Northwest League

This article is about the active Minor League Baseball league. For the defunct Minor League Baseball league, see Pacific Northwest League.
Northwest League
Formerly Western International League (WIL) (1937–1954)
Sport Baseball
Founded 1955
President Mike Ellis
No. of teams 8
Countries United States, Canada
Most recent champion(s) Hillsboro Hops
Most titles 8 (tie) – Spokane, Yakima
Level on pyramid Single A Short Season
Official website northwestleague.com

Northwest League of Professional Baseball (or simply the Northwest League or NWL) is a Class A-Short Season minor baseball league. The league is the descendant of the Western International League (WIL), which ran as a class B league from 1937–1951 (with time out for World War II), and class A from 1952–1954. The league reformed, changed its name, and dropped back down to class B for the 1955 season.[1][2]

The Northwest League (or the Northwestern League) has existed in various forms since 1890, and has been in its current incarnation since 1955;[3] it switched to the short season schedule in 1966.[4]

The original seven charter teams were the Salem Senators, Eugene Emeralds, Yakima Bears, Spokane Indians, Tri-City Braves, Wenatchee Chiefs, and Lewiston Broncs.[5][6] During its fiftieth season in 2004, five of the seven original cities were still in the league.

The league is classified as a Short-Season A league, which means that its season does not start until June, after major-league teams have signed their amateur draft picks to professional contracts, and ends in September. It has eight teams, each of which is associated with an MLB team.

Current teams

Division Team MLB Affiliation City Stadium Seating
Capacity		 Attendance
(2013)		 Average
(2013)
North Everett AquaSox Seattle Mariners Everett, Washington Everett Memorial Stadium 3,682 92,489 2,569
Spokane Indians Texas Rangers Spokane, Washington Avista Stadium 6,803 187,371 5,064
Tri-City Dust Devils San Diego Padres Pasco, Washington Gesa Stadium 3,654 83,987 2,270
Vancouver Canadians Toronto Blue Jays Vancouver, British Columbia Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium 5,157 184,042 4,843
South Boise Hawks Colorado Rockies Boise, Idaho Memorial Stadium 4,500 91,324 2,468
Eugene Emeralds Chicago Cubs Eugene, Oregon PK Park 4,000 112,028 2,948
Hillsboro Hops Arizona Diamondbacks Hillsboro, Oregon Ron Tonkin Field 4,500 135,167 3,557
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes San Francisco Giants Keizer, Oregon Volcanoes Stadium 4,250 98,024 2,580

Source:[7]

Current team rosters

Former Northwest League Teams (1955–)

  • Bellingham Dodgers – 1973–76
  • Bellingham Mariners – 1977–94
  • Bellingham Giants – 1995–96
  • Bend Rainbows – 1970–71
  • Bend Timber Hawks – 1978
  • Bend Phillies – 1981–87
  • Central Oregon Phillies (Bend) – 1979–80
  • Bend Bucks – 1988–91
  • Bend Rockies – 1992–94
  • Boise A's – 1975–76
  • Boise Buckskins – 1978
  • Everett Giants 1984–94
  • Grays Harbor Loggers – 1977–78, '80
  • Grays Harbor Mets – 1979
  • Grays Harbor Ports – 1976
  • Lewiston Broncs – 1955–74
  • Medford Giants – 1967–68
  • Medford Dodgers – 1969–71, later *Rogue Valley Dodgers- 1969–71
  • Medford A's – 1979–87 – later *Southern Oregon A's – 1988–95 and
  • Southern Oregon Timberjacks – 1996–99
  • New Westminster Frasers – 1974
  • North Bend-Coos Bay A's – 1970–73

Cities that have hosted NWL Teams

British Columbia

Idaho

  • Boise: 1975–76, 1978, 1987– (31 seasons)
  • Lewiston: 1955–1974 (20 seasons)

Oregon

  • Bend: 1970–71, 1978–94 (19 seasons)
  • Coos Bay: 1970–72 (3 seasons)
  • Eugene: 1955–68, 1974– (55 seasons)
  • Hillsboro: 2013– (2 seasons)
  • Medford: 1967–71, 1979–99 (26 seasons)
  • Portland: 1973–77, 1995–2000 (11 seasons)
  • Salem: 1955–65, 1977–89, 1997– (41 seasons)

