Pioneer League (baseball)

The Pioneer Baseball League (also known as simply the Pioneer League) is a professional baseball league based in the Western United States. It operates as one of four Major League Baseball (MLB) Partner Leagues in the American independent baseball league system without MLB team affiliations. The league is contested by twelve teams from the Northern California and Rocky Mountains regions, who play a regular season split into two halves. The top two teams at the end of each half qualify for a postseason tournament that determines the overall champion.

The Pioneer League was established in 1939 as a Class C minor league consisting of six teams from Idaho and Utah. It later expanded to Montana as part of a failed effort in the 1950s to become a third major league rivalling the American and National leagues, complicated by competition with the Pacific Coast League. By the time it was reclassified as a Rookie league in 1964, only four teams in Idaho remained. Gradually, it returned to Montana and Utah, and expanded into Colorado and the Canadian province of Alberta by 1974, and since then has consistently had eight or more teams competing. In 2021, the league became independent, and ceased all MLB team affiliations, reorganizing as an MLB Partner League representing the Western United States market. An expansion into California followed in 2024.

As of the 2024 season, four teams from Montana, three from Colorado, two from California and Idaho each, and one from Utah compete in the Pioneer League. Nineteen franchises have competed in the league across its Template:Age in years-year history, with the Missoula PaddleHeads, a current team that joined as the Pocatello Cardinals in the inaugural season, being the longest-tenured. The Ogden Raptors are the current champions, while the Billings Mustangs, also a current team, have won the most championships (15).

History

The Pioneer League began in 1939 with six teams in Idaho and Utah, operating at the Class C level. The original six teams were the Boise Pilots, Lewiston Indians, Ogden Reds, Pocatello Cardinals, Salt Lake City Bees, and Twin Falls Cowboys. With players in short supply due to World War II, the league suspended operations for the 1943 through 1945 seasons.

In 1948, the league expanded by adding two teams in Montana; the Billings Mustangs and Great Falls Electrics. In these early years, teams in the league either operated independently or were affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) or Pacific Coast League (PCL) parent clubs, as the PCL was attempting to grow into a third major league (a bid that ultimately failed). When MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers displaced the PCL's Hollywood Stars in 1958, the Stars relocated and became the "new" Salt Lake City Bees, remaining in the PCL and taking away the Pioneer League's largest market.

By 1959, the Pioneer League was down to six teams; Billings and Great Falls along with the Boise Braves, Idaho Falls Russets, Missoula Timberjacks, and Pocatello Athletics. The league operated at the Class A level for one year (1963), before changing to Rookie league in 1964, when there were only four teams in the league; the Idaho Falls Angels, Magic Valley Cowboys, Pocatello Chiefs, and Treasure Valley Cubs. By 1978, the league had again grown to eight teams — Billings and Idaho Falls along with the Butte Copper Kings, Calgary Cardinals, Great Falls Giants, Helena Phillies, Lethbridge Dodgers, and Medicine Hat Blue Jays. With the exception of 1986 (when there were six teams), there have been at least eight teams in the league since then.

In 2016, total league attendance was 616,686,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> down slightly from the 2015 total of 633,622.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In its final years as an MLB-affiliated league, the Pioneer League was one of two "Rookie Advanced" minor leagues along with the Appalachian League. As such, it occupied the second-lowest rung in the minor league ladder. Although classified as a Rookie league, the level of play was slightly higher than that of the two "complex" Rookie leagues, the Gulf Coast League and Arizona League. Unlike the complex leagues, Pioneer League teams charged admission and sold concessions. It was almost exclusively the first fully professional league in which many players competed; most of the players had just been signed out of high school. It was a short-season league that competed from late June (when Major League teams signed players whom they selected in the amateur draft) to early September.

After the 2018 season, the Helena Brewers relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they now play as the Rocky Mountain Vibes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As the start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> making the 2019 season the league's last as an MLB-affiliated league of Minor League Baseball.

