Wenatchee Chiefs

The Wenatchee Chiefs were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Wenatchee, Washington.

Founded in 1937, the team was a part of the Class B Western International League through 1954, although the team did not operate after 1941 and the entire league was suspended during World War II, for the seasons from 1943 to 1945. The Chiefs were one of the seven founding members of the Northwest League in 1955, where they remained until the team suspended operations after the 1965 season, the last before the NWL went to the short-season format.

History

The Chiefs were founded in 1937 by Canadians Gerald McClay and Art Nevison, and played in the Class B Western International League (WIL). The team played a 144-game season, with its home field at Wenatchee's Recreation Park (47°24′50″N 120°19′16″W / 47.414°N 120.321°W / 47.414; -120.321). In its early years, the team drew as many as 3,000 per game, with ticket prices of 5 cents for the bleachers and 40 cents for grandstand seating for adults. With baseballs costing as much as $1.50 each, the team paid children 50 cents per game to retrieve balls that went into the stands as foul balls or home runs so that they could be reused. The team was taken over by Charles C. Garland in 1938, who began an affiliation agreement with the New York Yankees, and the team won its first league pennant in 1939.