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History
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1994
In 1994 a new baseball league was born, the
Northwoods League, which began with franchises in Kenosha, Wausau and Manitowoc,
Wisconsin; Dubuque, Iowa and Rochester, Minnesota. This League was made up of
"All-Star" teams of college players and competed in a 56 game schedule between
June and August. Each franchise was to promote their games just like a
professional franchise would. Fans could look forward to nightly giveaways,
concessions, fireworks and many exciting game events. At the end of the first
season approximately 70,000 fans attended Northwoods League games and the
Rochester Honkers had claimed the first League title with a 31-15 overall
record.
1995
In 1995 the league would grow
to six franchises when Waterloo, Iowa added the Waterloo Bucks. 1995 also saw
the League's first All-Star game. On Saturday, July, 22nd the Wausau Woodchucks
hosted the first ever Northwoods League All-Star game. This All-Star game would
feature the very best of the NWL. Along with the first All-Star game the NWL
would have it's first Championship series. The teams with the best records of
the first and second half of the season would meet in a Championship series.
Eventually the Kenosha Kroakers would claim the 1995 title downing the Manitowoc
Skunks two games to none and finishing with an overall record of
40-18.
1996
The 1996 season started on June
7th with the same six teams comprising the league. This season the second year
franchise from Waterloo would host the 2nd Annual NWL All-Star game at
Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo, IA. The Waterloo Bucks had earned the right to
host the event by setting a single season attendance record in 1995 when 28,745
fans went through the gates in Waterloo. By the end of the season and
Championship series the 2nd year franchise, Waterloo Bucks had claimed their
first NWL crown having defeated the Rochester Honkers 2 games to
none.
1997
1997 brought change in the NWL.
One of the founding franchises, the Dubuque Mud Puppies, would relocate to St.
Cloud, MN and be called the St. Cloud River Bats. Besides the location change
the league would expand it's schedule to play 64 games in 68 days. Since its
inception the league now had 45 alumni playing or signed to play professional
baseball. 1997 would be the first time in league history that a franchise would
win a second NWL league title, when the Rochester Honkers would defeat the
Waterloo Bucks 2 games to one. The Honkers would finish with a 41-21 record. The
League would continue to draw more fans, drawing over 135,000 fans over the
course of the two and half month season.
1998
In 1998 the league would celebrate it's five year anniversary and
welcome three new teams into the league and move to a two division system. With
three new teams entering the league one founding member would close it's doors,
the Manitowoc Skunks. All three teams joining the NWL would be former members of
the now defunct Prairie League, Austin, Brainerd, MN and Grand Forks, ND. The
five year old league had now grown to eight teams covering four states (Iowa,
Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota) This season the NWL would introduce a
divisional playoff scenario, having a first and second half winner meet in a
playoff. The winners in each division series would meet in the NWL championship
series. Another positive note for the league was that all of the eight teams
would be playing in ballparks where former professional baseball had once been
played. In 1998 the second year franchise, St. Cloud Rivers Bats would take the
NWL crown when they defeated the Rochester Honkers 2 games to none.
1999
1999 would see the first Alumni of the NWL reach the
big leagues, Jeff Weaver. Weaver, a former Dubuque Mud Puppy pitcher, would make
his start for the Detroit Tigers on April 14, 1999 against the Minnesota Twins.
1999 would bring about a name change in one founding team member. The Wausau
Woodchucks would become the Wisconsin Woodchucks, representing the only NWL team
in the entire state of Wisconsin. Another year would see the appearance of a new
franchise and another founding member would stop operations. Entering the league
would be the Mankato Mashers and the Kenosha Kroakers would close their doors.
The annual All-Star game would find a preeminent home in St. Cloud with the St.
Cloud River Bat team playing host to the event the next several years. 1999
would see the third championship crown going to the Rochester Honkers. The
Honkers and the River Bats would meet in a rematch of the '98 Championship
Series, with the Honkers winning the series 2 games to 1.
2000
The new millennium, 2000, would bring more slight
changes for the league and another former NWL player would make his debut with
the Colorado Rockies. Juan Pierre, former outfielder for the Manitowoc Skunks
would suit up for the National League Team. The league would continue to shift
with the Austin Southern Minny Stars moving to Minot, ND and become the Minot
Greenheads. With the increased miles for each team to travel every NWL would
travel by coach buses during the summer months. The St. Cloud River Bats would
defeat the Waterloo Bucks two games to none to claim their second title. Overall
the league would continue to see growth as more than 217,000 fans would witness
NWL baseball and five of the eight teams would set new record attendance marks.
By the end of the season, the NWL had more than 160 alumni that were either
active or that had played professional baseball over the course of the last
seven years.
2001
The 2001 NWL season would
bring some great changes for the league. The Grand Forks Channel Cats and the
Minot Greenheads would cease operations, while two new exciting franchises would
open in Alexandria, MN and Madison, WI. The Madison Mallards would represent the
largest city to host a NWL team, while the Alexandria Beetles would become the
smallest. The NWL All-Star Game would see a change, as they would host Team USA
in St. Cloud, MN. The All-Stars of the NWL would down Team USA 1-0 in 10
innings. It was the first time Team USA had been shut out by a team from the
lower 48 states and their only loss to a team from the lower 48 states in 2001.