In conjunction with the reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Pioneer League was converted to an independent baseball league and was granted status as an MLB Partner League.<ref name="MLBann">Template:Cite web</ref> The reconfigured league continued with the same franchises using the same identities, with the exception of the Orem Owlz who relocated to Windsor, Colorado, as the Northern Colorado Owlz.<ref name="MLBann" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Boise Hawks also joined the Pioneer League in 2021 after moving from the Northwest League.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Pioneer League announced a five-year naming rights deal between the league and ticket vendor TicketSmarter that would have the league go as The Pioneer Baseball League presented by TicketSmarter starting in time for the 2022 season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On April 10, 2024, Kelsie Whitmore signed with the Oakland Ballers of the Pioneer League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She became the first woman to play for that league later that year. On June 6, 2024, she became the first female player to start a Pioneer League game. In that game she struck out one batter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Organization

Mike Shapiro is the current president of the Pioneer Baseball League, having been a senior executive in a wide range of professional sports including baseball, golf, basketball and hockey.<ref name="staff">Template:Cite web</ref>

Jim McCurdy is the commissioner<ref name="staff" /> and a past president of the Pioneer Baseball League. McCurdy received his BBA from the University of Houston in 1970 and his JD from the University of Texas School of Law in 1974. He mediated the restructure of Minor League Baseball's governing structure in 1992 and was an inaugural member of the MiLB board of trustees from 1992 to 1994. In 1993, he was appointed by the president of MiLB to serve on the Professional Baseball Executive Council. McCurdy was elevated to the position of league president in 1994, replacing Ralph Nelles who was the president from 1975 to 1993. McCurdy also teaches sports law courses at Gonzaga University School of Law and the University of San Diego School of Law. His publications include: Sports Law: Cases & Materials (with Ray Yasser, C. Peter Goplerud, and Maureen Weston) (7th ed. LexisNexis 2011),<ref name="pubs">Template:Cite web</ref> Thunder on the Road from Seattle to Oklahoma City: Going from NOPA to ZOPA in the NBA, in Legal Issues in American Basketball ch. IV (Lewis Kurlantzick ed., Academica Press 2011),<ref name="pubs" /> and, The Fundamental Nature of Professional Sports Leagues, Constituent Clubs, & Mutual Duties to Protect Market Opportunities: Organized Baseball Case Study, in Legal Issues in Professional Baseball ch. IV (Lewis Kurlantzick ed., Academica Press 2005).<ref name="pubs" />

Teams

Table of current teams

Team	Location	Joined	Stadium	Capacity
Billings Mustangs	Billings, Montana	1948	Dehler Park	3,071
Boise Hawks	Boise, Idaho	2021Template:Efn	Memorial Stadium	3,452
Glacier Range Riders	Kalispell, Montana	2022	Glacier Bank Park	2,500
Grand Junction Jackalopes	Grand Junction, Colorado	1978	Suplizio Field	10,000
Great Falls Voyagers	Great Falls, Montana	1948	Centene Stadium	4,000
Idaho Falls Chukars	Idaho Falls, Idaho	1940	Melaleuca Field	3,400
Missoula PaddleHeads	Missoula, Montana	1939	Ogren Park at Allegiance Field	5,000
Northern Colorado Owlz	Windsor, Colorado	1978	Future Legends Complex	6,000
Oakland Ballers	Oakland, California	2024	Raimondi Park	4,000
Ogden Raptors	Ogden, Utah	1977	Lindquist Field	8,700
Rocky Mountain Vibes	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1977Template:Efn	UCHealth Park	8,500
Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers	Marysville, California	2024	Bryant Field	4,000

Timeline of franchises (1939–present)

