Spokane Indians

The Spokane Indians are a minor league baseball team located in Spokane, Washington, United States. They are a Short-Season A classification team in the Northwest League and have been a farm team of the Texas Rangers since 2003. The Indians play home games at Avista Stadium. Opened in 1958, Avista Stadium seats 7,202 fans.

Spokane was home of one of the charter teams of the Northwest League in 1955, but the team folded in 1956. Between 1958 and 1971, the Indians were a Triple-A Pacific Coast League baseball club affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, before the club was moved to Albuquerque in 1971, and later Portland. The 1970 team, managed by Tommy Lasorda, won 94 of 146 games and swept the Hawaii Islanders in the PCL playoffs.

On July 7, 1963, Spokane Pitcher Bob Radovich threw a no-hitter against the Hawaii Islanders that ended on a bizarre note. With two out in the ninth inning, an Islander player drew a walk. Stan Palys came in to run for the batter. The next batter hit a grounder to first and Palys danced up and down till the ball hit him in the leg. Under baseball rules, Palys is called out but a basehit is recorded for the batter. Pacific Coast League President Dewey Soriano who was in attendance that night, notified the press box that final out was to be credited to the first baseman and Palys' conduct constituted "unsportsmanlike play".

Spokane returned to the NWL in 1972, but a new PCL franchise arrived from Portland, where it lasted until 1982 when it moved to Las Vegas to become the Las Vegas Stars and later the Las Vegas 51s.

The Indians won the 2005 Northwest League championship despite having a record of 37-39 during the regular season, becoming only the second team in NWL history (the Salem Angels of 1982 were the first) to win the championship crown with a losing regular season record.

In 2008 the Indians captured the Northwest League Title with a thrilling 3-1 series victory over the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. After dropping game one, the Indians rallied to capture game two by a score of 11-10 in 10 innings. In game three, the Indians fell behind 10-2 before rallying for nine unanswered runs winning by an 11-10 margin once again. The Indians won the 2008 title in game four by securing a 6-5 victory in 10 innings.

Read more about Spokane Indians:  History Before 1956, Notable Players, Roster, Logos and Uniforms

Famous quotes containing the word indians:

    Most of the folktales dealing with the Indians are lurid and romantic. The story of the Indian lovers who were refused permission to wed and committed suicide is common to many places. Local residents point out cliffs where Indian maidens leaped to their death until it would seem that the first duty of all Indian girls was to jump off cliffs.
    —For the State of Iowa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)