The Wisconsin Woodchucks, one of two remaining inaugural NWL teams, would claim
their first NWL Championship. The Woodchucks would defeat the St. Cloud River
Bats 2 games to 1 in the best of three championship series. League attendance
would continue to raise as more than 263,000 fans attended NWL games, more than
any other summer collegiate baseball league at 1,082 per game.
2002
The 2002 NWL season saw single-season league records shattered, a long-time
manager earn a Championship and attendance records fall by the wayside. The NWL
saves record was broken by Wisconsin’s Steve Grasley (Creighton) who racked up
19 breaking the old record of 15 set by Wisconsin’s Tim McNabb (Indiana). NWL
Champion Waterloo’s Adam Boeve (Northern Iowa) broke the stolen base record by
swiping 43 bases sliding by the old record of 42 on the last day of the regular
season. Two NWL teams broke the team ERA record of 3.04 set by the 2000 St.
Cloud squad. Brainerd’s team ERA was an impressive 2.73, but not to be outdone
the Wisconsin Woodchucks posted a remarkable 2.53 team ERA. Long-time Waterloo
manager Darrell Handelsman won his first NWL title by leading the Bucks to a 2-0
series win of the Brainerd Mighty Gulls. League attendance continued its
unsurpassed growth by ballooning to another record of over 337,000. Average
attendance grew from 1,082 in 2001 to 1,365 this past summer.
2003
The 2003 season saw a growth spurt with three new teams entering the circuit, bringing
the League to 10 members. New affiliates in La Crosse, WI, Duluth, MN and
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada joined the League in 2003 as the Brainerd Mighty
Gulls ceased operations following the 2002 campaign. Attendance grew by almost a
quarter of a million fans to over 580,000. The Wisconsin Woodchucks won their
second NWL Championship in three years, defeating the North Division Champion,
St. Cloud River Bats, 2 games to 1, under the direction of former Major League
pitcher, Steve Foster. David Schultz (Creighton), of the La Crosse Loggers hit
16 home runs the most by anyone since current Major Leaguer, Jay Gibbons, hit 17
in 1997. Mike Pankratz (San Jacinto JC) with the Wisconsin Woodchucks was named
League MVP after posting an unprecedented .699 slugging percentage, with 12 home
runs. The story in 2003, though, was the pitching, as 5 players entered the top
11 all-time in single-season ERA. Jake Hansen (Northern Iowa) of the Madison
Mallards led with a 1.23 ERA, second lowest in NWL history. Flame throwing
Thomas Diamond (New Orleans) of the St. Cloud River Bats became the 4th NWL
pitcher to strikeout 100 batters as he finished 3rd all-time with 103. His
teammate on both fronts (River Bats and New Orleans), JP Martinez registered 17
saves, second all-time in the NWL. Will Krout (Sonoma State) of the Mankato
Moondogs pitched great all summer posting a League record, 7 complete games, and
3 shutouts, good for second in League history. The St. Cloud River Bats set a
League pitching record for strikeouts and recorded the 2nd lowest ERA in team
history. Average attendance in the NWL has increased from 1,082 in 2001 to 1,365
in 2002 to 1,803 in 2003.
2004
In 2004, the Northwoods League would continue its trend of breaking records, both on and off
the field. Eight of the ten NWL teams would shatter their season attendance
records, as 626,704 fans turned out for NWL baseball games in the summer of
2004. This number represented a 7.5% increase over the previous year’s total.
Leading the way was the Madison Mallards, who drew a NWL record 154,258 for the
season including over 10,000 to a regular season game at Warner Park in June.
The 2004 baseball season would also see six more NWL alumni make their debut in
the major leagues, bringing the current total to 19 former NWL players competing
in the big leagues. Two former Wisconsin Woodchucks, Ben Zobrist and Jonathan
Tierce, won batting titles at the professional level in their first full
professional season. In all, seventy NWL alumni were drafted in the June 2004
Major League Baseball amateur draft including the 10th pick overall, Thomas
Diamond, by the Texas Rangers. This marked the highest selection in NWL history,
suprassing former alumni Jeff Weaver who was picked with the 14th overall pick
in 1998. On the field, Rick Cavaiani (UW-Milwaukee) of the Woodchucks tied a
team and league record for saves with 19. Ryan Hastings (Illinois) established a
new League record with 57 base on balls while playing for Waterloo. His college
teammate, Chad Frk, broke the all-time NWL record for games played with 227 from
2001-2004 with Waterloo and Madison. Phillip Hawke (Louisiana-Lafayette) was
named League MVP after leading the circuit in home runs (11), RBI (41), and
slugging percentage (.510). Hawke, also the winner of the “Star of Stars” award
as All-Star game MVP, batted .301 and finished 2nd in the League with a .443 on
base percentage. Pitcher Lance Broadway (Texas Christian) finished with 95
strikeouts to lead the league (7th All-Time) while also tossing one of three
no-hitters in 2004. Adam Sanabria (Florida) from Rochester and Greg Reinhard
(UW-Whitewater) of Wisconsin threw the other no-hitters. The Madison Mallards
won their first League championship in 2004 under the guidance of Darrell
Handelsman, who was named Manager of the Year in the NWL. The championship
marked the 2nd in Handelsman’s career, the only manager in League history to win
the title twice. Madison’s pitching staff recorded a 2.54 team ERA, good for 2nd
best All-Time in the NWL while four teams struck out 500 or more batters during
the season, led by Wisconsin’s 524 strikeouts, placing each in the top 6
All-Time.
