The Spokane Indians are a

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

, Washington, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. The Indians are members of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

(NWL) as an affiliate of the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

. Spokane plays its home games at Avista Stadium, which opened in 1958 and has a seating capacity of 6,752. From 1958 through 1982, excluding 1972, the Indians were in the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

(PCL). They were members of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

Northwest League from 1955 to 1956, in 1972, and from 1983 to 2020. The NWL operated as the High-A West in 2021 and was elevated to the High-A level. They have won 12 league titles: four in the PCL and nine in the NWL. The Spokane region has over a century of history in Minor League Baseball, dating back to the 1890s.

History

Before 1958

Spokane's minor league history dates to 1890, when it fielded a team in the Pacific Northwest League. The Spokane Club won the Northwest League pennant in its first season, overcoming teams from Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma, among others. The nickname Indians dates to 1903, when Spokane joined the Pacific National League, a predecessor to the

and, at Class A, an elite minor league of the period, equivalent to Triple-A today. The Indians lasted only two seasons at that higher level before dropping to the Class B

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for six seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, 1886–1887, and 1891. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by t ...

, which folded during World War I. In 1937, Spokane became a charter member of the Class B

Western International League The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the Pacific Northwest United States and western Canada that operated in 1922, 1937 to 1942, and 1946 to 1954. In 1955, the Western International League ...

(WIL), the predecessor of the Northwest League. They played at Ferris Field from 1937 through 1942 and 1946 until folding during the 1954 season on June 21. Spokane was a charter member of the Northwest League, which debuted in 1955 as a Class B league. These Indians also played at Ferris Field, but folded after just two seasons, and the city went without minor league baseball in 1957.

The 1946 Spokane bus tragedy

In 1946, the WIL Indians were victims of the worst transit accident in the history of American professional sport. On June 24, the team was on its way west to Bremerton by bus to play the Bluejackets. While crossing the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...

on a rain-slickened Snoqualmie Pass Highway (then

U.S. Route 10 U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the U.S. Despite the "0" as the last digit in the number, US 10 is no longer a cross- ...

), the bus driver swerved to avoid an oncoming car. The Indians' vehicle veered off the road and down an embankment, then crashed and burst into flames. Nine men died—six of them instantly—and seven were injured. Many of the injured had burn injuries. The dead were catcher/manager Mel Cole (age 32), pitchers Bob Kinnaman (28) and George Lyden (23), catcher Chris Hartje (31), infielders Fred Martinez (24), Vic Picetti (18) and George Risk (25), and outfielders Bob James (25) and Bob Paterson (23). Despite a severe head wound, infielder Ben Geraghty was able to struggle back up the mountainside to signal for help. Injured survivors also included pitchers Pete Barisoff, Gus Hallbourg and Dick Powers, catcher Irv Konopka, outfielder Levi McCormack, and bus driver Glen Berg.J. G. Taylor Spink, ed., ''1947 Baseball Guide and Record Book.'' St. Louis, Missouri:

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

, 1947, p. 207 One player from the 1946 team, future major league infielder Jack "Lucky" Lohrke, missed the tragedy because his contract was sold to the PCL

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

on June 24 and he departed the ill-fated bus during a late lunch stop in Ellensburg, not long before the accident, thus helping to earn his nickname. (Lohrke had previously averted tragedy when he was bumped from a military transport plane which later crashed.) Two Indians' pitchers, Milt Cadinha and Joe Faria, were making the trip to Bremerton by automobile and were not aboard the team bus when it crashed. The Indians, relying on players loaned from other teams, managed to finish the season and placed seventh in the league. A special charity, the Spokane Baseball Benefit Association, donated $114,800 to the injured survivors and dependents of the nine players who died. Beth Bollinger of Spokane wrote a novel titled ''Until the End of the Ninth'', which is based on the true story of the 1946 bus crash and its aftermath.

Pacific Coast League (1958–1971, 1973–1982)

When the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

moved from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to the west coast in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

, they moved their PCL affiliate, the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

, north to Spokane. While with the Dodgers for 14 seasons, the Indians won league titles in 1960 and 1970, and were runners-up in 1963, 1967, and 1968. The 1970 Indians, managed by Tommy Lasorda, won 94 of 146 games () in the regular season to win the northern division by 26 games, then swept the Hawaii Islanders in four games in the PCL playoffs. The team included Bill Buckner, Steve Garvey,

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (19 ...

(PCL MVP), Tom Paciorek, Davey Lopes,

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

, and Doyle Alexander. Following the 1971 season, the club was moved south to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and became the

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fran ...

. Spokane, which had been in the Northwest League for its first two seasons in 1955 and 1956, returned to the NWL in 1972 as a Dodger affiliate, but only for one season, as a new PCL franchise arrived in 1973 from Portland, becoming the affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The 1973 team, which included Bill Madlock and Lenny Randle, won the west division by eleven games and swept

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

in three games in the championship series. The following year's club successfully defended the title with another three-game sweep, this time over Albuquerque. The Indians' second stint in Triple-A lasted ten seasons and included affiliations with the Rangers, which changed to the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in 1976,

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

in 1979, and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

in 1982. Taking their first division crown since 1974, the Indians defeated

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

in the first round, but fell to Albuquerque in the championship series in six games. Soon after that season, the team moved south to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and became the

Stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

. The team's general manager was Larry Koentopp, former head coach and athletic director at Gonzaga. He was the leader of a local ownership group that purchased the team after the 1978 season. The team was purchased for $259,000 in 1978 and was sold in 1993 for $6.1 million.

