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The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. 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 (PCL). They were members of the Class A Short Season 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.
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.
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, 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 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.
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 (PCL MVP), Tom Paciorek, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Doyle Alexander.
Following the 1971 season, the club was moved south to New Mexico and became the Albuquerque Dukes. 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 Beavers, 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 Toros 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 in 1976, Seattle Mariners in 1979, and California Angels in 1982. Taking their first division crown since 1974, the Indians defeated Tacoma Rainiers 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 and became the Stars. 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.
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 Brett, Bobby, and George Brett).
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.
Notable alumni
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 on the road in games four and five of the championship series to win the title.
High-A West and back to the Northwest League (2021–present)
In conjunction with Major League Baseball'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.
Playoffs
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, looking to avoid the use of any American Indian imagery that might be perceived as derogatory. However, early in the process, the Spokane people contacted the team about offering their official support. 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 alumni
See also
External links
Categories: Official Website, Colorado Rockies Minor League Affiliates, Brooklyn Dodgers Minor League Affiliates, Los Angeles Angels Minor League Affiliates, Defunct Pacific Coast League Teams, Kansas City Royals Minor League Affiliates, Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Affiliates, Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates, Northwest League Teams, Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Affiliates, Professional Baseball Teams In Washington, San Diego Padres Minor League Affiliates, Seattle Mariners Minor League Affiliates, Baseball Teams Established In 1898, Sports In Spokane, Washington, Texas Rangers Minor League Affiliates, 1898 Establishments In Washington, High-a West Teams, Pacific National League Teams, Pacific Coast International League Teams, Western International League Teams, Northwestern League Teams
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