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2023 Spokane Indians Media Guide
2022 At A Glance
First Half: 34-30 (.531)
Second Half: 30-36 (.455)
Overall Record: 64-66 (.492)
Longest Winning Streak: 5
Longest Losing Streak: 6
Longest Game: 3 Hours, 15 Minutes
Shortest Game: 1 Hour, 42 Minutes
Team Batting Average: .261 (1st in NWL)
Team ERA: 4.49 (5th in NWL)
2022 Team Leaders
Team Pitching Leaders
ERA: Joe Rock (4.43)
WHIP: Joe Rock (1.23)
Wins: Andrew Quezada (9)
Strikeouts: Joe Rock (109)
Saves: Luke Taggart (5)
Team Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Colin Simpson (.300)
Home Runs: Colin Simpson (17)
RBI: Colin Simpson & Zac Veen (60)
Stolen Bases: Zac Veen (50)
Runs: Zac Veen (72)
2022 Accolades
NWL MVP - Zac Veen
NWL All-Stars: Julio Carreras, Eddy Diaz, Colin Simpson, Zac Veen
NWL Player of the Month: Drew Romo (April), Hunter Goodman (August)
NWL Player of the Week: Julio Carreras, Eddy Diaz, Hunter Goodman (x2), Daniel Montaño, Colin Simpson, Zac Veen
NWL Pitcher of the Week: Tony Locey (x2)
Rockies Organization All-Stars: Warming Bernabel, Eddy Diaz, Hunter Goodman, Adam McKillican, Joe Rock, Colin Simpson, Zac Veen, Case Williams
Back to 2022 Season Recap
2023 COACHING STAFF
2023 COACHING STAFF
2023 COACHING STAFF
2023 Season Schedule
Continue to Team History
2023 COACHING STAFF
Manager - Robinson Cancel: Robinson Cancel enters his first season at the helm in Spokane and seventh overall with the Rockies organization following a successful two-year stint with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies. In his two seasons as Fresno manager, Cancel recorded a 157-90 record (.635 winning percentage) and guided the Grizzlies to a pair of postseason appearances.
Before taking over in Fresno, Cancel led the former Low-A affiliate of the Rockies, the Asheville Tourists, for two seasons. During the offseason in 2018, he led the Tomateros de Culiacan in the Mexicana del Pacifico Winter League. Prior to that, Cancel was a coach for Short-Season Boise in 2017, his first year with the Rockies. From 2015-2016, Cancel was a part of the Atlanta Braves system, where he was at the helm for Rookie Level Danville (2016) and the Gulf Coast League Braves (2015). Before becoming a coach, Cancel played professionally from 1994 to 2011 after being selected by Milwaukee in the 16th round of the 1994 First-Year Player Draft. Cancel went on to play parts of four Major League seasons with Milwaukee (1999), New York - NL (2008-09) and Houston (2011).
2023 COACHING STAFF
Pitching Coach - Ryan Kibler: Kibler returns to Spokane for a third season in 2023 and his 12th overall as a pitching coach in the Rockies organization. Prior to joining Spokane, Kibler served as pitching coach for the Boise Hawks (2019), Asheville Tourists (2017-2018), and Grand Junction Rockies (2012-16). Kibler was drafted by Colorado in the second round of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft out of C. Leon King High School in Tampa, FL, and spent his entire six-year playing career in the Rockies organization.
Hitting Coach - Zach Osborne: Osborne enters third season with the Indians and fifth year overall as a hitting coach in the Rockies system. Spokane’s offense led the Northwest League in batting (.261), hits (1,136), total bases (1,762) and stolen bases (214) during the 2022 season. Before joining the Indians, the former Tennessee Volunteer spent two seasons with Grand Junction (2018-19) as a hitting coach. As a player, Osborne signed as a Minor League free agent in 2012 and reached as high as Triple-A in his five-year career with the Rockies.
2023 COACHING STAFF
Bench Coach - Joe Mikulik: Mikulik returns to the Rockies organization for the first time since 2012, having previously spent 13 years as manager of the Asheville Tourists (2000-2012). Mikulik spent six years in the Rangers system as manager of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (2014) and Frisco RoughRiders (2015-2019) and most recently managed the Pioneer League's Rocky Mountain Vibes in 2022. Originally drafted in 1984 by the Houston Astros, Mikulik spent 11 seasons in the minors as a player before beginning his managerial career with the Burlington Indians (1997-98).
Trainer - Mickey Clarizio
Peak Peformance Coach - Ryan Hurston
Back to Coaching Staff
A Brief History of Baseball in Spokane
Way Out West
Return to AAA
North by Northwest League
Rocky Mountain High-A
Team No-Hitters
League Batting Champions
League MVPs
Continue to Team Info
A Brief History of Baseball in Spokane
Spokane's minor league history dates all the way back to 1892 when it fielded a team in the Pacific Northwest League. The nickname "Indians" was introduced in 1903 when Spokane joined the Pacific National League, a predecessor to the Pacific Coast League and an elite minor league of the period -- equivalent to Triple-A today. The Indians lasted only two seasons at that higher level before dropping to the Class B Northwestern League, which folded during WWI.
In 1937, Spokane became a charter member of the Class B Western International League (WIL), the predecessor of the Northwest League. They played at Ferris Field from 1937 through the beginning of WWII in 1942, and again from 1946 until folding during the 1954 season.
Spokane was a charter member of the Northwest League, which debuted in 1955 as a Class B league. These Indians also played at Ferris Field, but folded after just two seasons, and the city went without minor league baseball in 1957.
