Western Baseball League
Encyclopedia
The Western Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

 and Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...

. It's member teams were not associated with any Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 teams. It operated from 1995 to 2002.
The league was founded in 1994 by Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 businessman Bruce L. Engel. It began play in 1995, with the following teams:
  • Bend Bandits
    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 team. Their home stadium was Vince Genna Stadium....

  • Grays Harbor Gulls
    Grays Harbor Gulls
    The Grays Harbor Gulls were a minor league baseball team located in Hoquiam, Washington. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Olympic Stadium. A few of the players that signed were two...

  • Surrey Glaciers
  • Tri-City Posse
    Tri-City Posse
    The Tri-City Posse were a minor league baseball team located in Pasco, Washington. The team was one of the founding members of the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Tri-City Stadium, now Gesa Stadium.The Posse...

  • Long Beach Barracuda
    Long Beach Barracuda
    The Long Beach Barracuda were a minor league baseball team located in Long Beach, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadiums were 49er Field and Blair Field.The Barracuda were founded in...

  • Palm Springs Suns
  • Salinas Peppers
    Salinas Peppers
    The Salinas Peppers were a minor league baseball team located in Salinas, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Salinas Municipal Stadium....

  • Sonoma County Crushers
    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....



Long Beach won the inaugural league championship, defeating Tri-City, 3 games to 1.

In 1996, Surrey folded, and the Reno Chukars 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
Chico Heat
The Chico Heat were a professional independent baseball team operating in Chico, California in the Western Baseball League. They had no operating agreement with any Major League Baseball team. They were created by Chico Heat Professional Baseball LLC, with former supermarket entrepreneur Steve...

, while Palm Springs took the year off and Long Beach became the Mission Viejo Vigilantes
Mission Viejo Vigilantes
The Mission Viejo Vigilantes were a minor league baseball team located in Mission Viejo, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Mission Viejo Stadium near Saddleback College.The...

. 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, California
Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...

 and became the Pacific Suns
Pacific Suns
The Pacific Suns, previously known as the Palm Springs Suns, were a minor league baseball team located in Oxnard, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team....

. Grays Harbor suspended operations halfway through the season, and the league took over management of the team, which continued as the Western Warriors
Western Warriors (baseball)
The Western Warriors were a minor league baseball team playing in the independent Western Baseball League, and not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team....

 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
Zion Pioneerzz
The St. George Pioneerzz were a minor league baseball team located in St. George, Utah. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bruce Hurst Field....

 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, California
Vacaville, California is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Solano County. The city is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately from Sacramento, and from San Francisco...

 and became the Solano Steelheads
Solano Steelheads
The Solano Steelheads were a minor league baseball team operating out of Vacaville, California. They played in the independent Western Baseball League, and were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team....

. The WBL was back at eight teams, however, as the Yuma (AZ) Bullfrogs
Yuma Bullfrogs
The Yuma Bullfrogs were a minor league baseball team located in Yuma, Arizona. The team operated in the independent Western Baseball League and was not associated with any Major League Baseball team....

, Feather River (Marysville, CA) Mudcats
Feather River Mudcats
The Feather River Mudcats were a minor league baseball team located in Marysville, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bryant Field....

 and Valley (Scottsdale, AZ) Vipers
Valley Vipers
Science:*Vipera latifii, a venomous viper species endemic in IranSports:*Chattahoochee Valley Vipers, a professional indoor football team in the AIFA*Rio Grande Valley Vipers, a team in the NBA Development League...

were added. The Zion Pioneerzz
Zion Pioneerzz
The St. George Pioneerzz were a minor league baseball team located in St. George, Utah. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bruce Hurst Field....

 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
Northwest League
The Northwest League of Professional Baseball is a Class A-Short Season minor baseball league. The league is the descendant of the Western International League which ran as a class B league from 1937-1951 and class A from 1952-1954...

. The league returned to a market it previously served, adding the Long Beach Breakers
Long Beach Breakers
This article is about the former Western Baseball League team, for the American Basketball Association team, go to Long Beach Breakers .The Long Beach Breakers were a minor league baseball team that played at Blair Field in Long Beach, California...

 to bring the loop back to six teams. The Zion Pioneerzz
Zion Pioneerzz
The St. George Pioneerzz were a minor league baseball team located in St. George, Utah. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bruce Hurst Field....

 were renamed the St. George Pioneerzz. The expansion Breakers won the league championship, edging snakebitten 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
Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox
The Marysville Gold Sox is a summer collegiate wood-bat club based in Marysville, California, in the United States. The team is host of the Horizon Air Summer Series and plays its home games at Appeal-Democrat Park, formerly known as Bryant Field, adjacent to Ellis Lake, in Marysville...

. 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
Golden Baseball League
The Golden Baseball League, based in San Ramon, California, was an independent baseball league. It later merged with the Northern League and the United Baseball League to form the North American League in the western United States, western Canada and Mexico....

. 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.
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