The Northwestern League was a professional, minor baseball league that lasted from 1905 to 1917. It was represented by teams based in Washington, Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 and British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

Teams

21 teams played in the league throughout its existence. Those teams include the: Aberdeen Black Cats (1905, 1917), Bellingham Yankees (1905), Everett Smokestackers (1905), Spokane Indians

Spokane Indians

The Spokane Indians are a minor league baseball team located in Spokane, Washington, United States. They are a Short-Season A classification team in the Northwest League and have been a farm team of the Texas Rangers since 2003. The Indians play home games at Avista Stadium...

 (1905-1917), Vancouver Horse Doctors (1905, 1907), Victoria Legislators (1905), Butte Miners (1906-1908, 1916-1917), Grays Harbor Lumbermen (1906), Tacoma Tigers (1906-1917), Seattle Siwashes (1907-1908), Grays Harbor Grays (1908-1909), Vancouver Beavers (1908-1911, 1914, 1916-1917), Portland Colts

Portland Colts

The Portland Colts were a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Oregon. They were a part of the Northwestern League and in they were known as the Portland Pippins. The served as a farm team for the Portland Beavers in the 1910s...

 (1909, 1912-1914), Seattle Turks (1909), Seattle Giants

Seattle Giants

The Seattle Giants were a minor league baseball team that played in various leagues from 1910 to 1920. Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, they played in the Northwestern League from 1910 to 1917, the Pacific Coast International League in 1918 and 1920, and the Northwest International League in...

 (1910-1917), Portland Pippins (1911), Victoria Bees (1911-1915), Vancouver Champions (1912, 1915), Vancouver Bees (1913), Ballard Pippins (1914), a Great Falls, Montana

Great Falls, Montana

Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...

 team (1916) and Great Falls Electrics

Great Falls Electrics

The Great Falls Electrics were a minor league baseball team that operated out of Great Falls, Montana. The team was formed in 1911 as part of the old Union Association league. They also played in the Northwestern League from 1916-1917. The team disbanded at that time and then was reformed as part...

 (1917).

League champions

For most of the league's history, there were no official playoffs following the regular season - in fact, 1915 was the only season in which a playoff was played. Therefore, the team that finished in first place was often the de facto league champion.

The Everett Smokestackers were the league's first champions, finishing in first place in the four team league in 1905. In 1906, the Tacoma Tigers finished in first place and in 1907 the Aberdeen Black Cats took the crown. The Vancouver Beavers finished in first place in 1908 and again in 1911 and 1914, the Seattle Turks in 1909 and the Spokane Indians in 1910. In 1912, the Seattle Giants were first, while in 1913 the Vancouver Bees finished on top.

In 1915, the league played it's only official playoff, which matched the first-place Seattle Giants against the second-place Tacoma Tigers. The Giants won the playoff three games to two, though it was presumably supposed to be at least a seven-game series - however, the playoff was abandoned during game six when a dispute broke out.

The Spokane Indians finished in first place in 1916 and the Great Falls Electrics finished in first place in 1917.

Notable alumni

Hall of Famers Dave Bancroft

Dave Bancroft

David James "Beauty" Bancroft was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1930. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame....

, Stan Coveleski

Stan Coveleski

Stanley Anthony Coveleski was a Major League Baseball player during the 1910s and 1920s. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969....

, Harry Heilmann

Harry Heilmann

Harry Edwin Heilmann , nicknamed “Slug,” was a Major League Baseball player who played 17 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952.Heilmann was a line drive hitter who won four American League batting crowns: in 1921, 1923, 1925 and...

, George Kelly and Joe McGinnity played in the league.