WAY OUT WEST
When the Los Angeles Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to the West Coast in 1958, they moved their PCL affiliate, the Los Angeles Angels, north to Spokane. While with the Dodgers for 14 seasons, the Indians won league titles in 1960 and 1970, and were runners-up in 1963, 1967, and 1968.
The 1970 Indians, managed by Tommy Lasorda, won 94 of 146 games (.644) in the regular season to win the northern division by 26 games, then swept the Hawaii Islanders in four games in the PCL playoffs. The team included Bill Buckner, Steve Garvey, Bobby Valentine (PCL MVP), Tom Paciorek, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Doyle Alexander.
Following the 1971 season, the club was moved south to New Mexico and became the Albuquerque Dukes. Spokane, which had been in the Northwest League for its first two seasons in 1955 and 1956, returned to the NWL in 1972 as a Dodger affiliate, but only for one season, as a new PCL franchise arrived in 1973 from Portland, becoming the affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Return to Triple-A
Spokane's second stint in Triple-A lasted ten seasons and included affiliations with the Texas Rangers (1973-75), Milwaukee Brewers (1976-78), Seattle Mariners (1979-81), and California Angels (1982). The team won back-to-back PCL Championships in 1974-75 with the Rangers and produced future three-time NL batting champion Bill Madlock. Other memorable players from the era included World Series champion manager Ned Yost, Colorado Rockies skipper Bud Black, and MLB All-Stars Ed Farmer, Dave Henderson, Roy Howell, Shane Rawley, Lary Sorenson, Don Stanhouse, and Gorman Thomas.
The Indians made the most of their single season as an affiliate of the California Angels in 1982, reaching the Pacific Coast League finals, where they lost to the Albuquerque Dukes in six games, and producing a five-time Gold Glove Award winner (Gary Pettis), big league manager (Jerry Narron), and AL All-Star (Tom Brunansky). Soon after that season, the team moved south to Las Vegas and became the Stars, marking a temporary end to long-season baseball in Spokane.
North by Northwest LEague
A new Northwest League franchise was awarded to Spokane for the 1983 season and the Indians went on to win eight league titles during their time in the NWL, including four straight from 1987 through 1990. The Indians won their seventh NWL championship in 2005, despite a 37-39 (.487) record during the regular season. They became only the second team in league history (after the 1982 Salem Angels) to win the championship with a losing regular season record. Spokane won the East Division, then beat league-leading Vancouver on the road in games four and five of the championship series to win the title.
Top alumni from this era include six-time All-Star Sandy Alomar Jr, three-time World Series winning manager Bruce Bochy, Mariners fan favorite Joey Cora, superstar outfielder Carlos Beltran, Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, two-time Gold Glove winning second baseman Ian Kinsler, and home run king Chris Davis.
rocky Mountain High-A
A major reshuffling of the minor leagues during 2020 saw the Spokane Indians leave short-season baseball after nearly thirty years and join the High-A West as an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies on a 10-year PDL contract.
The new affiliation was a smashing success in year one with the team reaching the league finals after overcoming a 14.5-game deficit, a pair of players making their big league debuts, and the Indians being named 2021 MiLB Organization of the Year for their work in the community - highlighted by the new Operation Fly Together Campaign with Fairchild Air Force Base.
TEAM NO-HITTERS
- May 26, 1898 - George Darby
- May 9, 1908 - Rasty Wright
- August 29, 1910 - Jack Killilay
- August 18, 1912 - Red Toner
- September 20, 1912 - Bill Cadreau
- July 9, 1915 - Win Noyes
- August 18, 1940 - Bob Kinnaman
- June 9, 1954 - Ralph Romero
- April 27, 1958 - Dick Hanlon
- July 6, 1963 - Bob Radovich
- April 23, 1964 (7 Innings) - Bill Singer
- August 16, 1967 - Alan Foster
- September 1, 1967 - Alan Foster
- August 16, 1974 - Steve Dunning
- July 17, 1993 - Glenn Dishman
- September 3, 2002 - Greg Atencio (8 IP), Justin Taylor (1 IP)
- August 10, 2014 - Derek Thompson (5 IP), Shane McCain (3 IP), Adam Parks (2 IP) and Luis Pollorena (1 IP)
- August 23, 2023 - Anderson Pilar (7 IP) and Brayan Castillo (2 IP)
BATTING CHAMPIONS
1890: Frank "Piggy" Ward - .367
1891: Mark Polhemus - .351
1903: Frank Huelsman - .392
1904: Bill Carney - .366
1910: Lou Nordyke - .290
1940: Smead Jolley - .373
1950: Glenn Stetter - .369
1959: Tommy Davis - .345
1960: Willie Davis - .346
1970: Bobby Valentine - .340
1971: Tommy Hutton - .352
1986: Tom LeVasseur - .372
1988: Scott Bigham - .334
1989: Dave Staton - .362
1990: Jay Gainer - .356
1997: Goef Tomlinson - .338
1999: Ken Harvey - .397
2003: Dane Bubela - .323
2009: Jason Orata - .366
2014: Eduard Pinto - .334
2018: Diosbel Arias - .366
2019: Blaine Crim - .335
2022: Colin Simpson - .300
LEAGUE MVPS
- 1960 - Willie Davis
- 1970 - Bobby Valentine
- 1971 - Tommy Hutton
- 1974 - Tom Robson
- 1985 - Jerald Clark
- 1987 - Steve Hendricks
- 1989 - Dave Staton
- 1990 - Matt Mieske
- 1997 - Dermal Brown
- 2005 - Steven Murphy
- 2010 - Jared Hoying
- 2018 - Curtis Terry
- 2019 - Blaine Crim
- 2022 - Zac Veen
- 2023 - Jordan Beck