<timeline> DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = right:0 left:8 bottom:60 top:0 Period = from:01/01/1938 till:10/01/2032 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:vertical Colors =

 id:league    value:rgb(0.83,0.92,0.96) Legend:Playing_in_Pioneer_League
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ScaleMajor = gridcolor:grid unit:year increment:2 start:01/01/1939 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:grid unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1939 PlotData =

 width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
 bar:1  color:league    from:01/22/1939 till:12/10/1942 text:"Boise Pilots"
 bar:1  color:league    from:01/22/1946 till:12/10/1951
 bar:1  color:league    from:01/22/1952 till:12/10/1953 text:"Yank."
 bar:1  color:league    from:01/22/1954 till:12/10/1954 text:"P."
 bar:1  color:league    from:01/22/1955 till:12/10/1963 text:"Boise Braves"
 bar:2  color:league    from:01/22/1939 till:12/10/1939 text:"Lewiston Indians"
 bar:3  color:league    from:01/22/1939 till:12/10/1942 text:"Ogden Reds"
 bar:3  color:league    from:01/22/1946 till:12/10/1955 
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1939 till:12/10/1942 text:"Pocatello Cardinals"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1946 till:12/10/1951
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1952 till:12/10/1956 text:"Bannocks"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1957 till:12/10/1959 text:"A's"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1960 till:12/10/1960 text:"G."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1961 till:12/10/1961 text:"B."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1962 till:12/10/1965 text:"Chiefs"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1966 till:12/10/1973 text:"Ogden Dodgers"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1974 till:12/10/1974 text:"S."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1975 till:12/10/1976 text:"Exp."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1977 till:12/10/1983 text:"Lethbridge Dodgers"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1984 till:12/10/1987 text:"P. Gems"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1988 till:12/10/1989 text:"P. Gi."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1990 till:12/10/1990 text:"G."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1991 till:12/10/1991 text:"P."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1992 till:12/10/1995 text:"L. Mounties"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1996 till:12/10/1998 text:"Black Di."
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/1999 till:12/10/2019 text:"Missoula Osprey"
 bar:4  color:league    from:01/22/2020 till:end        text:"Missoula PaddleHeads"
 bar:5  color:league    from:01/22/1939 till:12/10/1942 text:"Salt Lake City Bees"
 bar:5  color:league    from:01/22/1946 till:12/10/1957 
 bar:5  color:nonleague from:01/22/1958 till:12/10/1965 
 bar:5  color:league    from:01/22/1967 till:12/10/1968 text:"Gian."
 bar:5  color:league    from:01/22/1969 till:12/10/1969 text:"Salt Lake City Bees"
 bar:5  color:nonleague from:01/22/1970 till:12/10/1984 
 bar:6  color:league    from:01/22/1939 till:12/10/1942 text:"Twin Falls Cowboys"
 bar:6  color:league    from:01/22/1946 till:12/10/1951 
 bar:6  color:league    from:01/22/1952 till:12/10/1958 text:"Magic Valley Cowboys" 
 bar:6  color:league    from:01/22/1961 till:12/10/1966
 bar:6  color:league    from:01/22/1968 till:12/10/1971
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1940 till:12/10/1942 text:"Idaho Falls Russets"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1946 till:12/10/1961
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1962 till:12/10/1965 text:"Yankees"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1966 till:12/10/1981 text:"Idaho Falls Angels"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1982 till:12/10/1984 text:"A's"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1985 till:12/10/1985 text:"E."
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1986 till:12/10/1991 text:"Idaho Falls Braves"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1992 till:12/10/1992 text:"G."
