lloyd Gearhart (1954) *Al Gettel (1957) *Phil Haugstad (1955) *Bobby Hogue (1955) *Don Lee (1959) *Joe Lutz (1954) *Al Lyons (1956) *Dee Moore (1956, MGR) *Bert Shepard (1954, MGR) *Harry Taylor (1954) *Fred Vaughn (1955) *Roy Weatherly (1954; 1955, MGR; 1956–1957) *Dewey Williams (1954-1955, 1957) {{Div col end}}
==See also== *Williston Oilers players
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?city=Williston&state=ND&country=US Williston - Baseball Reference] *[https://www.digitalballparks.com/ManDak/Williston1.html Ardean Aafeldt Stadium photos]{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} *[http://www.charliesballparks.com/st/ND-Williston-Aafedt.htm Ardean Aafeldt Stadium photos]
Category:Professional baseball teams in North Dakota Category:Defunct baseball teams in North Dakota Category:Baseball teams established in 1954 Category:Baseball teams established in 1957 Category:Williston, North Dakota Category:Manitoba-Dakota League teams