The Pacific National League was a minor league baseball league that played from 1903 to 1905. The league evolved from its predecessor, the

Pacific Northwest League The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region. History Founding The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. I ...

and was a competitor of the newly formed

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 ...

. The league began play in 1903 as a Class A level league, the highest level of minor leagues in the era, before becoming a Class B level league in 1904 and 1905. Member teams were based in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

History

In 1903, the

changed its name to become the Pacific National League. This was a result of the independent

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

deciding to expand north into Seattle and Portland, and changing its name to the

as a result. The Pacific Northwest League decided to oppose the move by placing franchises of its own in Los Angeles and San Francisco ( San Francisco Pirates), with William Henry Lucas continuing as president of the newly named league. The Class A level Pacific National League began play on April 14, 1903, with eight teams. The league had teams based in Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco, which all also had teams in the Pacific Coast League; these were complemented by teams in the smaller cities of Butte, Helena, Spokane and Tacoma. Travel would prove to be a challenge and on July 1,1903, the Portland franchise was replaced by a new team in Salt Lake City. On August 15, Helena left the league, and was soon followed by Tacoma, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as the remaining four teams finished out the season. With four cities left in 1904, the league was downgraded to Class B level league, with teams based in Boise, Butte, Salt Lake City and Spokane. In 1905, Ogden replaced Butte as the league remained a four–team league. The 1905 Pacific National League permanently folded on June 20, 1905, when the

Salt Lake City Fruit Pickers Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of Salt (chemistry), salts; salt in the form of a natural crystallinity, crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. ...

disbanded. The league was expelled from the National Association on February 20, 1906 and never reformed.

Pacific National League member teams

Standings & statistics

1903 Pacific National League''
schedule
Portland (21–42) moved to Salt Lake City July 2; Tacoma and Helena disbanded August 16; Los Angeles and San Francisco disbanded August 21. 1904 Pacific National League''
schedule
1905 Pacific National League''
schedule
The league disbanded June 20 when Salt Lake City withdrew.

References

{{reflist Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 1903 Sports leagues disestablished in 1905 Baseball leagues in California Baseball leagues in Idaho Baseball leagues in Oregon Baseball leagues in Montana Baseball leagues in Washington (state) Baseball leagues in Utah

External links

Sanborn map of Spokane showing Natatorium Park, as it was in 1910

Sanborn map of Tacoma showing the ballpark, as it was in 1896

Sanborn map of Tacoma showing another ballpark, as it was in 1950