Spokane Dodgers

The Spokane Dodgers are an adult men's baseball team located in beautiful Spokane, Washington. As members of a national organization called the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL), we are fortunate to be able to continue playing the game we love, even though most of us are "over the hill." We play real baseball, not softball. We play on local high school and college baseball fields. Occasionally we get to play at Avista Stadium, home of the Spokane Indians professional baseball team. Feel free to browse our site, and if you would like to find out how you can join a team, send us an email. Note: We are not the Club Spokane Dodgers, an independent, select-level travel team for high school players. If you are looking for the Club Spokane Dodgers website, click here.

The Dodgers completed a successful fall campaign with a 6-2 record and a split of their two playoff games. In the consolation game, Dodgers pitcher Austin Sharp threw a no-hitter against the Rockies.

The Padres continued their dominance of the MABL Division by going undefeated in the Fall and capturing the championship with a 6-5 victory over the Black Sox.

The Summer 2009 playoffs were held Saturday, August 15th and Sunday, August 16th. Seven teams competed in a single elimination tournament. The championship game was on Sunday, August 16th at 3:30PM at Avista Stadium.

In the championship game, between the Royals and the Padres, pitcher Chris Dempsey threw a complete game 3-hit shutout. The Padres scored 6 in the bottom of the 1st and never looked back. The Padres got 3 solo home runs in the 6th inning by Chad Hunt, Gary Jones and Mike Peterson. The final score was a lopsided 12-0 and the Padres finished the season with a perfect 18-0 record to win their first championship.

The 2009 Tri-Cities Memorial Day Classic was played over Memorial Day weekend, May 23rd through 25th, at Roy Johnson Field and Dust Devil Stadium. The Spokane Dodgers participated for the third consecutive year in this highly competitive regional MABL (18+) tournament held in southeast Washington State. This year, the Dodgers won 1 out of their first 3 games and did not earn a spot in the playoffs.

The championship game was a repeat of the 2008 tournament with the Tri-Cities Pilots defeating the Puget Sound Scorpions for the second year in a row. The Pilots took an early lead in the first inning and never gave up the lead. The final score was 14-8 with Ozzie Gonzalez recording the win on the mound for the Pilots. John Lepell took the loss for the Scorpions. This is the eighth time in the last ten years the Pilots have played in the championship game and the fourth time they have won. The Scorpions also continued their successful play by making it to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year. The Scorpions won championships in 2006 and 2007.

In the 1970s, Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee aka, "Spaceman," became a folk hero to the bleacher bums in Fenway Park. One of the most freewheeling eccentrics ever to play the game, Bill lived in a world like no other; where competitive fire, Tibetan Buddhism, slapstick comedy, social activism, and counter-cultural medication co-existed in relative harmony. He joined the Boston Red Sox out of USC, where he was a starting pitcher on the National Championship team in 1968. An outstanding athlete, Bill instantly became a favorite in the interview room when he asked "Do they keep it (the Green Monster) there during games?" He baffled opposing hitters with a variety of pitches and equally baffled management and owners with his verbal acrobatics. As a pioneer in the baseball labor movement, he beanballed corporate duplicity and worked to end the era of indentured servitude in baseball. Instead of free agency, Bill embraced a more radical vision – a socialist utopia where players owned the teams and ballparks. Was he blackballed from the game as a result?

High & Outside is an endearing and sometimes hilarious account of the man the Portland Press Herald called "the iconoclast of our times." It chronicles The Spaceman’s fall to earth and his subsequent rise from the ashes. The film includes archival footage, interviews, and extensive travels with the incomparable Spaceman himself. Making appearances in the film are Red Sox legends Bernie Carbo, Dwight Evans, Carl Yastrzemsky, former director of the Major League Player’s Association Marvin Miller, Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons, sports writer Chaz Scoggins, author Tom Adelman, Hall of Fame player Brooks Robinson, and many more.

The GFI baseball tournament is a very prestigious wood bat tournament which has attracted many of the top semi-pro teams from North America, including the Seattle Studs, Houston Astros, Chicago Prairie Gravel, San Diego Stars, New York Storm and Trail Orioles. Each year Canada sends several college-based teams including the UBC T-Birds (Team Canada).

In 2006, the San Diego Stars won their second GFI championship. The Spokane RiverHawks were represented by several current and former local college players. In addition, we were very fortunate to have Bill, Andy and Mike Lee join us for the tournament. Bill, a 119 game winner in his 14-year major league career with the Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos, threw out the first pitch at the opening ceremony, making this a very special year for us. Bill also pitched 4 masterful innings in game 3 against Burnaby, giving up only 1 run. For more about the tournament, visit the GFI website.