Washington

Eugene has fielded a team in all but five of the NWL's seasons (from 1969–73, they had a PCL franchise)

Notable alumni

Four alumni of the Northwest League are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame:

Other notable alumni include:

Sandy Alomar, Jr. – Spokane Indians, 1984
Garret Anderson – Boise Hawks, 1990
Kevin Appier – Eugene Emeralds, 1987
Pedro Astacio – Yakima Bears, 1990
Garrett Atkins – Portland Rockies, 2000
Jim Bouton – Portland Mavericks, 1973 & 1977
Jason Bartlett – Eugene Emeralds, 2001
Dante Bichette – Salem Angels, 1984
Carlos Beltran – Spokane Indians, 1996
Dallas Braden – Vancouver Canadians, 2004
José Canseco – Medford A's, 1983
Aaron Cook – Portland Rockies, 1998
Eric Davis – Eugene Emeralds, 1980–81
Mark DeRosa – Eugene Emeralds, 1996
Dick Dietz – Eugene Emeralds, 1962
Andre Ethier – Vancouver Canadians, 2003
Todd Field – Portland Mavericks batboy, 1976–77
Chone Figgins – Portland Rockies, 1998
Chuck Finley – Salem Angels, 1985
George Foster – Medford Giants, 1968
Matt Franco – Portland Mavericks batboy, 1977
Julio Franco – Central Oregon Phillies, 1979
Tom Gordon – Eugene Emeralds, 1987
Jason Giambi – Southern Oregon A's, 1992
Carlos González – Yakima Bears, 2004
Khalil Greene – Eugene Emeralds, 2002
Ken Griffey, Jr. – Bellingham Mariners, 1987
Pedro Guerrero – Bellingham Dodgers, 1974
Bob Hamelin – Eugene Emeralds, 1988
Felix Hernandez – Everett AquaSox, 2003
John Kruk – Walla Walla Padres, 1981
Paul Konerko – Yakima Bears, 1994
Adam Jones – Everett AquaSox, 2003
John Lackey – Boise Hawks, 1999
Tim Lincecum – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 2006
Edgar Martinez – Bellingham Mariners, 1983
Kirk McCaskill – Salem Angels, 1982
Rick Monday – Lewiston Broncos, 1965
Mike Mungin - Southern Oregon A's,1988
Bill Murray - Grays Harbor Loggers, 1978
Joe Nathan – Bellingham Giants, 1995; Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 1997
Troy Percival – Boise Hawks, 1991
Eduardo Pérez – Boise Hawks, 1991
Mike Piazza – Salem Dodgers, 1989
Juan Pierre – Portland Rockies, 1998
Buster Posey – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 2008
Francisco Rodríguez – Boise Hawks, 1999
Kurt Russell – Bend Rainbows, Walla Walla Islanders, Portland Mavericks, 1971–73, 1977
Tim Salmon – Bend Bucks, 1989
Jeff Samardzija – Boise Hawks, 2006
Casey Sander – Seattle Rainiers, 1975
Pablo Sandoval – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 2005
Mike Scioscia – Bellingham Dodgers, 1976
Kurt Suzuki – Vancouver Canadians, 2004
Mike Sweeney – Eugene Emeralds, 1992–93
Nick Swisher – Vancouver Canadians, 2002
Miguel Tejada – Southern Oregon A's, 1995
Matt Williams – Everett Giants, 1986
Dan Uggla – Yakima Bears, 2001
Shane Victorino – Yakima Bears, 2000
Russell Wilson – Tri-City Dust Devils, 2010
Mike Zunino – Everett AquaSox, 2012

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Spokane gets berth in new ball league". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 8, 1954. p. 18.
  2. ↑ "Indians "on first" in baseball plans". Spokesman-Review. November 9, 1954. p. 14.
  3. ↑ Missildine, Harry (April 20, 1972). "Northwest League goes back to 1890". Spokesman-Review. p. 22.
  4. ↑ "Northwest League assured for 1966". Eugene Register-Guard. November 30, 1965. p. 3B.
  5. ↑ "Northwest loop begins to shape into a tight seven-team battle". Spokane Daily Chronicle. June 11, 1955. p. 8.
  6. ↑ Rodman, Bob (June 17, 1981). "29 years of minor league baseball". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1E.
  7. ↑ http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?y=2013&t=l_att&lid=126&sid=l126

External links