About Foothills Stadium
Foothills Stadium, formerly Burns Stadium, is a stadium in Calgary, Alberta. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Calgary Vipers minor league baseball team. It originally opened in 1966, and was refurbished in 2004. It holds 8,000 people.
About the Calgary Vipers
The Calgary Vipers are an independent minor league baseball team in the Northern League. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, they share Foothills Stadium (formerly Burns Stadium) with the Calgary Dawgs. The 2005 season is their inaugural season.
About the Northern League
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
Wolff, in conjunction with several interested individuals, began the process of resurrecting the Northern League with the notion that town-based teams, rather than organization-grounded clubs could flourish in the right communities. During the fall of 1992, after over two years of planning, the fourth generation Northern League was born.
In 1993, the umpire shouted "Play Ball!" for the Northern League once again. Six initial franchises were located in places like Wade Stadium, a WPA facility, in Duluth, Minnesota, and at the Sioux Falls Stadium, which had housed the Packers of the third N.L.
Northern League ball also returned to Winnipeg Stadium, home to the Blue Bombers of the CFL.
A new facility, Lewis & Clark Park, was built in Sioux City, Iowa, for the inaugural season. Sioux City's tradition of pro ball goes back to the Western Association of the late 1890's. Sioux City fans had been without professional baseball since 1960.
Thunder Bay, Ontario, had been part of the second Northern League when the community was known as Fort William. The St. Paul Saints were led by an ownership group determined to bring back outdoor baseball to the Twin Cities area. The St. Paul community quickly adopted the Saints as part of their unique persona.
Once again a short season independent, the League began with a 72-game schedule in 1993 that had increased to 96 games by 2004. A divisional format was adopted in 1996 after expansion added Fargo-Moorhead and Madison.
Following the 1998 season, the Northern League merged with the Northeast League, creating a 16-team Northern League with Eastern and Central Divisions that faced each other in the All-Star Game and Championship Series. After the Central Division added Gary and Joliet in 2002, the Northern League, under the direction of Commisioner Mike Stone, returned to its original format for 2003. The addition of Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta gives the league 12 teams in two six-team divisions in 2005.
Today, the Northern League is acknowledged to be the pre-eminent modern era independent league. Over two million fans attended Northern League games in 2004, and the league average of 4,269 ranked as fifth highest among the 19 Minor Leagues, best among Independents. Its success contributed to a growth in independent baseball that today includes six leagues across the United States. With attendance increasing annually and continued interest from communities and ownership groups hoping for expansion, the future of the Northern League will surely prove to be as dynamic as its storied and proud history.
Click for complete Northern League history.