NORTHWEST LEAGUE

The 'Northwest League' is a class A minor 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 named 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 (Idaho) 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 Class 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

Former Northwest League Teams (1955-)

Notable Alumni

See also

External links

Current Teams

'East Division'

Name	MLB Affiliation	Stadium
Boise Hawks	Chicago Cubs	Memorial Stadium
Spokane Indians	Texas Rangers	Avista Stadium
Tri-City Dust Devils	Colorado Rockies	Tri-City Stadium
Yakima Bears	Arizona Diamondbacks	Yakima County Stadium

'West Division'

Name	MLB Affiliation	Stadium
Eugene Emeralds	San Diego Padres	Civic Stadium
Everett AquaSox	Seattle Mariners	Everett Memorial Stadium
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes	San Francisco Giants	Volcanoes Stadium
Vancouver Canadians	Oakland Athletics	Nat Bailey Stadium

Former Northwest League Teams (1955-)

★ Bellingham Dodgers ★ Bellingham Giants ★ Bellingham Mariners ★ Bend Bucks ★ Bend Phillies ★ Bend Rainbows ★ Bend Rockies ★ Bend Timber Hawks ★ Blue Mountain Bears ★ Boise A's ★ Boise Buckskins ★ Central Oregon Phillies ★ Everett Giants ★ Grays Harbor Loggers ★ Grays Harbor Mets ★ Grays Harbor Ports

★ Lewiston Broncos ★ Medford Athletics ★ Medford Dodgers ★ Medford Giants ★ New Westminster Frasers ★ North Bend-Coos Bay Athletics ★ Portland Mavericks ★ Portland Rockies ★ Rogue Valley Dodgers ★ Salem Angels ★ Salem Dodgers ★ Salem Senators ★ Seattle Rainiers ★ Southern Oregon Athletics ★ Southern Oregon Timberjacks

★ Tri-City A's ★ Tri-City Angels ★ Tri-City Atoms ★ Tri-City Braves ★ Tri-City Padres ★ Tri-City Ports ★ Tri-City Triplets ★ Victoria Mussels ★ Walla Walla Bears ★ Walla Walla Islanders ★ Walla Walla Padres ★ Walla Walla Phillies ★ Wenatchee Chiefs ★ Yakima Valley Braves

Notable Alumni

Three alumn of the Northwest League are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame: Reggie Jackson (Lewiston Broncos, 1966), Ozzie Smith (Walla Walla Padres, 1977), and Tony Gwynn (Walla Walla Padres, 1981).
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 Bounton (Portland Mavericks, 1973 & 1977)

-Jason Bartlett (Eugene Emeralds, 2001)

-José Canseco (Medford A's, 1983)

-Eric Davis (Eugene Emeralds, 1980-81)

-Todd Field (Portland Mavericks batboy, 1976 & 1977)

-Chone Figgins (Portland Rockies, 1998)

-George Foster (Medford Giants, 1968)

-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)

-Rickey Henderson (Boise A's, 1976)

-Rick Monday (Lewiston Broncos, 1965)

-Joe Nathan (Bellingham Giants, 1995; Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 1997)

-Mike Piazza (Salem Dodgers, 1989)

-Kurt Russell (Portland Mavericks, 1977)

-Tim Salmon (Bend Bucks, 1989)

-Mike Scioscia (Bellingham Dodgers, 1976)

-Reggie Thomas (Portland Mavericks, 1975 & 1976)

See also

★ Sports league attendances

External links

★ Northwest League website