The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of

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

, Washington, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as 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 ...

. 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 and Double-A, and abov ...

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 Basebal ...

(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 (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

. 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 level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

(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 (cre ...

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 eight 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 1892, when it fielded a team in 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 ...

. 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 five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the ...

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

on a rain-slickened

Snoqualmie Pass Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County. Snoqualmi ...

Highway (then

U.S. Route 10 U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) is an east–west United States highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Unlike most U.S. routes with "0" as the last digit of its route number, US 10 ...

), 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. 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 pr ...

, 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 (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

on June 24 and he departed the ill-fated bus during a late lunch stop in

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and ...

, 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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

moved from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

to the west coast in 1958, they moved their PCL affiliate, the

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

, 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 Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Natio ...

, won 94 of 146 games () in the regular season to win the northern division by 26 games, then swept the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

in four games in the PCL playoffs. The team included

Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Bosto ...

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

, Bobby Valentine (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 as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...

, and

Doyle Alexander Doyle Lafayette Alexander (born September 4, 1950) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue J ...

. Following the 1971 season, the club was moved south to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

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 Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 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 , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

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. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

in 1976,

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

in 1979, and

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

in 1982. Taking their first division crown since 1974, the Indians defeated Tacoma 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 (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

and became the Stars. The team's general manager was Larry Koentopp, former head coach and athletic director at

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places * Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy * Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily People with the surna ...

. 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 most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

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 The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their h ...

. 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 organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

'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 The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

, 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 Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern ...

2–1 to win championship *1989: Defeated

2–1 to win championship *1990: Defeated

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...

2–1 to win championship *1999: Defeated

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, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uni ...

2–0 in semifinals; lost to Everett 2–1 in finals *2018: Defeated Everett 2–1 in semifinals; lost to

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

3–0 in finals *2019: Lost to Tri-City 2–1 in semifinals *2021: Lost to

3–1 in finals

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, but 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.Authenticity, Collaboration, Respect: The Story Behind the Spokane Indians
by Paul Caputo, at SportsLogos.net; published July 19, 2020; retrieved February 22, 2021

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 private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball ...

alumni *

(1969–1971, manager) inducted 1997 * Duke Snider (1965, manager) inducted 1980 *

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland ...

(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 (1989, manager) Manager: 3-time World Series Champion – San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014) *

(1969–1970) MLB All-Star; 1982 NL batting title *

Dolph Camilli Adolph Louis Camilli (April 23, 1907 – October 21, 1997) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named the National League's Most Valuable ...

(1948, manager) 2-time MLB All-Star; 1941, NL Most Valuable Player * Ron Cey (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 Christopher or Chris Davis may refer to: Sports American football * Chris Davis (running back) (born 1979), American football fullback * Chris Davis (wide receiver, born 1983), American football wide receiver * Chris Davis (wide receiver, born 19 ...

(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 *

(1970) 10-time MLB All-Star; 1974 NL Most Valuable Player *

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and has also played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los A ...

(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 (1902) * Don Newcombe (1961) 4-time MLB All-Star; 1949 NL Rookie of the Year; 1956 NL Cy Young Award; 1956 NL Most Valuable Player *

Gorman Thomas James Gorman Thomas III (born December 12, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder and right-handed hitter. Thomas played in the American League (AL) with the Milwaukee ...

(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 (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part of ...

(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