2005
Remarkably, the 2005 season witnessed more growth as
both two new teams and fans alike accounted for another record-season season in
the NWL. With the addition of Eau Claire, WI and the re-emergence of the Brainerd, MN
franchise, the NWL had expanded to 12 teams in their 12th year of operation.
With growth came more record attendance numbers, as over 775,000 fans turned out
for the 2005 season. Leading the way once again was Madison, who averaged an
astounding 5,738 fans per night on their way to attracting a Summer Collegiate
Baseball record of 200,000+ fans to the friendly confines of Warner Park. Ten of
the 12 franchises set new attendance marks last summer with a League-wide
average attendance of 1,884. On the diamond, it was the League’s only Canadian
entry, the Thunder Bay Border Cats, who took home the coveted hardware when they
won the NWL Championship. The Cats, who were making their first playoff
appearance, knocked off the defending champion Madison Mallards, 2 games to 1,
in an exciting Championship Series witnessed by record crowds the final two
games in Thunder Bay. Border Cats reliever Shawn Williams (College of
Charleston), son of former Big League Manager of the Year Jimy Williams, set a
new NWL saves record with 20, eclipsing the previous mark of 19 established
twice in the previous three seasons. Perhaps the biggest on-field story was
Waterloo’s Zach Daeges (Creighton), who ended the season as the NWL’s first
triple crown winner. The slugging first baseman led the circuit by batting .366,
belted 13 home runs and tied for the RBI lead with 48. However, Madison
outfielder Ryan Rogowski (Illinois) claimed the MVP award by hitting .345 and
leading the NWL in hits (86), triples (5), runs (52), and setting the all-time
stolen base mark with 44. Alexandria, MN hosted its first All-Star game before a
record crowd of 1,857 back in July. Once again, the NWL had over 70 players
drafted in the MLB Amateur draft in June and watched 6 of its former alumni make
their Major League debuts in 2005, bringing the total to 25 former players to
have gone on to play in the Big Leagues.
2006
The 2006 season saw continued growth as the Northwoods League broke another attendance record as
over 813,000 fans came through the gates. The Madison Mallards led the way,
drawing over 6,000 fans nightly to Warner Park, fondly known as “The Duck
Pond”. Eight of the twelve Northwoods franchises set new attendance records in
the League’s 13th season of play, as the average attendance
League-wide ballooned to 1,989 per game. The Rochester Honkers won the
Championship in record-setting fashion, finishing with a 50-17 record, prior to
sweeping through the playoffs with four straight victories. They defeated the
Madison Mallards in the divisional championship, before knocking off the
defending Northwoods League Champion Thunder Bay Border Cats in the championship
series. The Honkers were led by reliever Jake Toohey (Illinois) who set a
Northwoods League record for saves with 24 and all-purpose first baseman/pitcher
Efren Navarro (UNLV) who was named the League MVP. The League’s All-Star game
flourished in La Crosse, WI as former Major League Manager Bob Brenly addressed
the All-Stars at a gala luncheon prior to the combine and game attended by a
bevy of Major League Scouts and over 3,400 fans. Brenly’s son Michael (UNLV),
played for the La Crosse Loggers in 2006, and Oney Guillen (North Park, IL), son
of Major League Manager Ozzie Guillen played in Thunder Bay. Pitching dominated
the scene in 2006 as only five batters hit above the coveted .300 batting
average. The Madison Mallards set a League record for Team ERA as they posted a
2.17 ERA. Pitcher Charlie Shirek (Nebraska) set the career ERA record for all
Northwoods League pitcher’s as he posted a 1.47 ERA in his two seasons as a
Duluth Huskie. The Major League Amateur Draft saw a record 96 current or former
Northwoods players taken as the League’s talent continues to escalate and gain
recognition from Major League teams. For the third consecutive season the
League had a former pitcher drafted in the first round as former La Crosse
Logger Max Scherzer (Missouri) was the 11th pick overall. He
follows former St. Cloud River Bat Thomas Diamond (New Orleans) 10th
overall in 2004, and former Wisconsin Woodchuck Lance Broadway (Texas Christian)
15th overall in 2005. The Northwoods League inked a national
television broadcast agreement with the ESPN family of networks to bring
Northwoods baseball to a national television audience for the 2007-2009 seasons.
The League also announced expansion to the cities of Green Bay, WI and Battle
Creek, MI bringing the League to 14 members for the 2007 season. Nine Northwoods
League alumni made their debut in Major League Baseball in 2006, bringing the
total to 35 former players who have gone on to shine in the Majors.
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