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 (1955)
President Mike Ellis
No. of teams 8
Countries United States, Canada
Most recent
champion(s)
Eugene Emeralds
Most titles 8 (tie) – Spokane, Yakima
Classification Class 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 league in the northwest United States and western Canada. The NWL's short season starts in mid-June, after major league teams have signed their amateur draft picks to professional contracts, and ends in early September. All eight teams are affiliated with a major league team.

The Northwest League (or the Northwestern League) has existed in various forms since 1890, and has been in its current incarnation since 1955.[1] It switched to the short season schedule in 1966,[2] with only four teams.[3][4]

Its immediate predecessor, the Western International League (WIL), had ten teams in its final year in 1954, with four in Canada. The six U.S. cities plus Eugene were the seven charter teams of the Northwest League in 1955: 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 in the league.

Current teams

Division Team MLB Affiliation City Stadium Seating
Capacity
Attendance
(2015)
Average
(2015)
North Everett AquaSox Seattle Mariners Everett, Washington Everett Memorial Stadium 3,682 100,613 2,648
Spokane Indians Texas Rangers Spokane, Washington Avista Stadium 6,803 188,956 5,107
Tri-City Dust Devils San Diego Padres Pasco, Washington Gesa Stadium 3,654 86,022 2,264
Vancouver Canadians Toronto Blue Jays Vancouver, British Columbia Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium 6,013 215,535 5,825
South Boise Hawks Colorado Rockies Boise, Idaho Memorial Stadium 4,500 109,945 2,893
Eugene Emeralds Chicago Cubs Eugene, Oregon PK Park 4,000 120,931 3,182
Hillsboro Hops Arizona Diamondbacks Hillsboro, Oregon Ron Tonkin Field 4,500 143,412 3,774
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes San Francisco Giants Keizer, Oregon Volcanoes Stadium 4,250 85,851 2,259

Source:[7]

Current team rosters

Former Northwest League Teams (1955–)

Cities that have hosted NWL teams

British Columbia

Idaho

  • Boise: 1975–76, 1978, 1987– (32 seasons)
  • Lewiston: 1955–1974 (20 seasons)

Oregon

  • Bend: 1970–71, 1978–94 (19 seasons)
  • Coos Bay: 1970–72 (3 seasons)
  • Eugene: 1955–68, 1974– (56 seasons)
  • Hillsboro: 2013– (3 seasons)
  • Keizer: (shared with Salem) 1997- (19 seasons)
  • Medford: 1967–71, 1979–99 (26 seasons)
  • Portland: 1973–77, 1995–2000 (11 seasons)
  • Salem: 1955–65, 1977–89, (shared with Keizer) 1997– (43 seasons)

Washington

Eugene is the most-tenured city in the NWL, having fielded a team in all but five of the NWL's seasons (from 1969–73, they had a Triple-A PCL franchise)
Spokane had a Triple-A PCL team for 24 seasons (1958–1971 and 1973–1982).

See also

References

  1. Missildine, Harry (April 20, 1972). "Northwest League goes back to 1890". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 22.
  2. "Northwest League assured for 1966". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. November 30, 1965. p. 3B.
  3. Harvey, Paul, III (June 23, 1966). "4-team NWL slates 12th opener Friday". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 2D.
  4. "Northwest League: final standings". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. September 6, 1966. p. 3B.
  5. "Northwest loop begins to shape into a tight seven-team battle". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. June 11, 1955. p. 8.
  6. Rodman, Bob (June 17, 1981). "29 years of minor league baseball". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1E.
  7. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?y=2015&sid=milb&t=l_att&lid=126
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