Northwestern League (1905–1917)

Northwestern League
Sport	Baseball
Inaugural season	1905
Ceased	1917
No. of teams	21
Country	United States and Canada
Classification	Class B

The Northwestern League was a professional sports league in minor league baseball that operated from 1905 to 1917. It was represented by teams based in Washington, Montana, Oregon and British Columbia. The league became the Pacific Coast International League in 1918.

Teams[]

21 teams played in the league throughout its existence. Those teams include the: Aberdeen Black Cats (1905, 1917), Bellingham Gillnetters (1905), Everett Smokestackers (1905), Spokane Indians (1905—1917), (1905, 1907), (1905), Butte Miners (1906—1908, 1916—1917), (1906), Tacoma Tigers (1906—1917), Seattle Siwashes (1907—1908), (1908—1909), Vancouver Beavers (1908—1911, 1914, 1916—1917), Portland Colts (1909, 1912—1914), Seattle Turks (1909), Seattle Giants (1910—1917), Portland Pippins (1911), (1911—1915), (1912, 1915), (1913), Ballard Pippins (1914), a Great Falls, Montana team (1916) and Great Falls Electrics (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 its 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.

Cities represented 1905—1917[]

Aberdeen, WA: Aberdeen Black Cats 1907, 1915; Aberdeen Grays 1908—1909
Aberdeen, WA & Hoquiam, WA: 1906
Ballard, WA: Ballard Pippins 1914
Bellingham, WA: Bellingham Yankees 1905
Butte, MT: Butte Miners 1906—1908, 1916—1917
Everett, WA: Everett Smokestackers 1905
Great Falls, MT: Great Falls Electrics 1916—1917
Portland, OR: Portland Colts 1909, 1912—1914; Portland Pippins 1911
Seattle, WA: Seattle Siwashes 1907—1908; Seattle Turks 1909; Seattle Giants 1910—1917
Spokane, WA: Spokane Indians 1905—1917
Tacoma, WA: Tacoma Tigers 1906—1917
Vancouver, BC: 1905, 1907; Vancouver Beavers 1908—1911, 1914, 1916—1917; 1912, 1915; 1913;
Victoria, BC: 1905; 1911—1915

Standings & Statistics[]

1905 Northwestern League[]

schedule pt 1 - pt 2
President: William Henry Lucas

Team Standings	W	L	PCT	GB	Managers
Everett Smokestackers	60	37	.619	—	Billy Hulen
Bellingham Yankees	49	48	.505	11.0	Kirby Drennen / Frederick Clarke
	45	52	.464	15.0	John McCloskey
/ Spokane Indians	41	58	.414	20.0	G.G. Howlett / Ed Hutchinson / Charles McIntyre

Victoria (14—38) moved to Spokane July 11.
The season was shortened to September 11.
Playoffs: None. The first—half finished in a tie and it was decided that if Everett won the second—half, the championship would be awarded to Everett. Everett won the second—half.