Pacific Northwest League

This article is about the defunct Minor League Baseball league. For the active Minor League Baseball league, see Northwest League.

Pacific Northwest League

Formerly	New Pacific League
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1890
Director	W.B. Bushnell, (1892) M.J. Roach, (1896) William Henry Lucas, (1901-1902)
No. of teams	15
Country(ies)	United States  Canada
Ceased	1903
Last champion(s)	1890 Spokane 1891 Portland 1892 Tacoma 1896 Portland 1901 Portland 1902 Butte
Most titles	Portland, 3

The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region.

History

Founding

The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. In January 1890, investors met in Portland, Oregon to discuss a four-to-six team league in the Pacific Northwest.^[1] The league folded during the second half of the 1892 season because of a nationwide economic depression known as the "Panic of 1893." During its time, the league was known for its former Major League players such as Kid Baldwin and Ollie Beard.^[2] In 1892 the league President was W. E. Rockwell and the Secretary was M. J. Roche.^[3] The league was revived briefly in 1896, but only lasted until mid-June. The 1896 version was also known as the New Pacific League. Early rules for the league included salary caps of $1,000 per month but was later raised to $1,300 per month.^[3][4] The league agreed to add a team from Walla Walla, Washington and either Wardner, Idaho or Wallace, Idaho in the beginning of 1892 and the league was also close to adding a team from Salem, Oregon but folded before anything was announced.^[3][5][6] The league denied Olympia, Washington a baseball team in 1892.^[5]

Second resurrection

The second Pacific Northwest League began play in 1901 as a four-team league, and was a six-team Class B circuit in 1902 when the minors were first classified. The next season it expanded with teams in Los Angeles, California and San Francisco, California and was renamed the Pacific National League, later known as the Pacific Coast League. The President of the league for the two years was William Henry Lucas.^[7]

Teams

Pacific Northwest League: 1890 to 1892

Team name	Town represented	Stadium	Year(s) active
Portland Webfeet	Portland, Oregon	Columbia Park	1890 to 1892
Seattle Hustlers	Seattle, Washington	Madison Park	1890 to 1892
Spokane Bunchgrassers	Spokane, Washington	Northwest League Grounds	1890 to 1892
Tacoma Daisies	Tacoma, Washington	Tacoma Baseball Park	1890 to 1892

New Pacific League: 1896

Team name	Town represented	Stadium	Year(s) active
Portland Gladiators	Portland, Oregon	Vaughn Street Park	1896
Seattle Yannigans/Rainmakers	Seattle, Washington	Unknown	1896
Tacoma Rabbits/Colts	Tacoma, Washington	Unknown	1896
Victoria Chappies	Victoria, British Columbia	Unknown	1896

Pacific Northwest League: 1901 to 1902

Team name	Town represented	Stadium	Year(s) active
Butte Miners	Butte, Montana	Unknown	1902
Helena Senators	Helena, Montana	Unknown	1902
Portland Webfoots	Portland, Oregon	Vaughn Street Park	1901 to 1902
Seattle Clamdiggers	Seattle, Washington	YMCA Field	1901 to 1902
Spokane Blue Stockings	Spokane, Washington	Unknown	1901
Spokane Smoke Eaters	Spokane, Washington	Natatorium Park	1902
Tacoma Tigers	Tacoma, Washington	Unknown	1901-1902

References

1. ^ "Base Ball in Oregon". Sporting Life 14 (13): 8. 1 January 1890. 
2. ^ "The Minor Leagues". The Weekly Argus News. July 23, 1892. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t4InAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CwQGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4078,2227892&dq=kid+baldwin&hl=en. Retrieved December 21, 2009. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Spokane Will Play". The Spokane Review. March 3, 1892. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gUURAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NZsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6852,2557057&dq=pacific+northwest+league&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
4. ^ "Base Ball". Spokane Falls Daily Chronicle. August 12, 1890. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KD0SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x_MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7046,1469494&dq=pacific+northwest+league&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-12-21. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ ^{a b} "Spokane in the League". Spokane Daily Chronicle. January 29, 1892. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AD8SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yfMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6187,1009616&dq=pacific+northwest+league&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
6. ^ "Sports". Lewiston Evening Journal. February 29, 1892. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9s4gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u2oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4779,639597&dq=pacific+northwest+league&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
7. ^ "Pacific Northwest League: President Lucas Has Been Reelected for Next Year". The Spokesman-Review. October 16, 1901. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QtAUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M5sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3564,5665841&dq=pacific+northwest+league&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-12-21. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• History at Baseball-Reference