Northwest League (1983–2020)

A new NWL franchise was awarded to Spokane for the 1983 season and the Indians have won eight league titles; the first four were consecutive, from 1987 through 1990. The Indians won their seventh NWL championship in 2005, despite a 37–39 () record during the regular season. They became only the second team in league history (after the 1982 Salem Angels) to win the championship with a losing regular season record. Spokane won the east division, then beat league-leading

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

on the road in games four and five of the championship series to win the title. In 2008, the Indians captured their eighth league title with a thrilling four-game series victory over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. After dropping the first game, Spokane rallied to an 11–10 win in 10 innings to even the series. In game three, the Indians fell behind 10–2 before rallying for nine unanswered runs to win again 11–10. Spokane won the title with a 6–5 victory in 10 innings in the fourth game. The Indians were featured in the "Spokane Alphabet" reverse glass painting by Washington artist Melinda Curtin. They were the "I" in the alphabet, cementing their place as an important part of the city of Spokane. Following the 1985 season, the team was bought by the Brett brothers (John, Ken, Bobby, and George).

High-A West and back to the Northwest League (2021–present)

In conjunction with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Indians were organized into the High-A West along with five other teams previously of the Northwest League. They qualified for the playoffs by finishing with a second-place 67–49 record, but they were defeated by the Eugene Emeralds, 3–1, in the best-of-five championship series. The franchise was recognized with the Minor League Baseball Organization of the Year Award. The High-A West was rebranded back to the Northwest League in March 2022, as MLB moved to revert all of its Minor Leagues to their historical names.

Playoffs

*1987: Defeated Everett 2–1 to win championship *1988: Defeated Southern Oregon 2–1 to win championship *1989: Defeated Southern Oregon 2–1 to win championship *1990: Defeated

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

2–1 to win championship *1999: Defeated Portland 3–0 to win championship *2003: Defeated Salem-Keizer 3–0 to win championship *2005: Defeated

3–2 to win championship *2008: Defeated Salem-Keizer 3–1 to win championship *2010: Defeated

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

2–0 in semifinals; lost to Everett 2–1 in finals *2018: Defeated Everett 2–1 in semifinals; lost to Eugene 3–0 in finals *2019: Lost to Tri-City 2–1 in semifinals *2021: Lost to Eugene 3–1 in finals *2024: Defeated

3-1 to win championship

Logos and uniforms

The team's colors are red, navy blue, light blue, and beige. In the 2006 offseason, the Indians began a process to redesign their logo and uniforms. As per tradition, they began by avoiding the use of any American Indian imagery; however, early in the process, the Spokane Nation contacted the team about officially supporting the team. In the process, the tribe gave permission to the team to adopt subtle and tasteful imagery, in order to pay homage to the team's history and new connection with the tribe. The cooperation included the creation of a secondary logo written in Salish, the traditional language of the Spokane.

Roster

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

alumni * Tommy Lasorda (1969–1971, manager) inducted 1997 *

Duke Snider Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing f ...

(1965, manager) inducted 1980 *

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 s ...

(1968) inducted 1998 * Hoyt Wilhelm (1971) inducted 1985 Notable alumni * Sandy Alomar Jr. (1984) 1990 MLB Rookie of the Year; 6-time MLB All Star * Carlos Beltrán (1996) 1999 AL Rookie of the Year; 9-time MLB All Star *

Bruce Bochy Bruce Douglas Bochy (; born April 16, 1955) is an American professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former catcher who is the manager of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). During his playing ...

(1989, manager) Manager: 4-time World Series Champion – San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014), Texas Rangers (2023) * Bill Buckner (1969–1970) MLB All-Star; 1982 NL batting title * Dolph Camilli (1948, manager) 2-time MLB All-Star; 1941, NL Most Valuable Player *

Ron Cey Ronald Charles Cey (; born February 15, 1948), nicknamed "the Penguin," is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from through , most notably as an integral member of the Los Angel ...

(1971) 6-time MLB All-Star * Gino Cimoli (1965) MLB All-Star * Matt Clement (1994) MLB All-Star * Joey Cora (1985) MLB All-Star * Roger Craig (1959) * Chris Davis (2006) MLB All-Star; MLB home run leader: 2013, 2015 * Willie Davis (1960) 2 Time MLB All-Star; (1960) Minor League MVP * Ron Fairly (1960) 2 Time MLB All-Star * Neftalí Feliz, MLB All-Star * Steve Garvey (1970) 10-time MLB All-Star; 1974 NL Most Valuable Player * Zack Greinke (2002) 2009 AL Cy Young Award; 4-time MLB All-Star * Brad Gulden * Ian Kinsler (2003) 4-time MLB All Star * Davey Lopes (1971) 4-time MLB All-Star * Gary Matthews Jr. (1994) MLB All-Star *

Tony Mullane Anthony John Mullane (January 30, 1859 – April 25, 1944), nicknamed "Count" and "the Apollo of the Box", was an Irish professional baseball player who pitched for seven major-league teams during 1881–1894. He is best known as a switch pitch ...

(1902) * Jerry Narron, MLB player, coach, and manager *

Don Newcombe Donald Newcombe (June 14, 1926 – February 19, 2019), nicknamed "Newk", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played ten non-consecutive seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his career in the Negro National League and en ...

(1961) 4-time MLB All-Star; 1949 NL Rookie of the Year; 1956 NL Cy Young Award; 1956 NL Most Valuable Player * Gorman Thomas (1972) MLB All-Star * Roy White (1967) 2-time MLB All-Star * Mitch Williams (1983) MLB All-Star *

Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1959 to 1972, most prominently as an integral member of the Los Ange ...

(1959) 7-time MLB All-Star; 1962 NL Most Valuable Player * Ned Yost (1978) manager: 2015 World Series Champion – Kansas City Royals

References

External links