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/1993 till:12/10/1999 text:"Idaho Falls Braves"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/2000 till:12/10/2003 text:"Padres"
 bar:7  color:league    from:01/22/2004 till:end        text:"Idaho Falls Chukars"
 bar:8  color:league    from:01/22/1948 till:12/10/1963 text:"Billings Mustangs"
 bar:8  color:league    from:01/22/1969 till:end
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1948 till:12/10/1948 text:"E."
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1949 till:12/10/1950 text:"Sele."
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1951 till:12/10/1956 text:"Great Falls Electrics"
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1957 till:12/10/1957 text:"D."
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1958 till:12/10/1963 text:"Great Falls Electrics"
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1969 till:12/10/1983 text:"Great Falls Giants"
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/1984 till:12/10/2002 text:"Great Falls Dodgers"
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/2003 till:12/10/2007 text:"White Sox"
 bar:9  color:league    from:01/22/2008 till:end text:"Great Falls Voyagers"
 bar:10 color:league    from:01/22/1956 till:12/10/1960 text:"Missoula Timberjacks"
 bar:11 color:league    from:01/22/1964 till:12/10/1966 text:"TV Cubs"
 bar:11 color:league    from:01/22/1967 till:12/10/1971 text:"Caldwell Cubs"
 bar:12 color:league    from:01/22/1977 till:12/10/1978 text:"Card."
 bar:12 color:league    from:01/22/1979 till:12/10/1984 text:"Calgary Expos"
 bar:12 color:league    from:01/22/1985 till:12/10/1992 text:"Salt Lake City Trappers"
 bar:12 color:league    from:01/22/1993 till:12/10/1993 text:"P."
 bar:12 color:league    from:01/22/1993 till:12/10/1993 text:"P."
 bar:12 color:league    from:01/22/1994 till:end        text:"Ogden Raptors"
 bar:13 color:nonleague from:01/22/1974 till:12/10/1976
 bar:13 color:league    from:01/22/1977 till:12/10/1977 text:"A."
 bar:13 color:league    from:01/22/1978 till:12/10/2002 text:"Medicine Hat Blue Jays"
 bar:13 color:league    from:01/22/2003 till:12/10/2018 text:"Helena Brewers"
 bar:13 color:league    from:01/22/2019 till:end        text:"Rocky Mountain Vibes"
 bar:14 color:league    from:01/22/1978 till:12/10/1985 text:"Butte Copper Kings"
 bar:14 color:league    from:01/22/1987 till:12/10/2000
 bar:14 color:league    from:01/22/2001 till:12/10/2007 text:"Casper Rockies"
 bar:14 color:league    from:01/22/2008 till:12/10/2011 text:"Ghosts"
 bar:14 color:league    from:01/22/2012 till:12/10/2022 text:"Grand Junction Rockies"
 bar:14 color:league    from:01/22/2023 till:end text:"Grand Junction Jackalopes"
 bar:15 color:league    from:01/22/1978 till:12/10/1983 text:"Helena Phillies"
 bar:15 color:league    from:01/22/1984 till:12/10/1986 text:"Gold S."
 bar:15 color:league    from:01/22/1987 till:12/10/2000 text:"Helena Brewers"
 bar:15 color:league    from:01/22/2001 till:12/10/2004 text:"Angels"
 bar:15 color:league    from:01/22/2005 till:12/10/2020 text:"Orem Owlz"
 bar:15 color:league    from:01/22/2022 till:end text:"Northern Colorado Owlz"
 bar:16 color:nonleague from:01/22/1969 till:12/10/2020
 bar:16 color:league    from:01/22/2021 till:end text:"Boise Hawks"
 bar:17 color:league    from:01/22/2022 till:end text:"Glacier Range Riders"
 bar:18 color:league    from:01/22/2024 till:end text:"Oakland Ballers"
 bar:19 color:league    from:01/22/2024 till:end text:"Yolo High Wheelers"
 bar:20 color:white     from:01/01/1938 till:12/01/1938

</timeline>

Champions

League champions have been determined by different means since the Pioneer League's formation in 1939. There were postseason playoffs when the league operated as Class C (1939–1962), except for 1939 and 1956, and for the three years during World War II when the league did not operate. In the league's one year as Class A (1963), there were also postseason playoffs. After becoming a Rookie league in 1964, the league champions were simply the regular season pennant winners through 1977. Since 1978, postseason playoffs have again been held to determine a league champion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website