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	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. The league is the descendant of the Western International League (WIL), a class B league from 1937–1951 (with time out for World War II), and class A from 1952–1954. The league reformed, dropped to class B, and changed its name 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] with only four teams.^[5][6]

The 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.^[7][8] During its fiftieth season in 2004, five of the seven original cities were in the league.

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.

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	6,013	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:^[9]

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 Central Oregon Phillies (Bend) – 1979–80 Bend Phillies – 1981–86 Bend Bucks – 1987–91 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 – 1978–79 Victoria Blues – 1980 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 Yakima Bears (original) – 1955–1964 Yakima Bears - 1990–2012 Yakima Valley Braves – 1965–66

Cities that have hosted NWL teams

British Columbia New Westminster: 1974 (1 season) Vancouver: 2000– (16 seasons) Victoria: 1978–80 (3 seasons) 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 Aberdeen: 1976–80 (5 seasons) Bellingham: 1973–96 (24 seasons) Everett: 1984– (32 seasons) Seattle: 1972–76 (5 seasons) Spokane: 1955–56, 1972, 1983– (36 seasons) Tri-Cities: 1955–74, 1983–86, 2001– (39 seasons) Walla Walla: 1969–83 (15 seasons) Wenatchee: 1955–65 (11 seasons) Yakima: 1955–66, 1990–2012 (35 seasons)

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 PCL franchise)

See also

• Sports league attendances
• List of Northwest League champions

References

1. "Spokane gets berth in new ball league". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). November 8, 1954. p. 18.
2. "Indians "on first" in baseball plans". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). November 9, 1954. p. 14.
3. Missildine, Harry (April 20, 1972). "Northwest League goes back to 1890". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). p. 22.
4. "Northwest League assured for 1966". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). November 30, 1965. p. 3B.
5. Harvey, Paul, III (June 23, 1966). "4-team NWL slates 12th opener Friday". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). p. 2D.
6. "Northwest League: final standings". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). September 6, 1966. p. 3B.
7. "Northwest loop begins to shape into a tight seven-team battle". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). June 11, 1955. p. 8.
8. Rodman, Bob (June 17, 1981). "29 years of minor league baseball". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). p. 1E.
9. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?y=2013&t=l_att&lid=126&sid=l126

External links

• Official website
• Baseball Reference – Northwest League