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ORIGINAL NORTHERN LEAGUE INCARNATIONS (PRE-1993) The first Northern League was formed in 1902 , but folded in 1905 . Some of its member teams joined the Northern Copper Country League in the following year, then joined the Central International League in 1912 . This league was renamed the Northern League the following year, but the league again disbanded because of a lack of manpower during World War I . The league did not re-emerge until 1933 . It did not operate during 1943 , 1944 and 1945 because of a lack of manpower during World War II , and finally folded again in 1971 . MODERN NORTHERN LEAGUE (1993-) The current incarnation was created in 1993 through the efforts of the first commissioner Miles Wolff. Wolff started the league after many midwestern cities contacted him (through his affiliation with Baseball America) asking how they could get a minor league team. After visiting some of them, most notably Wade Stadium in Duluth , he started contacting potential owners to start the league. The league started in 1993 with 6 teams: Duluth-Superior Dukes (Duluth, Superior WI ), Rochester Aces ( Rochester, Minnesota ), St. Paul Saints ( St. Paul, Minnesota ), Sioux Falls Canaries ( Sioux Falls, South Dakota ), Sioux City Explorers ( Sioux City, Iowa ) and Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks ( Thunder Bay, Ontario ). The prospects for the league were originally "cloudy." Many forecasted an early demise especially in St. Paul where competition with the Minnesota Twins lead many local sportswriters to consider it a "beer league." In fact the league was, overall, quite a success with only one franchise, Rochester, failing to attract significant crowds. The ailing Aces franchise was sold to an owner in Winnipeg, Manitoba ( Sam Katz ) and renamed the Winnipeg Goldeyes . Part of the success of the league is the structure of the teams with both salary caps and roster rules. Teams are permitted no more than 4 veterans (5+ years professional experience) and required to have at least as many rookies. The rest of the rosters are made up of players with various years of experience (listed as LS-1 to LS-5 for "limited service). The league expanded from six to eight teams with the addition of franchises of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks ( Fargo, North Dakota ) and Madison Black Wolf ( Madison, Wisconsin ). After the 1998 season the Whiskey Jacks, originally with the second best attendance in the league, was sold and became the Schaumburg Flyers ( Schaumburg, Illinois ) in 1999 . In 1999 its eight teams merged with the Northeast League , which had begun in 1995 . During these years the original Northern League franchises made up the Northern League Central and the Northeast League teams became the Northern League East. Despite becoming one league, the 2 divisions only played each other during the league championship series. In 2002 expansion in the Central added the Joliet JackHammers ( Joliet, Illinois ) and Gary SouthShore RailCats ( Gary, Indiana ). When the four-year agreement ended at the conclusion of the 2002 season, the relationship between the 2 leagues was ended. The Northeast League was reestablished as a separate league (which later reformed as the Can-Am League ). It was the final year that Miles Wolff remained associated with his creation. Mike Stone replaced him as league commissioner. During this same period two more teams struggling with attendance and difficult stadiums relocated. In 2001 , the Madison Black Wolf became the Lincoln Saltdogs ( Lincoln, Nebraska ) while in 2003 the Duluth-Superior Dukes became the Kansas City T-Bones ( Kansas City, Kansas ). In 2004 expansion to Alberta was announced, which created the Calgary Vipers ( Calgary ) and Edmonton Cracker-Cats ( Edmonton ) doubling the size of the league over 12 years. After the 2005 season, the St. Paul Saints, Sioux Falls Canaries, Lincoln Saltdogs, and Sioux City Explorers left the Northern League to establish their own independent minor league, called the American Association . The Northern League will play the 2006 season as a two-division, eight-team league. Over 12 seasons over two dozen players have been signed from the Northern League to play in major league baseball. These include players such as J. D. Drew , Kevin Millar , Jeff Zimmerman , and Rey Ordoñez . Several former MLB players have played in the league including Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd , Darryl Strawberry , Jack Morris , Pedro Guerrero , and Leon "Bull" Durham . Former MLB players and coaches have also coached or managed in the Northern League including Hal Lanier , Wayne Terwilliger , Matt Nokes , and "Dirty" Al Gallagher. MEMBER TEAMS (2006)
FORMER TEAMS (1993-2005)
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