Pioneer League (baseball)
The Pioneer League is a minor league baseball league which currently operates in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. In the past, it also operated in adjoining portions of Canada. Classified as a Rookie league, the Pioneer League is predominantly made up of players out of high school and is almost exclusively the first professional league many players compete in. The Pioneer League is a short-season league operating from June to early September.
The Pioneer League began in 1939 with six teams in Idaho and Utah. The league suspended operations for the 1943 through 1945 seasons. In 1948, the league expanded into Montana. At that time, several of the teams were operating as minor league affiliates of Pacific Coast League teams, which were unsuccessfully trying to grow into a major league. When the Los Angeles Dodgers displaced the Hollywood Stars PCL team, they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, taking away the Pioneer League's largest market. By 1959, the league was down to six teams, and by 1964, there were only four, but by the end of the 1970s there were eight teams. The league today also has eight teams, a number that is not likely to change without further expansion or contraction within Major League Baseball.
Read more about Pioneer League (baseball): Current Teams, Pioneer League Teams (1939-)
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