Minor League Baseball is About to Start in the Pacific Northwest
Most Pacific Northwest baseball fans had an early exposure to Minor League Baseball. The revamped High-A West is a new start.
On Wednesday, December 9, 2021, MLB cut 42 minor league teams. Conceptually, this was designed to get each Major League Team set up with the same number of affiliates, one at each of four levels. Low-A, High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A.
“Play Ball,” the first week of May
For some, live accessibility and exposure to professional baseball begins with the Minor Leagues. The first professional game I attended was a game between the Tacoma Tigers (then the AAA team of the Oakland A’s) and the Vancouver Canadians (California Angels AAA team) at Cheney Stadium.
Even without going to the games, I remember looking out the car window while traveling down Highway16 from the Kitsap Peninsula to I-5, looking longingly at the first stadium where I saw a professional baseball game.
We are just a couple of weeks away from the beginning of the Minor League season, and there’s a lot for baseball fans to be grateful about. The Minor Leagues went through both a financial and competitive restructuring that will impact the country. Baseball fans in nearly every corner of North America often get their in-game, in-stadium exposure to professional baseball players through minor league affiliates.
Through the efforts of Minor League baseball, there are so many interesting and fun ways to be engaged with baseball. From entertaining mascots to unique backdrops, each team and stadium has a special place in the hearts of the fans.
Realignment
When MLB realigned, most rookie ball/short-season minor league teams throughout the country had their affiliations dissolved. Twenty-eight of these teams were eliminated. Only a handful of the defunct clubs were in the Northwest, with one team from Idaho and a few teams from Montana. These teams are all now part of the Pioneer League, an Independent league (no affiliations to any club) but an MLB partner league.
Surviving the chopping block and getting a promotion were six teams in the Pacific Northwest. The Class-A short-season Northwest League teams that are now part of the High-A West are the Eugene Emeralds, Everett Aquasox, Hillsboro Hops, Spokane Indians, Tri-City Dust Devils, and the Vancouver Canadians.