Tombstone
Formed: 1937
Voted to Cease Operations: September 26, 1954
Officially Disbanded: December 15, 1954
Level:
Classification:
- Class B: 1937-1951
- Class A: 1952-1954
First Game:
Last Game: September 12, 1954
Seasons: 15
States & Provinces: 4
(Alberta, British Columbia, ID, WA)
Leadership
President:1Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff. Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd Edition): (Durham, NC: Baseball America, 2007), 350-475
- 1937: Roger W. Peck
- 1938-1939: F.H. Knickerbocker
- 1940: Judge Stanley A. Webster
- 1941-1942: Robert B. Abel
- 1943-1945: Did Not Play (WWII)
- 1946-1952: Robert B. Abel
- 1953: Robert P. Brown
- 1954: Robert B. Abel
Attendance
Trophy Case
Background
The Western International League was as Pacific Northwest-based minor league baseball organization that was the forerunner to today’s Northwest League. Aside from the Idaho-based Lewiston Broncs (1952-1954), all of the WIL’s American-based teams were from Washington state.
Like many minor league circuits, the Western International League did not play during the peak years of U.S. involvement in World War II. The league shuttered operations from 1943 to 1945.
In 1953 the WIL added two Alberta-based clubs, the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos bringing the league membership to ten teams. The move soon grew unpopular with the American-based clubs. Lewiston, Idaho, at 550 miles away, was the closest rival to Edmonton. For the Salem Senators, Edmonton was an 800-mile road trip.
During the difficult summer of 1954, Calgary, Spokane and Victoria folded in mid-season, reducing the membership to 7 clubs. At a post-season meeting that September, the American clubs put forth a demand that Edmonton quit the league. When the Eskimos declined to do so, the five surviving American-based teams led a vote to disband the circuit effective December 15th, 1954.
The American clubs – Lewiston, Salem, Tri-City, Wenatchee and Yakima – swiftly re-grouped to establish the U.S.-only Northwest League in 1955. Edmonton joined the Western Canada League. The 1954 league champion Vancouver Capilanos folded.
Western International League Franchise List
| Franchise | Years Active | League Champions |
|---|---|---|
| Bellingham Chinooks | 1938-1939 | 1938 |
| Bremerton Bluejackets | 1946-1949 | None |
| Calgary Stampeders | 1953-1954 | None |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 1953-1954 | None |
| Tri-City Braves | 1950-1954 | None |
| Lewiston Broncs | 1952-1954 | None |
| Salem Senators | 1940-1942 & 1946-1954 | None |
| Spokane Hawks | 1937-1939 | None |
| Spokane Indians | 1940-1942 & 1946-1954 | 1941-1948-1951-1953 |
| Tacoma Tigers | 1937-1942 & 1946-1951 | 1937-1939-1940 |
| Vancouver Capilanos | 1939-1942 & 1946-1954 | 1942-1947-1949-1954 |
| Vancouver Maple Leafs | 1937-1938 | None |
| Victoria Athletics | 1946-1951 | None |
| Victoria Tyees | 1952-1954 | 1952 |
| Wenatchee Chiefs | 1937-1941 & 1946-1954 | 1946 |
| Yakima Bears | 1949-1954 | 1950 |
| Yakima Packers | 1948 | None |
| Yakima Pippins | 1937-1941 | None |
| Yakima Stars | 1946-1947 | None |
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