The Swift Current 57's (formerly the Swift Current Indians) are a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team based in

Swift Current Swift Current is the fifth largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is situated along the Trans Canada Highway west of Moose Jaw, and east of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Swift Current grew 6.8% between 2011 and 2016, ending up at ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, Canada. The team is a member of the

Western Canadian Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Saskatchewan and Alberta that descends from leagues dating to 1931. History The league can trace its roots back to 1931, via its predecessors. The Sout ...

(WCBL), a collegiate summer baseball league operating in the

prairie provinces The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

of Canada.

History

Organized baseball has been played in Swift Current since at least 1908 as the city was represented in the Western Saskatchewan League that season. The 1909 Swift Current baseball team was crowned Amateur Champions of Saskatchewan and toured North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. In 1959 The Swift Current Indians joined the Southern Baseball League and also won their first league championship. The Indians captured four Southern Baseball League championships and were one of the six founding members of the

Saskatchewan Major Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Saskatchewan and Alberta that descends from leagues dating to 1931. History The league can trace its roots back to 1931, via its predecessors. The South ...

(SMBL) in 1975. This new league was effectively a merger of the Southern Baseball League and the Northern Saskatchewan Baseball League. The team however only played one year before requesting a leave of absence from the league in 1976. The current team returned to the league in c.1986. Swift Current was SMBL champions six times in the last nine years under the SMBL name. In 2001 the league was renamed the Western Major Baseball League to reflect its expansion into Alberta. The Indians have won six WMBL championships, most recently in 2017. In a website press release dated September 1, 2016, the team officially notified the Western Major Baseball League of its intent to change the name and branding to a yet-to-be-determined name and logo. Long time Swift Current player/coach Harv Martinez explained that the new name would reflect the evolving focus and standards of the organization as community leaders, stating: "The tradition and passion for baseball in this region will still be strong and vibrant. The new direction in creating a new nickname allows for us re-brand our product and promote the team in a more current and sensitive manner.” On January 10, 2017, the Swift Current baseball club re-branded itself as the 57's. The new brand honours 57 years of Swift Current Indians baseball, although moving away from a name deemed too controversial for the twenty-first century.Swift Current WMBL Team Now The 57's

References

External links

Official web site
Baseball teams in Saskatchewan Swift Current {{Canada-baseball-team-stub

History

See also

References

External links