The Western Baseball League was an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League and Frontie ...

based in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. Its member teams were not associated with any

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), ...

teams. It operated from 1995 to 2002. The league was founded in 1994 by

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, businessman Bruce L. Engel. It began play in 1995, with the following teams: Northern Division: *

Bend Bandits The Bend Bandits were a minor league baseball team located in Bend, Oregon. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional bas ...

* Grays Harbor Gulls *

Surrey Glaciers The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field (stadium), Bryant ...

Tri-City Posse The Tri-City Posse was an American minor league baseball team located in the Tri-Cities of Washington. The team was a founding member of the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball Major Le ...

Southern Division: * Long Beach Barracuda * Palm Springs Suns *

Salinas Peppers The Salinas Peppers were an independent baseball team located in Salinas, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a profess ...

Sonoma County Crushers The Sonoma County Crushers were a minor league baseball team located in Rohnert Park, California. They were a member of the independent Western Baseball League, and were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. The team was one of the ...

Long Beach won the inaugural league championship, defeating Tri-City, 3 games to 1. In 1996, Surrey folded, then the

Reno Chukars Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

were added. Long Beach won its second consecutive title, again 3 games to 1 over Tri-City. In 1997, the league added the Chico Heat, while Palm Springs took the year off and Long Beach became the Mission Viejo Vigilantes. Chico won the league championship in its first season in the league, defeating Reno, 3–2. In 1998, Salinas disbanded, while dormant Palm Springs moved to

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

and became the Pacific Suns. Grays Harbor suspended operations halfway through the season, and the league took over management of the team, which continued as the

Western Warriors The Western Australian Men’s cricket team, formerly nicknamed the Western Warriors, represent the Australian state of Western Australia in Australian domestic cricket. The team is selected and supported by the Western Australian Cricket Asso ...

and went on an extended 68-game road trip with no home stadium. Despite the lack of a home stadium, the Warriors made it to the league championship series before being swept by Sonoma County, 3–0. In 1999, the league disbanded the Western Warriors, while Mission Viejo, Bend, and Pacific also folded. The Sacramento Steelheads and Zion Pioneerzz were added, making the WBL a six-team league. Tri-City won the league championship for the year, 3 games to 1 over Chico. For the 2000 season, Reno called it quits after four years in the league, while Sacramento moved to

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it ...

and became the

Solano Steelheads The Solano Steelheads were a minor league baseball team in Vacaville, California. They played in the independent Western Baseball League and were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team, although four of the players in the 2002 season w ...

. The WBL was back at eight teams, however, as the Yuma (AZ) Bullfrogs, Feather River (Marysville, CA) Mudcats and Valley (Scottsdale, AZ) Vipers were added. The Zion Pioneerzz won the league championship, defeating Chico 3 games to 1. For the 2001 season, Valley and Feather River folded, while league stalwart Tri-City defected to the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, 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 Maj ...

. The league returned to a market it previously served, adding the Long Beach Breakers to bring the loop back to six teams. The Zion Pioneerzz were renamed the St. George Pioneerzz. The expansion Breakers won the league championship, defeating Chico 3 games to 2. In its final year of 2002, the Western Baseball League again operated with six teams. St. George folded, while Marysville, Calif., re-entered the league to take the Pioneerzz' place, playing the season as the

Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to E ...

. The Chico Heat won the league championship in the league's final season, defeating Long Beach 3 games to 1. After the league folded, the western United States were without independent baseball until 2005, when former WBL cities Chico, Long Beach, and Yuma were awarded franchises in the upstart

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

. Three of the 8 current GBL cities are former Western League markets, as Reno was added to the circuit in 2006, while St. George became a member of the league in 2007. On September 9, 2014, it was reported that former WBL team, the Grays Harbor Gulls, would be reborn as a member of the new Mount Rainier Professional Baseball League in 2015 and would play their home games at Olympic Stadium once again. It is also mentioned that the "new" Gulls will have no ties to the original team. The Gulls and the MRPBL folded halfway through the inaugural season in 2015 due to financial problems.

References

External links

General Team Information
{{Professional Baseball Defunct independent baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in California Baseball leagues in Nevada Baseball leagues in Oregon Baseball leagues in Utah Baseball leagues in Arizona 1994 establishments in the United States 2002 disestablishments in the United States Sports leagues established in 1994 Sports leagues disestablished in 2002 Baseball leagues in Washington (state)