Sport Baseball No. of teams 8 | President Mike Ellis Countries United States, Canada | |
Formerly Western International League (WIL) (1937–1954) Founded 1955; 62 years ago (1955) | ||
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.
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The Northwest League (or the Northwestern League) has existed in various forms since 1890, and has been in its current incarnation since 1955. It switched to the short season schedule in 1966, with only four teams.
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. During its fiftieth season in 2004, five of the seven original cities were in the league.
Current teams
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Cities that have hosted NWL teams
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).