- Northwest League
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This article is about the active Minor League Baseball league. For the defunct Minor League Baseball league, see Pacific Northwest League.
Northwest League
Northwest League logoSport Baseball Founded 1955 No. of teams 8 Country(ies) United States
CanadaMost recent champion(s) Vancouver Canadians Official website northwestleague.com The 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 which ran as a class B league from 1937-1951 (with time out for WWII) and class A from 1952-1954. The league changed its name and dropped back down to class B for the 1955 season.
The Northwest League (or the Northwestern League) has existed in various forms since 1901, and has been in its current incarnation since 1955.
The original seven charter teams were the Salem Senators, Eugene Emeralds, Yakima Bears, Spokane Indians, Tri-City Braves, Wenatchee Chiefs, and the Lewiston Broncs. At the time of its 50th anniversary 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.
Contents
Current teams
Division Team MLB Affiliation City Stadium Seating
CapacityAttendance
(2010)Average
(2010)East Boise Hawks Chicago Cubs Boise, Idaho Memorial Stadium 4,500 105,671 2,781 Spokane Indians Texas Rangers Spokane, Washington Avista Stadium 7,162 175,287 4,613 Tri-City Dust Devils Colorado Rockies Pasco, Washington Gesa Stadium 3,654 84,921 2,235 Yakima Bears Arizona Diamondbacks Yakima, Washington Yakima County Stadium 2,654 70,695 1,860 West Eugene Emeralds San Diego Padres Eugene, Oregon PK Park 4,000 107,561 2,830 Everett AquaSox Seattle Mariners Everett, Washington Everett Memorial Stadium 3,682 90,079 2,370 Salem-Keizer Volcanoes San Francisco Giants Keizer, Oregon Volcanoes Stadium 4,250 96,219 2,532 Vancouver Canadians Toronto Blue Jays Vancouver, British Columbia Nat Bailey Stadium 5,157 154,592 4,068 Current team rosters
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Main article: Northwest League rosters
Former Northwest League Teams (1955-)
- Bellingham Dodgers - 1973-76
- Bellingham Mariners - 1977-94
- Bellingham Giants - 1995-96
- Bend Rainbows - 1970-71
- Bend Timberhawks - 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
- Portland Mavericks - 1973-77
- Portland Rockies - 1995-2000
- Salem Senators - 1955-60, '77-81
- Salem Dodgers - 1961-65,
- Salem Dodgers - 1988-89
- Salem Angels - 1982-87
- Seattle Rainiers - 1972-76
- Tri-City Braves - 1955-60
- Tri-City Atoms - 1961, '65-68
- Tri-City Angels - 1963-64
- Tri-City A's - 1969
- Tri-City Padres - 1970-72
- Tri-City Ports - 1974
- Tri-City Triplets - 1973, '83-86
- Victoria Mussels - 1978-80
- Walla Walla Phillies - 1969-71
- Walla Walla Islanders - 1972
- Walla Walla Padres - 1973-82
- Walla Walla Blue Mountain Bears - 1983
- Wenatchee Chiefs - 1955-65
- Wenatchee Rapids[citation needed]
- Yakima Valley Braves - 1965-66
Cities that have hosted NWL Teams
British Columbia
- New Westminster: 1974 (1 season)
- Vancouver: 2000- (10 seasons)
- Victoria: 1978-80 (3 seasons)
Idaho
Oregon
Washington
- Aberdeen: 1976-80 (5 seasons)
- Bellingham: 1973-96 (24 seasons)
- Everett: 1984- (26 seasons)
- Seattle: 1972-76 (5 seasons)
- Spokane: 1955-56, 1972, 1983- (30 seasons)
- Tri-Cities: 1955-74, 1983-86, 2001- (33 seasons)
- Walla Walla: 1969-83 (15 seasons)
- Wenatchee: 1955-65 (11 seasons)
- Yakima: 1955-66, 1990- (31 seasons)
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:
- Reggie Jackson - Lewiston Broncos, 1966
- Ozzie Smith - Walla Walla Padres, 1977
- Tony Gwynn - Walla Walla Padres, 1981
- Rickey Henderson - Boise A's, 1976
Other notable alumni include:
- Sandy Alomar, Jr. - Spokane Indians, 1984
- 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
- José Canseco - Medford A's, 1983
- Aaron Cook - Portland Rockies, 1998
- Eric Davis - Eugene Emeralds, 1980-81
- Mark DeRosa - Eugene Emeralds, 1996
- 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
- Khalil Greene - Eugene Emeralds, 2002
- Ken Griffey, Jr. - Bellingham Mariners, 1987
- Pedro Guerrero - Bellingham Dodgers, 1974
- Bob Hamelin - Eugene Emeralds, 1988
- Kirk McCaskill - Salem Angels, 1982
- Rick Monday - Lewiston Broncos, 1965
- Joe Nathan - Bellingham Giants, 1995; Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 1997
- Mike Piazza - Salem Dodgers, 1989
- Juan Pierre - Portland Rockies, 1998
- Kurt Russell - Bend Rainbows, Walla Walla Islanders, Portland Mavericks, 1971-73, 1977
- Tim Salmon - Bend Bucks, 1989
- Casey Sander - Seattle Rainiers, 1975
- Mike Scioscia - Bellingham Dodgers, 1976
- Mike Sweeney - Eugene Emeralds, 1992-93
- Reggie Thomas - Portland Mavericks, 1975-76
- Shane Victorino - Yakima Bears, 2000
- Nick Swisher - Vancouver Canadians, 2002
- Andre Ethier - Vancouver Canadians, 2003
- Kurt Suzuki - Vancouver Canadians, 2004
- Dallas Braden - Vancouver Canadians, 2004See also
- Sports league attendances
- List of Northwest League champions
External links
- Official website
- baseball reference.com - Northwest League
Northwest League Eastern Division Western Division Categories:- Northwest League
- Minor baseball leagues in the United States
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