The first professional team to come to Hoquiam was brought here by the Northwest League in 1976. The new team would be an expansion franchise and serve as a co-op team, independent to Major League baseball. They held players from several different franchises. The new team was called very appropriately, the Grays Harbor Ports. "Grays Harbor" instead of simply "Hoquiam" because the team represented both Hoquiam and its sister city of Aberdeen, which sort of mesh together into one big community. In fact, according to SABR Canada's Gord Brown... the team even played quite a few home games at Aberdeen's Pioneer Park as well as here at Olympic Stadium.