Western League

Western League may refer to:

See also

Western League (Japanese baseball)

The Western League (ウエスタン・リーグ) is one of the two minor leagues ("ni-gun") of Japanese professional baseball. The league is owned and managed by the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

History

Kansai Farm League

The league was created in 1952 as the Kansai Farm League, and was initially completely separate from the workings of the Nippon Professional Baseball. It featured the minor league teams of the six professional teams that had their homefields in the western region of Japan, as well one independent team not affiliated with an NPB franchise.

The initial complement of teams:

The Sanyo Crowns were dissolved after the 1952 season. The Shochiku Robins merged with the Taiyo Whales in 1953, but the Kintetsu Pearls' farm team joined the league that year, keeping the number of teams at six.

In 1954 the six teams of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League decided to form their own minor league, called the New Japan League. With the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers affiliates dropping out to join the new minor league, only four teams remained in the Kansai Farm League.

Western League (original)

The Western League of Professional Baseball Clubs, simply called the Western League, was a minor league baseball league originally founded on February 11, 1885, and focused in the Midwest.

After several failures and reorganizations, the most notable version of the league was organized by Ban Johnson on November 20, 1893. In 1900, the League was renamed the American League, and declared its major league status in 1901 against the older National League of 1876, which was centered in the American Northeast states.

History

Before its most notable incarnation in November 1893, the Western League existed in various forms. The League was originally formed as a minor league on February 11, 1885. The original clubs were located in Indianapolis‚ Kansas City‚ Cleveland‚ Milwaukee‚ Toledo and Omaha. The Indianapolis Hoosiers won the first title with a record of 27–4–1.

The League failed at the end of the 1885 season, but it was reformed again before the 1886 season. In 1887, the league was dominated by Topeka's Golden Giants, a high-priced collection of major leaguers, including Bug Holliday, Jim Conway, Perry Werden and Jimmy Macullar, which won the title by 15½ games. The League failed yet again after playing a partial 1888 season, then was reformed again for the 1892 and 1893 seasons before folding temporarily again on June 20, 1893.